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Maxim
The Maxim was the first true self-powered machine gun*, a recoil-operated fully-automatic belt fed weapon produced by Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim, an American-born inventor who moved to England at the age of 41.
Maxim's attention was drawn to guns in 1881, when a friend famously advised him "If you want to make a pile of money, invent something that will enable those fool Europeans to cut each other's throats with greater facility." He produced his first gun in 1885, an extremely bulky device with a distinctive bulge at the rear for a rotary crank to reverse the movement of the block, and a unique pointer-operated fire regulator which allowed the weapon to fire at any speed from 1 RPM to 600. Both were eliminated in later designs for simplicity, the crank assembly being replaced with a toggle joint that was the forerunner of that used on the Borchardt C-93 and Luger P08.
Despite some scepticism from early buyers (the Tsar of Russia's officers, when the 1885's mechanism was explained to them, laughed and stated nobody could operate the crank 600 times a minute, while the King of Denmark, on being told how much each round cost, told Maxim one of his guns would bankrupt Denmark in half a day) the gun was an instant success, and was adopted by many national militaries in a variety of variants and calibres. It saw combat from British use in The Gambia in 1888 to the end of the Second World War, eventually being supplanted by lighter and more efficient designs. Larger versions of the Maxim were also used as anti-aircraft guns, with the most well-known examples being the British "pom-pom" guns.
Maxim's gun company was established with the help of the Vickers steel company of Great Britain and ultimately absorbed into it, joining with rival Nordenfeldt of Sweden in between; Albert Vickers would later produce his own redesigns of the Maxim, the Maxim-Vickers and later the Vickers Gun.
(*While a Swedish Army Lieutenant, D.H. Friberg, had patented a design for a recoil-operated firearm action using locking lugs similar to those used by many later automatic weapons (such as the Russian DP-28) in 1870, with early drawings for a weapon based on it dating back to 1882, Friberg's design was impractical due to rapid residue buildup from use of black powder, and it is unclear if any firing weapon was produced before Maxim's gun in 1885. Rudolf Henrik Kjellman latter refined Friberg's design to use Swiss 6.5x55mm smokeless powder cartridges in 1907, adding a bipod, water jacket and forward grip and replacing Friberg's hopper feed with a detachable box magazine: this, the "Kjellman Light Machine Gun," was a commercial failure with only ten examples produced.)
The Maxim and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Maxim 1895
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Notation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carry on, Sergeant! | Canadian soldiers | 1928 | ||
| North West Frontier | S.M. Asgaralli | Havildar | 1959 | |
| North West Frontier | Herbert Lom | Van Layden | 1959 | |
| North West Frontier | Kenneth More | Capt. Scott | 1959 | |
| North West Frontier | Wilfrid Hyde-White | Mr Bridie | 1959 | |
| 100 Rifles | Mexican soldiers, Indians | 1969 | ||
| Companeros | Franco Nero | Yodlaf Peterson | A mockup | 1970 |
| Breaker Morant | Edward Woodward | Morant | 1980 | |
| Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows | assassins | 2011 |
Television
| Show Title / Episode | Actor | Character | Note | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rough Riders | Spanish troops | Argentine Maxim | 1997 | |
| Lock 'n Load With R. Lee Ermey /Episode 1: Machine Gun Educations | R. Lee Ermey | Himself | 2009 |
Maxim MG08
German version of the Maxim gun, adopted in 1908 and classified MG'08 accordingly. Usually seen on its unique four-legged 'sledge' mounting which could be folded up to drag the gun across the ground.
