This is an outstanding example of a very scarce Mark V medium machine gun as produced by the Marlin Firearms Corp., under contract for the US Navy. This model was originally developed/produced in 1895 by John M. Browning. It is considered one of the earliest gas-operated machine gun, which used an gas port design to power a spring loaded lever/arm under the barrel to cycle the action. During firing, this arm, would project down from under the barrel actually swinging up and down during cycling the action, which was the source of the weapon's earlier nickname, the "Potato Digger". However this example is actually the much later and vastly improved "Navy Mark V" that was based on the redesigned Army Model 1917. This model actually did away with the swing lever/arm under the barrel and instead used the very reliable Hotchkiss design, that had a gas piston along with a straight line operating rod. This redesign change made these considerable more robust and highly reliable. The Mark V also included a much heavier weight barrel, measuring approximately 1 1/2 in diameter, that included 15 inches of cooling fins. The Navy version also incorporated a side cocking lever so that it could be used on a deck mounted gun mount/tripod. Both the top of the barrel and the receiver are marked with the following two legends: "MARLIN ARMS CORP/PAT. MAR 28 1916/OTHER PATENTS PENDING" and below that over the breech area it is marked: "U.S.N./INSPR. J.B.S. 1917/CAL. .30 MARK V/NO. 8531" to distinguish it from the earlier 6 mm Navy round and the later Army 30-40 cartridge, as this fired the new standard "30-06" cartridge. The top of the receiver is fitted with a huge folding tangent rear sight that is graduated 1-26 (100-2600 yards) which also has a fine elevation adjustment, along with an inverted "v" front sight that is also adjustable for windage via the sight base. It has an all blued metal finish with a small walnut on the sides of the pistol grip.

Excellent with 98% of the original blued finish overall showing only very minor edge wear. The internal parts are all still in their original in the white condition. As noted this weapon is chambered in the standard 30-06. NOTE: This item is restricted as a National Firearms Act (NFA), fully transferable Class 3, which is registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, (BATFE) that is classified as a "Curios or Relic" as defined in 27 CFR, 478.11. These weapons are still subject to the provisions of 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44 and 27 CFR part 478.