Maxim machine gun 1910. History of the Maxim machine gun - who is the creator and how the weapon works. History of creation and production
, plant No. 106, plant No. 385, plant No. 524, plant No. 535, plant No. 536.
rounds/min
bullets, m/s
Maxim machine gun model 1910(GRAU index - 56-P-421 listen)) is a heavy machine gun, a variant of the British Maxim machine gun, widely used by the Russian and Red armies during World War I and World War II. The machine gun was used to destroy open group targets and enemy fire weapons at a distance of up to 1000 m.
Story
After a successful demonstration of the machine gun in Switzerland, Italy and Austria-Hungary, Hiram Maxim came to Russia with a demonstration example of a .45 caliber (11.43 mm) machine gun.
In 1887, the Maxim machine gun was tested under the 10.67 mm Berdan rifle cartridge with black powder.
Vickers, Sons & Maxim began supplying Maxim machine guns to Russia. The machine guns were delivered to St. Petersburg in May 1899. The Russian navy also became interested in the new weapon; it ordered two more machine guns for testing.
To increase the reliability of the automatic operation of the 7.62 mm machine gun, a “muzzle accelerator” was introduced into the design - a device designed to use the energy of powder gases to increase recoil force. The front of the barrel was thickened to increase the muzzle area and then a muzzle cap was attached to the water casing. The pressure of the powder gases between the muzzle and the cap acted on the muzzle of the barrel, pushing it back and helping it roll back faster.
In 1901, the 7.62-mm Maxim machine gun on an English-style wheeled carriage was adopted by the ground forces; during this year, the first 40 Maxim machine guns entered the Russian army. Overall, during -1904 291 machine guns were purchased.
The machine gun (the mass of which on a heavy carriage with large wheels and a large armored shield was 244 kg) was assigned to the artillery. The machine guns were planned to be used for the defense of fortresses, to repel massive enemy infantry attacks with fire from pre-equipped and protected positions. This approach may cause confusion: even during the Franco-Prussian War, French mitrailleuses, used in an artillery manner, that is, with batteries, were suppressed by Prussian counter-battery fire due to the obvious superiority of artillery over small-caliber weapons in terms of range.
In March 1904, a contract was signed for the production of Maxim machine guns at the Tula Arms Plant. The cost of production of the Tula machine gun (942 rubles + 80 pounds sterling commission to the Vickers company, about 1,700 rubles in total) was cheaper than the cost of acquisition from the British (2,288 rubles 20 kopecks per machine gun). In May 1904, the Tula Arms Plant began mass production machine guns.
At the beginning of 1909 the main thing artillery department announced a competition for the modernization of the machine gun, as a result of which in August 1910 a modified version of the machine gun was adopted for service: the 7.62-mm Maxim machine gun of the 1910 model, which was modernized at the Tula Arms Plant under the guidance of masters I. A. Pastukhov, I. A. Sudakova and P.P. Tretyakov. The weight of the machine gun body was reduced and some details were changed: a number of bronze parts were replaced with steel, sights changed to match the ballistics of the Model 1908 pointed bullet cartridge, changed the receiver to fit the new cartridge, and also widened the muzzle sleeve opening. The English wheeled carriage was replaced by a lightweight wheeled carriage by A. A. Sokolov, and the English-style armor shield was replaced with an armored shield of reduced dimensions. In addition, A. A. Sokolov designed cartridge boxes, a gig for transporting cartridges, and sealed cylinders for boxes with cartridges.
Maxim machine gun mod. 1910 with the machine weighed 62.66 kg (and together with the liquid poured into the casing to cool the barrel - 67.6 kg).
Mechanism
The automatic machine gun operates on the principle of using the recoil of the barrel.