Specifications
- Weight, Gun Only: 58lb 5oz (26.44kg)
- Weight, On 'Sledge' Mounting: 136lb 11oz (62kg)
- O/A Length: 46.25in (1175mm)
- Barrel length: 28.3 in (719 mm)
- Cartridge: 7.92x57mm Mauser
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Notation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wings | German soldiers | 1927 | ||
| Four Sons | German soldiers | 1928 | ||
| Verdun: Visions of History | German soldiers | 1928 | ||
| Carry on, Sergeant! | German soldiers | 1928 | ||
| Journey's End | German soldiers | 1930 | ||
| All Quiet on the Western Front | German soldiers | 1930 | ||
| Heroes for Sale | German soldiers | 1933 | ||
| Shock Troop | German soldiers | 1934 | ||
| The Lives of a Bengal Lancer | 1935 | |||
| The General Died at Dawn | General Yang's troops | 1936 | ||
| The Fighting 69th | German soldiers | 1940 | ||
| Sergeant York | German soldiers | 1941 | ||
| Sahara | German soldiers | Mounted on a halftrack | 1943 | |
| Native Shores (Rodnye berega) | German soldiers | Fitted with a bipod | 1943 | |
| The Battle of the Rails (La bataille du rail) | German soldiers | 1946 | ||
| Five Gates to Hell | Vietnamesse guerillass | 1959 | ||
| Five Branded Women | German troops | 1960 | ||
| Taxi for Tobruk (Un taxi pour Tobrouk) | Germán Cobos | Jean Ramirez | Mounted on jeep | 1961 |
| The Longest Day | German soldiers | 1962 | ||
| The Train | German soldiers | 1964 | ||
| Is Paris Burning? | German soldiers | 1966 | ||
| How I Unleashed World War II | German soldiers | 1970 | ||
| Duck, You Sucker! | Rod Steiger | Juan Miranda | 1971 | |
| The Wind and the Lion | Marc Zuber | Sultan of Morocco | 1975 | |
| March or Die | French Foreign Legionnaires | 1977 | ||
| All Quiet on the Western Front | German soldiers | 1979 | ||
| Gallipoli | Turkish soldiers | 1981 | ||
| The Ace of Aces (L'As des as) | German soldiers | 1982 | ||
| The Living Daylights | 1987 | |||
| The Lighthorsemen | Turkish soldiers | 1987 | ||
| Legends of the Fall | German soldiers | 1994 | ||
| The Lost Battalion | German soldiers | 2001 | ||
| Deathwatch | German soldiers | 2002 | ||
| The Bridge | Alexander Becht | Ernst Scholten | 2008 | |
| The Bridge | German soldiers | 2008 | ||
| Guard No. 47 | Austro-Hungarian soldiers | 2008 | ||
| The Red Baron | German soldiers | 2008 | ||
| Passchendaele | German soldiers | 2009 | ||
| Dnieper Line: Love and War | German soldiers | 2009 | ||
| Beneath Hill 60 | German soldiers | 2010 | ||
| Battle of Warsaw 1920 | Natasza Urbanska | Ola Raniewska | 2011 | |
| Battle of Warsaw 1920 | Polish soldiers | 2011 | ||
| Day of the Falcon (Or noir) | Nasib's oilfield guards | 2011 | ||
| War Horse | German troops | 2011 | ||
| Emden Men | German Sailors | 2012 | ||
| Stalingrad | Russian sailors | mounted on a boat | 2013 | |
| The Water Diviner | Greek and Turkish soldiers | 2014 |
Television
| Show Title / Episode | Actor | Character | Note | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anzacs | German and Turkish troops | 1985 | ||
| Anzacs | Mark Hembrow | Dick Baker | 1985 | |
| The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles | Daniel Craig | Captain Schiller | "Daredevils of the Desert" (S2E15) | 1992-1993 |
| The Somme – From Defeat to Victory | German soldiers | 2006 | ||
| 14 - Diaries of the Great War | German soldiers | 2014 | ||
| Gallipoli | Turkish troops | 2015 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battlefield: 1918 | 2004 | |||
| Darkest of Days | 2009 | |||
| 7554 | MG 08 | 2011 | ||
| The Great War 1918 | 2013 | |||
| Battle of Empires : 1914-1918 | MG08 | 2014 | ||
| Battlefield | Mounted on A7V Tanks | 2016 |
Anime
| Title | Characters | Notation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Girl Und Panzer | Mounted on German A7V tank | 2012 | |
| Suisei no Gargantia | Pirates | incorrectly equipped with a top-mounted magazine together with a belt box | 2013 |
Maxim MG08/15
A variant of the MG08, it was an attempt at a more 'man-portable' version of the gun.
