Maxim gun


The Maxim gun is a recoil-operated machine gun invented in 1884 by Hiram Stevens Maxim. It was the first fully automatic machine gun in the world.
The Maxim gun has been called "the weapon most associated with imperial conquest" by historian Martin Gilbert, and was heavily used by colonial powers during the "Scramble for Africa". Afterwards, Maxim guns also saw extensive usage by different armies during the Russo-Japanese War, the First and Second World Wars, as well as in contemporary conflicts.
The Maxim gun was greatly influential in the development of machine guns, and it has multiple variants and derivatives, such as the Vickers, PM M1910 and MG 08. Some are still in service to the present day, such as in the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Design

The Maxim gun featured one of the earliest recoil-operated firing systems in history. Energy from recoil acting on the breech block is used to eject each spent cartridge and insert the next one. Maxim's earliest designs used a 360-degree rotating cam to reverse the movement of the block, but this was later simplified to a toggle lock. This made it vastly more efficient and less labor-intensive than previous manually operated rapid-firing guns, such as the manually cranked Mitrailleuse of 1851, the Gatling gun of 1861, the Gardner gun of 1874, or the Nordenfelt gun of 1873.
The Maxim gun is water cooled, allowing it to sustain its rate of fire far longer than air-cooled guns. The extra weight and complexity this added, however, made it heavier and less flexible in use.
Trials demonstrated that the Maxim can fire 600 rounds per minute. Compared to modern machine guns, the Maxim is heavy, bulky, and awkward. A lone soldier can fire the weapon, but it was usually operated by a team of men, usually 4 to 6 in number. Apart from the gunner, other crew are needed to speed reload, spot targets, and carry and ready ammunition and water. Several men are needed to move or mount the heavy weapon.

Production company

In 1884, Maxim began to develop his machine gun in Hatton Garden, London. That November he founded the Maxim Gun Company with financing from, son of steel entrepreneur Edward Vickers. A blue plaque on the factory where Maxim invented and produced the gun is located in Hatton Garden at the junction with Clerkenwell Road in London.
Albert Vickers became the company's chairman, and it later joined hands with a Swedish competitor, Nordenfelt, to become Maxim [Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company]. The Post Office Directory of trades in London of 1895 lists its office at 32 Victoria Street SW on page 1579.
Finally, the company was absorbed into the mother Vickers company, leading first to the Vickers-Maxim gun and then, after Vickers' redesign, the Vickers machine gun.

History

Development (1883–1884)

Maxim's first British patents relating to the development of the Maxim gun were granted in June and July 1883. The first prototype was demonstrated to invited guests in October 1884.

Use in colonial warfare (1886–1914)