The design of the Maxim machine gun: the barrel is coated on the outside with a thin layer of copper to protect it from rust. A casing is placed on the barrel, filled with water to cool the barrel. Water is poured through a tube connected to the casing by a pipe with a tap. To release water there is a hole closed with a screw cap. The casing has a steam outlet pipe through which steam escapes from it when firing through a hole in the muzzle (closed with a plug). A short, movable tube is placed on the tube. At elevation angles, it lowers and closes the lower hole of the tube, as a result of which water cannot enter this latter, and the steam accumulated in the upper part of the casing will enter through the upper hole into the tube and then exit through the tube to the outside. The opposite will happen at declination angles. To wind the front and rear oil seals, twisted asbestos thread impregnated with gun grease is used.
A frame is attached to the trunk (Fig. 4, 5), consisting of two slats. The front ends are put on the axles of the barrel, and the rear ends are put on the axles of the bloodworm. The crank is connected by a hinge to the connecting rod, and this latter is connected to a lock. To the frame (Fig. 4, 5, 7) of the lock, which has two cheeks, are attached on pins from the outside: lock levers, crank levers; inside - the lower trigger, the boot, the trigger, the safety trigger with its spring and the mainspring. A combat cylinder is placed on the front of the castle so that it can move up and down relative to it. Its upward movement is limited by the protrusion, and its downward movement by the rod. Lock lever head AND is put on the front end of the connecting rod (Fig. 6) and when it is rotated 60° relative to the connecting rod, its three sector protrusions extend beyond the corresponding protrusions of the head of the lock levers. This way the locking levers, and therefore the lock, will be connected to the connecting rod. The lock can slide its protrusions along the frame in its grooves formed by the ribs. The protrusions of the frame (Fig. 3, 4, 5) fit into the slots on the side walls of the box. These slots D covered with slats. The lugs on the box serve to strengthen the machine gun on the carriage. The side walls and bottom of the box are one piece. On the inside of these walls of the box at the beginning and at the end there are grooves in the form of a swallow's tail. The front wall of the box, which is integral with the casing, is pushed into the front ones using corresponding protrusions, and the butt plate is pushed into the rear ones. The front wall has two through channels. A barrel is inserted into the upper one, and spent cartridges pass through the lower one, and a spring prevents the cartridges from falling inside the box. The trigger lever is attached to the buttplate by an axis, the lower end of which is connected by a hinge to the rod. The trigger rod is secured at the bottom of the box with two rivets and so that it can move slightly along the box. The box is closed with a hinged lid Sh with latch Sh. The lid has a press that does not allow the lock E rise up when it comes out of the grooves with its ribs when the barrel moves back. On the left side wall of the box (Fig. 3, 8) there is a box mounted on spikes. It is connected to the front wall with a screw 6 spiral (return) spring 7 . Screw 6 serves to regulate the degree of spring tension. The other end grabs it with its hook by the chain, and this latter, in turn, is connected with the eccentric rush of the bloodworm IN(Fig. 5). The receiver (Fig. 3, 4, 11) is inserted into the slots on the side walls of the box. It has a two-finger and a heel slider. A crank lever is placed on the heel, the other end of which goes into the frame cutout (Fig. 5). At the bottom of the receiver (Fig. 11) there are two more fingers, which, like the upper ones, have springs.
Machine gun action
The automatic action of the machine gun is based on the recoil of the bolt and the barrel coupled to it under the pressure of powder gases. Having rolled back a certain distance, the bolt and barrel disengage and move independently of each other.
In the position in Fig. 4 machine gun is ready to fire. To fire a shot, you must raise the safety lever I and press the upper end of the trigger lever. Then the rod will move back and with its protrusion will turn the lower descent P, which will free the ankle. The trigger is no longer held by the ankle, under the action of the mainspring ABOUT will move forward and break the cartridge primer (Fig. 10). The bullet flies out of the barrel through the hole in the steel muzzle plug. Powder gases will push the barrel and frame back and exit through the muzzle holes. To increase the recoil energy, a muzzle is used, and the barrel in the muzzle is thickened. Bloodworm IN rests against the edge and cannot rise up, so the lock in this position of the bloodworm will only move backwards together with the frame and barrel. If, after the shot, the lock was immediately thrown away from the barrel by powder gases, the cartridge case would be torn apart.