Specifications
- Weight: 31lb 0oz (14.06kg)
- O/A Length: 57.0in (1448mm)
- Barrel length: 28.3 in (719 mm)
- Cartridge: 7.92x57mm Mauser
- Magazine: 100- or 250-round cloth belt carried in an ammo chest or 100-round cloth belt loaded in a metal patronenkaster belt carrier drum. It feeds from the right and ejects the spent brass from the left.
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Notation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wings | MG08/15 aircraft version | 1927 | ||
| Westfront 1918 | German soldiers | 1930 | ||
| Shock Troop | German soldiers | 1934 | ||
| Hell's Angels | MG08/15 aircraft version | 1930 | ||
| Hell's Angels | Ben Lyon | Monte Rutledge | MG08/15 aircraft version | 1930 |
| La Bandera | Jean Gabin | Pierre Gilieth | 1935 | |
| The General Died at Dawn | General Yang's troops | 1936 | ||
| The Fighting 69th | German soldiers | 1940 | ||
| A Walk In The Sun | German soldiers | MG08/15 modified with water jacket removed | 1945 | |
| Signum Laudis | Vítezslav Jandák | Pvt. Müller | 1980 | |
| Signum Laudis | Zdenek Dusek | Pvt. Kostka | 1980 | |
| High Road To China | Chinese Warlord's soldiers | 1983 | ||
| Biggles: Adventures in Time | MG08/15 air cooled | 1986 | ||
| The Lighthorsemen | German troops | MG08/15 aircraft version | 1987 | |
| Flyboys | German pilot | MG08/15 aircraft version | 2006 | |
| The Red Baron | German soldiers | 2008 | ||
| Battle of Warsaw 1920 | Polish pilot | MG08/15 aircraft version | 2011 | |
| Battle of Warsaw 1920 | Rear-gunner | MG08/15 air-cooled | 2011 | |
| Day of the Falcon (Or noir) | Nasib's pilot | MG08/15 aircraft version | 2011 | |
| Wilson City | Hungarian solders | Fitted with drum magazine | 2015 |
Television
| Show Title / Episode | Actor | Character | Note | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anzacs | German and Australian troops | 1985 | ||
| Journey's End | German soldiers | 1988 | ||
| The Somme – From Defeat to Victory | German soldiers | 2006 |
Anime
| Title | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mystic Archives of Dantalian, The | Mounted on aircraft | 2011 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battlefield: 1918 | 2004 | ||
| NecroVisioN | 2009 | ||
| NecroVisioN: Lost Company | 2010 | ||
| Call of Duty: Black Ops II | 2012 | ||
| The Great War 1918 | 2013 | ||
| Battle of Empires : 1914-1918 | 2014 | ||
| Verdun | Maschinengewehr '08/15 | 2015 | |
| Battlefield 1 | 2016 |
Maxim M1910
Russian-adopted version of the Maxim, adopted originally in 1905 with a bronze water-jacket but modified and standardized to a corrugated-type jacket in 1910. A simplified version with smooth water jacket was adopted in October 1914 and manufactured until late 1920s. Usually seen on the 'Sokolov' mounting which was wheeled with a small turntable.