A prototype of the Maxim gun was given by Hiram Maxim to the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition in 1886–1890, under the leadership of Henry Morton Stanley. More a publicity stunt than a serious military contribution, in view of the main financier of the expedition, William Mackinnon, "merely exhibiting" the gun was likely to "prove a great peace-preserver". The weapon was used on several occasions, especially during the expedition's retreat from central Africa, not because of its devastating effects, but as an effective means to scare off attackers. One of the first uses of the Maxim gun by British Forces was in the 1887 Yoni Expedition. The same prototype used by Stanley was brought back to central Africa by Frederick Lugard, where it played an instrumental role in the establishment of the Uganda Protectorate.
The first unit in the world to receive the Maxim was the expeditionary force led by Hermann Wissmann which was sent in 1888 by the German Imperial government to its colonies in East Africa to suppress the Abushiri revolt. Wissmann was issued one of the first Maxim guns which had reached Germany and used it successfully in his capture of Pangani.
The Singapore Volunteer Corps received a Maxim gun in 1889, but it was never used. This was a civilian volunteer defence unit on the British colony.
The Maxim gun was first used extensively in an African conflict during the First Matabele War in Rhodesia. During the Battle of the Shangani on 25 October 1893, 700 soldiers fought off 5,000 Matabele warriors with just five Maxim guns. It played an important role in the "Scramble for Africa" in the late 19th century. The extreme lethality was employed to devastating effect against obsolete charging tactics, when African opponents could be lured into pitched battles in open terrain. As it was put by Hilaire Belloc, in the words of the figure "Blood" in his poem "The Modern Traveller":
However, the destructive power of the Maxim gun in colonial warfare has often been embellished by popular myth. Modern historical accounts suggest that, while it was effective in pitched battles, as in the Matabele wars or the Battle of Omdurman, its significance owed much to its psychological impact.
A larger-calibre version of the Maxim, firing a one-pound shell, was built by Maxim-Nordenfeldt. This was known in the Second Boer War as the Pom-Pom from its sound. The Boers' "one-pounder" Maxim-Nordenfeldt was a large-caliber, belt-fed, water-cooled "auto cannon" that fired explosive rounds at 450 rounds per minute.
The Maxim gun was also used in the Anglo-Aro War of 1901–1902.
National and military authorities were reluctant to adopt the weapon, and Maxim's company initially had some trouble convincing European governments of the weapon's efficiency. Soldiers generally held a great mistrust of machine guns due to their tendency to jam. In the 1906 version of his book Small Wars, Charles Callwell says of machine guns: "The older forms are not suitable as a rule... they jammed at Ulundi, they jammed at Dogali, they jammed at Abu Klea and Tofrek, in some cases with unfortunate results." However, the Maxim was far more reliable than its contemporaries. A more immediate problem was that, initially, its position was easily given away by the clouds of smoke that the gun produced. The advent of smokeless powder, helped to change this.
The weapon was adopted by the British Army under the guidance of Sir Garnet Wolseley, who had been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in 1888. In October that year, he placed an order of 120 rifle-calibre Maxims using the same .577/450 ammunition as the Martini–Henry rifles. Wolseley had previously led military expeditions in Africa and had a reputation for being a strong subscriber to military innovation and reform, which he demonstrated in Africa. There he used machine guns, explored other unconventional ideas, and founded an Egyptian camel corps.
The gun's design was also purchased and used by several other European countries, such as Austria-Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, and Russia.
In January 1899, just before the outbreak of the Philippine-American War, the Philippines had forty-two Maxim guns. An English observer who had seen one of them described it as being "of the most improved type."

Russian service (1887–1917)

Hiram Maxim did an introduction tour of the Maxim gun in Russia in 1887, despite the impressive spectacle, only 12 guns were ordered by the Imperial Russian Navy. Many years later, in 1896, the Imperial Russian Navy was re-interested in the Maxim guns, leading to a large order of Maxim guns from Maxim Nordenfelt. Maxim Nordenfelt delivered 179 guns in 1897, and by 1904, the number had increased to almost 300. The Imperial Russian Army purchased 58 Maxim machine guns from DWM in 1899 and contracted with Vickers in 1902 to manufacture the design in Russia. Although some manufacturing started in 1905, mass production did not start until 1910.
During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, the Russian Army employed the Maxim in combat and placed a rush order for another 450 units from overseas suppliers, which were mostly delivered to front-line troops before the end of the war.
In 1905, Tula Arsenal started manufacturing the Maxim M1905, based on the commercial Vickers-Maxim Model 1901. In 1908, the Sokolov mount was introduced, which was equipped with removable gun shield and allowed machine gun crews to pull the weapon and its mount. The Sokolov mount was lighter at around, compared to the large-wheeled mount weighing around.
The Maxim M1905 was still in use with the Russian military in World War I, but mainly equipped with non-frontline troop. There were plans of upgrading the Maxim M1905 to Maxim M1910 standard, but was dropped when war broke out, so only a small amount of guns were converted.

