The Lewis type machine gun is used widely by the Japanese. Markings on a number of these guns found in the New Georgia area indicate that the weapon as used by the Japanese is of naval origin. It is also believed that the gun is used extensively for ship or air base protection as the tripod mount is adaptable for antiaircraft fire.
The Model 92 is of standard Lewis gas-operated, air-cooled, drum-fed design, equipped with a blade front sight and a rear peep-sight calibrated in hundreds of meters from 0 to 17. No allowance is made for windage or drift. Although no antiaircraft sight was discovered with the gun, a mount for such a sight is attached to the weapon.
The gun is mounted on a tripod having tubular steel legs which may be locked at various angles from the vertical. The tripod legs are attached to flat square plates which have holes in the center to accommodate bolts which are used to secure the tripod to the deck of a ship.
The head of the tripod has a 360° traverse. Without removing the gun from the mount, the main portion of the tripod head can be moved from a horizontal to a vertical position, and the gun attached to the top of the head for antiaircraft use. In this position, the limits of elevation are approximately -80° to +85°. Azimuth is calibrated in 2 mil intervals from 0 to 6,400 mils.
7.7 mm rimmed Navy ammunition fed from a 47-round drum is used. Ammunition chests recovered were found to hold 21 loaded drums.
SPECIFICATIONS
| Weight gun and tripod | 122 lbs. | |
| Length | 39 ins. | |
| Principle of operation | Lewis gas-operated system | |
| Feeding device | Drum magazine | |
| Capacity of feeding device | 47 rounds | |
| Cooling system | Air | |
| Ammunition types | 7.7 mm full-rimmed ammunition | |
| Rate of fire | Cyclic-600 r.p.m. | |
| Type of sight | Blade front sight: rear peepsight calibrated from 0 to 1700 meters | |
| Weight of gun | 49 lbs. | |
| Length of barrel | 24 ins. | |
| Length of rifling | ||
| Rifling | ||
| Twist | Uniform, R.H. | |
| Form | Concentric | |
| No. of grooves | 4 | |
| Depth of grooves | ||
| Width of grooves | ||
| Chamber pressure | ||
| Muzzle velocity | 2411 ft. per sec. | |
| Muzzle energy | ||
| Maximum range | 4000 yds. | |
| Effective range | 500 yds. | |
| Type of mount | Tripod | |
| Elevation | ||
| Ground mount | -15° – +60° | |
| Antiaircraft mount | -80° – +85° | |
| Traverse | 360° |
Japanese: p. 214.1 (June 1, 1945)