Case, carrying, for tools, Lewis LMG, .303", serial #A505 Made by Birmingham Small Arms Co Ltd (BSA), England, for Armes Automatique Lewis Belgium, old serial #94623, (cancelled), DEACTIVATED in May 1977. The Lewis gun (or Lewis automatic machine gun or Lewis automatic rifle) is a World War I–era light machine gun of American design that was perfected and widely used by the British Empire. It was first used in combat in World War I, and continued in service with a number of armed forces through to the end of the Korean War. It is visually distinctive because of a wide tubular cooling shroud around the barrel — often omitted in World War I when used on aircraft — and a top-mounted drum-pan magazine. It was commonly used as an aircraft machine gun, almost always with the cooling shroud removed, during both world wars. Action: Gas-operated Rate of fire: 500–600 rounds/min Muzzle velocity: 2,440 feet per second (740 m/s) Effective range: 880 yards (800 m) Maximum range: 3,500 yards (3,200 m) Feed system: 47- or 97-round Pan magazine Sights: Blade and tangent leaf