The spring, unlike most systems, works in tension, not compression. The barrel with the shank then stops, and the bolt (“lock”) connected to the lever pair continues to move backward, simultaneously removing a new cartridge from the tape and a spent cartridge case from the barrel. When the moving system rolls forward, a new cartridge is lowered to the barrel line and sent into the chamber, and the spent cartridge case is fed into the cartridge outlet channel located below the barrel. The spent cartridges are thrown forward from the weapon, under the barrel. To implement such a feeding scheme, the shutter mirror has a T-shaped vertical groove for the flanges of the sleeves, and during the rollback process it moves down and up, respectively.
When the barrel and frame move backwards, the following happens: the handle G bloodworm (Fig. 3) slides along the roller X(attached to the axis of the right bar 12) and, thanks to its outline, will lower the bloodworm down. This movement of the bloodworm will cause the lock to accelerate its movement relative to the frame, while the lock will slide along the frame with its edges towards (Fig. 4, 5, 7, 9, 10) in the grooves 23 and separates from the trunk. Combat larva TO holds the cartridges located in the chamber of the barrel and in the receiver, capturing with its ribs L for the rims of the cartridges. At the moment of recoil, the combat larva pulls the cartridge from the receiver and, when the lock is separated from the barrel, the spent cartridge case from the chamber. The cartridge and sleeve are held in the appropriate places on the cylinder by latches M And N with springs and cannot lower relative to it. When lowering the bloodworm head I lock levers presses on the ankle, and this latter will pull the trigger back. Safety release P under the influence of its spring, its protrusion jumps over the protrusion 24 trigger The ankle is held in the retracted position by the lower trigger of the machine gun. Fighting larva, sliding along the ledges ABOUT the side walls of the box with their protrusions R, towards the end of the movement it will fall down due to its own gravity and under the influence of springs WITH, mounted on the box lid, until its protrusions R won't fall on your ribs E frames In this position of the combat larva, the new cartridge will be against the chamber, and the sleeve against the outlet channel 2 . When the frame moves backwards, the coil spring 7 stretches and when the bloodworm turns, the chain 8 winds around the eccentric tide of bloodworms. The frame when moving backwards with its cutout 17 (Fig. 5) turns the bell crank 15 (Fig. 11) so that the slider 13 moves to the right and his upper fingers 16 go for the next cartridge.
Power scheme
When recoil ends, the coil spring 7 compresses and returns the frame with the barrel to its original position. Lever G, sliding along the roller X, turns the crank, causing the lock to fit the barrel, a new cartridge enters the chamber, and the sleeve into the output channel. Crank lever 15 , turning, advances the slider into the receiver 13 , and this last one with his fingers 16 will move the tape to the left so that the new cartridge falls into the receiver socket R. Before the end of the lock movement E lock levers AND by clicking on the cutouts 25 (Fig. 7), turn the crank arms L, as a result of which the combat larva rises to its upper position and will be held in it by a spring AND(Fig. 5). The fighting larva, rising, will grab with its ribs L by the edge of the new cartridge lying in the receiver, and it is held in place by a latch M, and now located in the chamber with a latch N. With further movement of the lock, the lock levers slide into the second cutout 26 crank levers and, pressing on these latter, will send the lock close to the barrel. When the bloodworm stops moving, the head I lock levers (Fig. 4) will raise the end of the safety trigger and release the trigger, which is now held in the cocked position only by the lower trigger. At the same time the handle G(Fig. 3) jumps over the delay ledge F and therefore cannot be reflected forward. By pressing the end of the trigger lever, we will fire again. With continuous squeezing, shooting will also continue continuously. The ballistic data of a machine gun is almost the same as that of a shotgun.