Specifications
- Weight, Gun Only: 52lb 8oz (23.8kg)
- Weight, On 'Sokolov' Mounting: 99lb 11oz (45.22kg) (Including Shield)
- O/A Length: 43.6in (1107mm)
- Barrel length: 28.4 in (721 mm)
- Cartridge: 7.62x54mm-R, early prototypes chambered for Berdan 10.14 mm
Film
Television
| Show Title / Episode | Actor | Character | Note | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The State Border: Film 1 | Red Army soldiers | 1980 | ||
| German soldiers | modified to resemble German Maxim MG08 | |||
| The State Border: Film 2 | Russian Border guards | 1980 | ||
| The State Border: Film 3 | Russian Border guards | 1982 | ||
| The State Border: Film 4 | Russian Border guards and Turkestan Communist fighters | 1984 | ||
| The State Border: Film 5 | Russian Border guards | on wheel mount and M-4 AA quad mount | 1986 | |
| The White Guard (Belaya gvardiya) | White Guard soldiers | 2012 |
Anime
| Film Title | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood | Ishvalan resistance fighter | 2009 - 2010 | |
| Suisei no Gargantia | Sailors | 2013 |
Maxim M1910/30
Film
Television
| Show Title | Actor | Character | Note / Episode | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stawka wieksza niz zycie | Polish troops | 15/ "Oblezenie" | 1966-1968 | |
| Czterej pancerni i pies | Soviet and Polish troops | 1966-1970 | ||
| Ultimate Force | Serbian paramilitaries | Something to Do with Justice | 2002 | |
| Liquidation (Likvidatsiya) | Soviet soldiers | 2007 | ||
| The White Guard (Belaya gvardiya) | Aleksey Serebryakov | Col. Feliks Nay-Turs | Visually modified to resemble MG08 | 2012 |
| The White Guard (Belaya gvardiya) | Mounted on armoured car | 2012 | ||
| Red Mountains (Krasnye gory) | Brigand | 2013 | ||
| Our Mothers, Our Fathers | Soviet soldiers | 2013 |
Video games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commandos: Strike Force | It has unlimited ammo | 2006 |
Anime
| Title | Character | Note | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Dream Hunter Rem: Massacre in the Phantasmic Labyrinth | is seen in the Geppetto base | 1992 |
Maxim-Tokarev
Maxim-Tokarev (MT or sometimes M-T) is a Soviet light machine gun, based on Maxim M1910. It was designed by Fedor Tokarev in early 1920s and put into service in 1925. MT has a perforated barrel cover instead of water jacket of original Maxim; the barrel itself was shortened. A rifle stock and a folding bipod with tubular legs replaced the spade grips and wheeled carriage. The canvas belt capacity was reduced to 100 rounds. Maxim-Tokarev satisfied Red Army only marginally so it was manufactured only in small numbers (according to various sources, about 2,400 or about 3,500). When DP-27 was produced in large numbers, MT was dismissed from service. Most of MTs was sold to Republican Spain and China.
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Notation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sniper | German troops | Stands for some German machine gun | 1931 | |
| Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre | Japanese troops | Captured from Chinese troops | 1995 |
Type 24 Heavy Machine Gun
The Type 24 Heavy Machine Gun is the Chinese variant of the Maxim, and can be identified by the muzzle disk mounted on the barrel just ahead of the water jacket. Originally adopted in 1935 chambered for the 7.92x57mm Mauser, after the Chinese Civil War a variant chambered for the 7.62x54mmR Russian cartridge was developed.
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Notation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Red Detachment of Women (Hong se niang zi jun) | Kuomintang troops | 1961 | ||
| Assembly (Ji jie hao) | Gu's company | Barrel is in the center of the water jacket, which appears to be incorrect | 2007 | |
| Assembly (Ji jie hao) | Lu | Barrel is in the center of the of the water jacket, which appears to be incorrect | 2007 | |
| Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen | Japanese troops | 2010 | ||
| Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen | French troops | 2010 | ||
| Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen | German troops | 2010 | ||
| Death and Glory in Changde | Chinese soldiers | Tripod mounted | 2010 | |
| Shaolin | 2011 |