Yes, but that reputation was earned more from the later 1918 model that was adapted for .30-06 to issue to the American troops arriving in Europe at the time. The conversions were poorly done and resulted in a weapon that was incapable of functioning for long, if at all. The earlier French-issued weapon, as illustrated in the pic, mostly had problems with the mag's open design and thin construction. Those shortcomings were overcome by regular maintenance of the weapon and by handpicking the best mags and loading them a round or two less than capacity.