The cartridges are inserted into the sockets of cartridge (canvas) tapes, 450 pieces each. The tape is placed in ammunition box(Fig. 11). Firing speed - up to 600 rounds per minute. The barrel gets very hot during shooting and after 600 shots the water in the casing boils. IN winter time It was recommended to use liquids consisting of glycerin and water instead of water in a ratio of 50/50 at temperatures up to 30 °C and 60/40 at temperatures below 30 °C. It was not allowed to use sea water or water from salt lakes (thus one can cast doubt on some myths about pouring urine into the casing in the absence of water, although it is impossible to exclude any kind of amateur activity). If there was no glycerin, it was possible to use glycerin liquids Steol and Steol M, which are used in recoil devices for artillery systems. There was no need to dilute these liquids with water. In extreme cases, it was possible to use a cooling mixture of water and alcohol in a ratio of 65/35. At temperatures below minus 30° C, the alcohol content in the mixture should have been increased to 50%. The disadvantages include the complexity of the mechanism and a large number of small parts, as a result of which delays during firing are possible due to their malfunctioning. After a large number of shots, the muzzle becomes clogged with small particles of bullet casing, flying out along with the powder gases, and impedes the movement of the barrel.
Combat use in World War I
Maxim machine gun in action (1916-1917)
Captured Russian Maxim machine guns mod. 1910 on a horse-drawn carriage in Berlin
The Maxim machine gun was the only type of machine gun produced in the Russian Empire during the First World War. By the time mobilization was announced, in July 1914, the Russian army had 4,157 machine guns in service (833 machine guns were not enough to meet the planned needs of the troops). At the same time, Russia was ahead of all European armies in the number of machine guns per division: Russia - 32 machine guns, England, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary - 24 each, USA - 18, Italy - 8. However, during the First World War the situation changed dramatically.
After the start of the war, the Russian Ministry of War ordered an increase in the production of machine guns, but it was very difficult to cope with the task of supplying the army with machine guns, since in Russia machine guns were produced in insufficient quantities, and all foreign machine gun factories were loaded to the limit. In general, during the war, Russian industry produced 27,571 machine guns for the army (828 units in the second half of 1914, 4,251 units in 1915, 11,072 units in 1916, 11,420 units in 1917) , but production volumes were insufficient and could not meet the needs of the army.
In 1915, they adopted and began production of a simplified machine gun of the Kolesnikov system model 1915.
Combat use in the Civil War
During civil war Maxim machine gun mod. 1910 was the main type of machine gun of the Red Army. In addition to machine guns from the warehouses of the Russian army and trophies captured during the fighting, in 1918-1920 at arms factories Soviet Russia 21 thousand new machine guns mod. were produced for the Red Army. 1910, several thousand more were repaired
In the 1920-1930s in the USSR
Soldiers and commanders of the Red Army with a Maxim machine gun, late 1920s - early 1930s
In the 1920s, based on the design of the machine gun, new types of weapons were developed in the USSR: the Maxim-Tokarev light machine gun and the PV-1 aircraft machine gun.
In 1930, a twin anti-aircraft machine gun mount of the 1930 model with an anti-aircraft sight mod. 1929.
In 1931, a quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun installation of Maxim M4 machine guns of the 1930 model with a ring anti-aircraft sight was adopted.
The cost of one Maxim machine gun on a Sokolov machine (with a set of spare parts) in 1939 was 2,635 rubles; the cost of a Maxim machine gun on a universal machine (with a set of spare parts) is 5960 rubles; the cost of a 250-cartridge belt is 19 rubles
Maxim machine gun mod. 1910/1930
During the combat use of the Maxim machine gun, it became clear that in most cases fire was fired at a distance of 800 to 1000 meters, and at such a range there was no noticeable difference in the trajectory of light and heavy bullets.
In the 1930s, under the leadership of S. A. Ivanenko, a remote-controlled version of the Maxim machine gun with wire control was developed.
In 1936, engineer M.I. Popov developed the “Luch” system, which provided the ability to fire from a Maxim machine gun on a Sokolov machine gun along a predetermined line with automatic horizontal dispersion. In January-March 1937, the Luch system was tested at the Scientific Testing Site small arms Red Army.
By the end of the 1930s, the design of the machine gun was obsolete, primarily due to heavy weight and size.
