SIG KE7

The SIG KE7 is a light machine gun designed and manufactured in Switzerland in the decade before the Second World War. Although exported, it was never used by the Swiss Army.
Description.
The SIG KE7 is a recoil operated, air cooled light machine gun with tilting bolt. It is fed from a curved box magazine mounted on the underside of the weapon, which holds 25 rounds. A light folding bipod is attached to the perforated barrel jacket, and an additional rear monopod can be fitted.
Notable feature of the gun is a very long travel of the bolt carrier (about 6 cm, 2.4 in) before it starts pulling the bolt back and extracting the fired case. It gives longer time for the pressure in barrel to drop for easier extraction.
History.
The KE7 light machine gun was designed by Pál Király and Gotthard End at the SIG small arms factory in Neuhausen am Rheinfall. Production commenced in 1929, with most weapons being exported to the Republic of China chambered for 7.92×57mm Mauser ammunition. They were used during the Chinese Civil War, the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Korean War. The KE-7 was copied and 7,900 were locally produced between 1934 and 1937. Some KE-7 machine guns were also made in other calibres for export to Latin America and Ethiopia. In 1930, examples were provided for trials being run by the British Army to find a replacement for the Lewis gun, although a modified Czechoslovak weapon was finally adopted as the Bren gun.