Is This A Maxim??

[alanint]

Yes, the gas mask photo is a Vickers.

[alanint]

I've told this story before. My Great Uncle managed to acquire a Maxim in the oddest way. He was a soldier in the First Army in WW1. As he was lounging with his company at a railroad depot outside Paris at the end of the war, he spotted a number of tripod mounted machineguns on the station platform. Out of curiosity he walked over and realized that each gun had a hanging tag on it with individual US officer's names and addresses on them. Finding this luxury souvenir collecting highly unfair, he picked a gun and crossed out an officers name and address on one side of the tag and filled his in, (with adequate rank, of course) on the other side as a joke.

Imagine his utter surprise to find the gun waiting for him at home when he returned from Europe.

[cirelaw]

A real wake up!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love a chance to shoot a few hundred rounds!!

[cirelaw]

Great shot!!

[alanint]

They are a lot of fun to shoot. I have several friends who owned them and unbelievably, for many years, (and to some extent still today) they were the ugly stepchild of the beltfed world, usually bringing about half of what a comparable gun, (like a Vickers) was bringing. Up until recently you could still buy one for under $10K and Turkish 8mm for them was dirt cheap.

[cirelaw]

Your my hero! Maybe some day! What rounds did it shoot and how fast??

[cirelaw]

Great subject

[DavidJayUden]

Alan:
Don't you agree that those are wheeled Sokolov mounts which are somehow mounted on top of another MG mount? I have a Russian Sokolov mount downstairs. I may need to go drag it out to have a closer look at it. Never heard of propping one up like that.
Maxim guns really are a facinating bit of history. The NRA made a documentry film counting down the 10 most historically important firearms of all time, and the Maxim was numero uno. They changed history.
It was Belloc who wrote: "Whatever happens, we have the Maxim gun and they have not..."
dju

[DavidJayUden]

Cirelaw:
Standard 8mm Mauser cartridge, same as their rifles.
I forget the speed, but it was somewhat adjustable by tightening the fusee spring on the left side. The first few shots are always slow or semi, then as you adjust the spring, and the gun warms, the cyclic rate got faster.
dju

[alanint]

About 650 RMP. They sort of chug along. And David is correct that you could somewhat adjust this via the Fusee spring on the left hand side. The charging handle on the right side also whacks back and forth in an arch while firing, making it a very animated experience.

David, the Russians also had their own Maxims, so those may very well be captures. Early Russian Maxims were just like the German version. Later versions had the "Snow Cap" water jacket filler, which was a large filler cap through which you could just shove snow into the water jacket for cooling. Imagine living someplace where this was a practical feature.

Here is a good, general primer on the Maxim:

http://browningmgs.com/Maxim/Maxim.htm

[cirelaw]

Impressive!

[alanint]

Yep, Russian infantry with their Maxim on a Sokolov mount. It is an older model without the "snow cap" feature. Russian Maxims can be easely identified by the peculiar ammo can, if it is present, which has virtually not changed to this day.

The link I posted above shows this "snow cap" modification to good advantage in the red line drawing of a Russian Maxim and the photo just below it.


David, The other Sokolov photo does indeed show a German modification, which allows the mount to be raised.

Great photos!!

[cirelaw]

Best I could find!

[alanint]

Good photo showing the snow cap to good advantage.

The larger opening also allowed one to easely pee into the jacket under summer water shortage conditions!!

[cirelaw]

I hope not while its' fireing!!! It is an awesome weapon! Obviously a Class three AT ITS FINEST!!!