During Finnish war 1939-1940 combat capabilities Not only designers and manufacturers tried to improve the performance of the Maxim machine gun, but also directly in the troops. In winter, the machine gun was mounted on skis, sleds or drag boats, on which the machine gun was moved through the snow and from which they fired, if necessary. In addition, in the winter of 1939-1940, cases were noted when machine gunners mounted on the armor of tanks installed Maxim machine guns on the roofs of tank turrets and fired at the enemy, supporting the advancing infantry.
In 1940, in the barrel water cooling casing for quick water changes, the small diameter water filling hole was replaced with a wide neck. This innovation was borrowed from the Finnish Maxim ( Maxim M32-33) and made it possible to solve the problem of the crew’s lack of access to coolant in winter; now the casing could be filled with ice and snow.
After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, in June 1941, the DS-39 was discontinued and enterprises were ordered to resume the curtailed production of Maxim machine guns.
Maxim machine gun as a means of military air defense
Based on the design of the machine gun, single, twin and quad anti-aircraft machine gun mounts were developed, which were the most common weapon in army air defense. For example, the quad M4 anti-aircraft machine gun mount of the 1931 model differed from the conventional Maxim machine gun in the presence of a forced water circulation device, a larger capacity of machine gun belts (for 500 rounds instead of the usual 250) and an anti-aircraft ring sight. The installation was intended for firing at enemy aircraft (at altitudes up to 1400 m at speeds up to 500 km/h). The M4 installation was widely used as a stationary, ship-mounted one, installed in the bodies of cars, on armored trains, motorized armored cars of the Kirov plant, railway platforms, and roofs of buildings.
Twin and quad mounts of Maxim machine guns were also successfully used to fire at ground targets (in particular, to repel enemy infantry attacks). Thus, during the Finnish war of 1939-1940, units of the 34th tank brigade of the Red Army, which were surrounded in the Lemitte-Uomas area, successfully repelled several attacks by Finnish infantry, using two twin installations as mobile firing points anti-aircraft machine guns Maxima mounted on semi-trucks.
Application in the Great Patriotic War
The Maxim machine gun was actively used in the Great Patriotic War. It was in service with rifle and mountain rifle units, border guards, the navy, and was installed on armored trains, Willys and GAZ-64 jeeps.
In May 1942, by order of the People's Commissar of Armaments of the USSR D.F. Ustinov, a competition was announced for the development of a new heavy machine gun for the Red Army (to replace the Maxim machine gun model 1910/30), work to reduce the weight of the machine gun continued in the following years: in 43- The 1st Rifle Division of the Leningrad Front (which fought in forested and swampy areas) developed a lightweight tripod for the Maxim machine gun weighing 5.6 kg, which was produced for the troops of the Leningrad Front; in 1944, an improved tripod for the Maxim machine gun was developed in the 18th Army .
On May 15, 1943, the Goryunov SG-43 heavy machine gun with an air barrel cooling system was adopted into service with the Red Army, which began to enter service with the troops in June 1943. But the Maxim machine gun remained the main heavy machine gun of the Red Army until the end of the war and continued to be produced by enterprises within the People's Commissariat of Armaments - at plant No. 74 and plant No. 524 in Izhevsk, plant No. 535 and plant No. 536 in Tula, plant No. 66 and plant No. 385 in Zlatoust, plant number 106 in Khabarovsk.
The largest manufacturer of machine guns was the Tula Arms Plant (TOZ, plant No. 536 in the USSR), which even in pre-war times ensured the production of 8637 Maxim machine guns per year (1933). Production figures for Maxim machine guns reached 4900 per month in December 1944. In January 1945, Chairman of the State Defense Committee I.V. Stalin ordered to reduce the production of Maxim machine guns to 1000 per month. Izhevsk became largest producer wartime - about 77,000 machine guns produced there at the end of World War II. By April 1945, the Tula Arms Plant had produced about 51,000 machine guns, while the Leningrad Machine-Building Plant had produced only 1,975 machine guns.
Operating countries
- Russian empire
- Germany: captured machine guns were used during the First World War.
