They were widely used by French infantry during the early part of World War I until their replacement by the more reliable Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun. Eventually a total of over 39,700 'St-Étienne' Mle 1907 machine guns were manufactured between 1908 and late 1917. However the Mle 1907 'St-Étienne' was only a partial redesign: the original blow-forward gas piston, rack-and-pinion system, and bolt mechanism of the Mle 1905 'Puteaux' machine gun had all been kept only slightly modified inside the newer weapon. Then, two years later, the Mle 1907 'St-Étienne' machine gun followed as an improved redesign of the 'Puteaux' machine gun. This Bang system was first transposed in 1905 to the French Puteaux APX Machine Gun which soon proved to be unsatisfactory. Instead it was an entirely different gas operated, blow-forward design borrowed from the semi-automatic Bang rifle of 1903. The 'St.Etienne Mle 1907' was not derived from the Hotchkiss machine gun. Étienne Mle 1907 was a gas operated air-cooled machine gun in 8mm Lebel which was widely used in the early years of the First World War.

St etienne mle 1907