EVERYBODY was trying to develop one, but it was extremely difficult and expensive. In addition, everybody thought you could not build one in a full-size caliber unless it weighed more than 10 1/2 pounds, too heavy for the average soldier. The
French
fielded the St. Etienne in 1917 and it weighed about 11 pounds. Even the vaunted Germans couldn't do it before the war. Some efforts bogged down because the traditionalists worried that the soldier would "waste ammunition" and couldn't be supplied fast enough.
That world-wide search demonstrates the genius of JCG, who did what nobody else could do. Roger Bannister ran the first four-minute mile, the equivalent of breaking the sound barrier... an amazing feat that made world headlines. Sure, now it's routine, so everybody thinks it's easy, no big deal. But it wasn't until Bannister proved it could be done.