Maxim gun
Sign in to savethe first self-powered machine gun, invented by Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884
Key facts
- Type
- Heavy machine gun
- Place of origin
- United Kingdom
- In service
- 1886–present
- Used by
- See § Users
- Wars
- See § Conflicts
- Designer
- Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim
- Manufacturer
- See § Manufacturers
- Variants
- See § Variants / Derivatives
- Mass
- 27.2 kg (59.97 lb)
- Length
- 1,079 mm (42.48 in)
- Barrel length
- 673 mm (26.5 in)
- Cartridge
- 6.5x52mm Carcano 6.5×58mm Vergueiro 7×57mm Mauser 7.62×54mmR 7.65×53mm Argentine 7.62x65mm 7.62×63mm Springfield 7.7×56mmR British 7.92×57mm Mauser 8×50mmR Lebel 10.35×47mmR 11.43×60mmR Martini–Henry 11×59mmR Gras
- Action
- Recoil-operated
- Rate of fire
- 550–600 rounds/min
- Muzzle velocity
- 744 m/s (2,440 ft/s)
- Feed system
- 250-round canvas belt
- Sights
- Iron sights
via Wikipedia infobox
~30 min read
Encyclopedic overview
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.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Maxim gun” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.