These Forgotten Automatic Weapons of World War I Were Game Changers in Their Day These five machine guns that deserve their moment to shine. Here's What You Need to Remember: These guns were some of the best Europe had to offer. World War I was truly the conflict in which the machine gun came into its own. It offered a devastating rate of fire that was able to mow down any troops that tried in vain to cross no man's land in one of the countless futile attacks. Heavy water-cooled machine guns were employed at the beginning of the war, and that lead to the development of more “mobile” weapons including automatic rifles such as the French Chauchat and American Browning Automatic Rifle.