Swiss service (1894–1910)

Between 1891 and 1894 Switzerland procured 72 heavy machine guns, designated MG 94, from Maxim and Nordenfelt in London. These weapons were issued to fortress troops and mountain troops and were operational until 1944 as spare arms with the Territorial Battalion. The MG 94 was mounted at the front end and at the rear on the knees of the gunner. Two leather padded rings on the left and on the right sides of the breech of the weapon rested on the knees of the machine gunner sitting behind it and permitted sweeping fire. The machine gun MG 94 was chambered for the 7.5x53.5 mm GP 90 cartridge and was later, along other minor technical modifications, adapted for firing the more powerful 7.5x55 mm GP 11 cartridge. Six MG 94s had their water-cooling mantles drilled and cut open, making these guns air-cooled and thus water-free and lighter for use as aircraft machine guns. These six MG 94 air-cooled guns were taken out of service in 1944. At least one MG 94 was converted to an air-cooled model for use on the Häfeli DH-1 reconnaissance aircraft.
In 1899 Switzerland procured 69 heavy machine guns, designated MG 00, mainly from Vickers, Sons & Maxim in London, and later from Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken. These guns had tripod mounts designed for cavalry use with a gunner's seat attached to the rear support strut. The machine gun MG 00 was chambered for the 7.5x53.5 mm GP 90 cartridge and was later adapted for firing the more powerful 7.5x55 mm GP 11 cartridge.

American use

The United States Army had shown interest in the Maxim machine gun since 1887. Model 1889 and Model 1900 Maxims were used for testing, which lasted for years but not continuously. The gun was finally adopted in 1904 as the Maxim Machine Gun, Caliber.30, Model of 1904 as the first rifle-caliber heavy machine gun for standard service in the U.S. Army. The design was characteristic for its visually distinctive cage-like muzzle recoil booster designed by Trevor Dawson and J. Ramsay of Vickers.
The first 50 guns and tripods were made by Vickers, Sons & Maxim in the U.K. chambered for .30-03. Colt was selected to produce it domestically, but challenges with schematics and specifications delayed its introduction. By the time Colt began production in 1908, a total of 90 M1904s were made by Vickers. Colt made their machine guns for the new .30-06 caliber, and the ones made by Vickers were re-chambered for the new round. A total of 287 M1904 Maxims were manufactured. The U.S. procured other machine guns after M1904 production ended, including the M1909 Benét–Mercié, the Colt–Vickers M1915, and the Browning M1917.
M1904 Maxims were issued to infantry companies and cavalry. Each company had four guns with associated tripods, ammunition, and 20 mules to transport the heavy guns. The M1904 was deployed in operations in the Philippines, Hawaii, Mexico, and Central and South America, but never saw much combat use. During World War I, it remained in the U.S. for training.

World War I (1914–1918)

By World War I, many armies had moved on to improved machine guns. The British Vickers machine gun was an improved and redesigned Maxim, introduced into the British Army in 1912 and remaining in service until 1968. Production took place at Erith in Kent, and some models were fitted to early biplanes also fabricated there. The German Army's Maschinengewehr 08 and the Russian Pulemyot Maxim were both more or less direct copies of the Maxim.
It also saw use during the Russian Civil War, which followed the Revolution of 1917|Revolution] in 1917. A picture of the period depicts a Maxim gun mounted on a tachanka, a horse-drawn carriage, along with the gunner, firing backwards at a pursuing White Army regiment. Anarchists attribute this mobile setup to Nestor Makhno.

Russo-Ukrainian War

The Maxim, in the form of the PM M1910 chambered in 7.62×54mmR, has been used by both sides of the Russo-Ukrainian War of 2022. Many Maxim guns were retrofitted to suit the nature of modern warfare, including its installation on technicals and the mounting of red dot sights. At least one documented Maxim gun used by the Ukrainian Ground Forces in the Battle of Bakhmut still had its original iron wheels with no visible modifications. A Ukrainian soldier told BBC News in March 2023: "It only works when there is a massive attack going on... then it really works. So we use it every week".
On September 7, 2025, over Kyiv, a Maxim shot down a Kh-69 missile, by a volunteer with the call sign "Hrek".

