Huot Automatic Rifle
[citation needed] That year, Joseph Huot, an engineer from Richmond, Quebec,[3] adapted the Ross' straight-pull bolt action.
His sample model, which shared 33 parts with the Ross Mark III,[4] had a pneumatic piston parallel to the barrel, which moved a sleeve on the bolt backward, operating the action.
[5] The Huot was also examined at the Rockcliffe Rifle Range on 22 October 1917, which led S. C. Meuburn to recommend it be adopted by the British Army.
[4] To further this aim, Blair, A.A. Janson, and Huot sailed for Britain, arriving at Sandling, Hythe on 10 January 1918, for an extensive British trial at the arms testing establishment at RSAF Enfield.
It was superior in snapshooting from a trench, in quickness of getting into action..."[4] Even muddy, after firing four or five clearing rounds,[4] it would function again, without the need for stripping and cleaning;[6] Blair noted it was the only weapon on the trial able to suffer immersion and do so.
[7] In a 22 October 1917 letter to the British Minister of Munitions, Blair said tooling existed in Canada and the Dominion Factory was ready to begin manufacturing the Huot, using parts from Rosses scheduled for scrapping.
[4] After exposure to it in France, Lieutenant-General Arthur Currie, commanding the Canadian Corps, reported every soldier to come in contact with the Huot liked it, and on 1 October 1918 wrote requesting 5,000 be purchased, arguing casualties required increased firepower for each remaining man,[6] as well as to allow his men to answer the growing number of German light machine guns.
The magazine could be emptied in just 3.2 seconds[9] (a drawback shared by the Browning Automatic Rifle); however, the rate of fire was low, much like a Bren Gun's, so that was not a problem.
[6] Enfield recommended a number of changes: the barrel cover be fitted with a continuous length of tubing and a wooden forend, allowing the weapon to dispense with the rest, which was criticized for its fragility; a corrugated metal cover be fitted to the body, with a dust shield over the bolt handle; the magazine mouth be bevelled to ease feeding; the magazine be made of thinner metal to reduce its excessive weight; the breech cover not extend so far back to prevent injury to the firer; strengthen the extractor to prevent failures to feed with thick-rimmed cases (one of the few feeding problems noted); the hand-cocking lever be deleted [a puzzle as the weapons still has to be cocked for the first shot], also removing eight new parts; and the barrel casing be made in one piece, to eliminate a minor double failure issue.