Extra Light Rifle Calibre Maxim

Background

In 1890, another American inventor, John Browning, designed a lighter and more portable, air-cooled, gas operated machine gun and offered it to the Colt's Manufacturing Company. The gun itself weighted only 40 pounds, but it also required a tripod of the similar weight to be fired. It entered the mass production as the Colt-Browning M1895, and was adopted by the US navy in 1895.
In 1895, in response to the interest shown in the Colt-Browning M1895 in the U.S. machine gun trials, Hiram Maxim introduced his own air-cooled Extra Light gun. It was the first air-cooled Maxim gun, and the first with the mainspring inside the receiver casing. At the time, it was the lightest machine gun in the world and the only complete machine gun that could be carried by one man.
Maxim hoped that cavalry units would appreciate the Extra Light gun for “hit and run” raids, for its light weight. Indeed, the U.S. trials Board commented quite favorably on its portability. However, as the air-cooling mechanics was not very well understood at the time, the thick brass jacket that covered the barrel had only four cooling holes in its bottom, and the gun overheated very quickly. Maxim himself estimated that no more than 400 rounds could be fired from it at one time, before a pause for cooling had to be made.

Reception

However, despite an extensive promotional campaign conducted by Hiram Maxim himself, the 1895 Extra Light gun was a commercial failure and only 135 were built, many of these being sold out singly or in pairs for tests in various countries.

Variants / Derivatives

Water-cooled guns

Air-cooled guns

Other guns

Manufacturers

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Users

  • * − Used by Force Publique
  • − Small numbers used by both sides in Finnish Civil War.
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  • - The Italian Navy was the first to adopt the Maxim machine gun in Italy as Maxim Mod. 1888 chambered for the 10.35x47 mm R cartridge. In 1906 it was also officially adopted by the Italian Army chambered in 6.5 Carcano as Maxim Mod. 1906, followed by the Maxim Mod. 1908 and the Maxim Mod. 1909, the latter adopted by the Italian Navy.
  • − In 1895, the Imperial Japanese Army purchased a number of Maxims and tested them during the 1895 invasion of Taiwan but later decided to standardize on the Hotchkiss machine gun.
  • — By 1912, the army had 12 maxims; 50 more were ordered during the Balkan wars but it is not known if they arrived in time.
  • − Used in the Battle of Namasique against the forces of Honduran General Manuel Bonilla in 1907.
  • − Six .577/450 Maxim guns mounted on Field Carriages Mk I were purchased in 1896; they were converted to .303 British after 1899. Two of these took part in the Dog Tax War. 29.303 caliber guns were purchased from Vickers Sons & Maxim in 1901 on Dundonald Galloping Carriages. In 1910, 36 guns were ordered on Mk IV tripods with pack saddlery and stores but only arrived in 1913. When the tripods arrived the carriages were scrapped. However initially due to the delay in converting the guns to tripod mounting only one gun was issued to each of the 29 regiments. The New Zealand Mounted Rifles formed a Maxim Gun Battery with British-supplied guns during the Boer War. New Zealand Forces entered WWI with older Maxim machineguns and 36 new ones.
  • − Metralhadora Pesada Maxim m/906; adopted by the Portuguese Army in 1906, chambered for the 6.5×58mm Vergueiro cartridge
  • Qajar Dynasty − Had a battery of four guns in the 1890s. Also used during the Constitutional Revolution
  • − Romanian-made 6.5 mm version, at least 8–12 were produced and were used by the Romanian Danube Flotilla during World War I.
  • Spain - 7×57mm Mauser Spanish cartridge adopted in 1893.
  • − M1910 7.62×54mmR Maxim provided by the Soviet Union.
  • − Maxim M1910 used during the Russo-Ukrainian War.
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Conflicts

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Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

General and cited sources

Books

  • It gives plates showing the mechanism of the Vickers Maxim gun and numerous plates showing the variety of mounts available at the end of the 19th century. It also includes numerous plates of the factories in which they were made.
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Encyclopedia, journals and theses

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Websites

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News

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