- USSR
- Poland: in 1918-1920, a number of Russian Maxim machine guns mod. 1910 (under the name Maxim wz. 1910) was in service with the Polish army; after the 7.92×57 mm cartridge was adopted as standard rifle-machine-gun ammunition in 1922, a number of machine guns were converted to this cartridge, they received the name Maxim wz. 1910/28(in 1936 there were 1853 of them, in 1937 1852 were sold to Spain)
- Finland: after the declaration of Finnish independence in 1918, up to 600 7.62 mm Maxim machine guns of the 1910 model entered service with the emerging units Finnish army, another 163 were sold by Germany; they were used under the name Maxim m/1910, in the 1920s, machine guns were purchased abroad (for example, in 1924, 405 were purchased in Poland); in 1932, a modernized machine gun was adopted Maxim M/32-33 powered by a metal belt, some of the machine guns installed in pillboxes were equipped with forced water cooling of the barrel. By the winter of 1939, Maxim machine guns of various modifications still made up the vast majority of heavy machine guns in the Finnish army. They were used in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. and the “continuation war” 1941-1944.
- : in 1918-1922 a number of Russian Maxim machine guns mod. 1910 entered service with paramilitary forces in China (in particular, Zhang Zuolin received them from those who retreated to northern China white emigrants)
- Bulgaria: in 1921-1923 a number of Russian 7.62 mm Maxim machine guns mod. 1910 came into the possession of the Bulgarian army after the disarmament of units of Wrangel’s army that arrived in Bulgaria.
- Second Spanish Republic : After the outbreak of the Spanish War in 1936, 3,221 machine guns were purchased by the government of the Spanish Republic.
- MPR
- Germany: captured Soviet Maxim machine guns (under the name MG 216(r)) were used by the Wehrmacht and entered service with paramilitary and security police forces in the occupied territory of the USSR.
- Czechoslovakia: in January 1942, the first 12 Maxim machine guns were received by the 1st Czechoslovak separate infantry battalion, and later by other Czechoslovak units.
- Poland: in 1943, the 1st Polish Infantry Division named after T. Kosciuszko received Soviet machine guns, and later other Polish units (in 1950 there were 2503 of them)
- Ukraine: as of August 15, 2011, there were 35,000 pieces in the custody of the Ministry of Defense. machine guns; On October 8-9, 2014, it was used by volunteer battalions during the battles for the Donetsk airport; at the beginning of December 2014, another machine gun was seized by SBU officers from DPR supporters in the Slavyansk area. Maxim machine guns of the 1910 model (released in 1944) are used by units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces participating in the armed conflict in the Donbass.
Maxim machine gun model 1910 in comparison with other machine guns
| Name | A country | Cartridge | Length, mm | Weight, kg | Rate of fire, rds/min | Sighting range, m | Initial bullet speed, m/s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maxim machine gun model 1910 | Russian empire
, USSR |
7.62×54 mm R | 1067 | 64,3 | 600 | 2000 | 865 (bullet model 1908) 800 (heavy bullet model 1931) |
| Schwarzlose machine gun | Austria-Hungary | 8×50 mm R Mannlicher | 945 | 41,4 | 400-580 | 2000 | 610 |
| MG 08 | Germany | 7.92×57 mm | 1190 | 64 | 500-600 | 2400 | 815 |
| Vickers |
Machine guns "Maxim"
Machine gun of the H. Maxim system, model 1910/30
The Maxim machine gun, model 1910, is a Russian version of the British machine gun, which was modernized at the Tula Arms Plant under the leadership of masters I. Pastukhov, I. Sudakov and P. Tretyakov. The body weight of the machine gun was reduced and some details were changed: the adoption of a cartridge with a pointed bullet of the 1908 model made it necessary to change the sighting devices in the machine gun and remake the receiver so that it would fit the new cartridge. The English wheeled carriage was replaced with a lightweight wheeled carriage by A. Sokolov. In addition, A. Sokolov designed cartridge boxes, a gig for transporting cartridges, and sealed cylinders for boxes with cartridges. Some machine guns had a casing with longitudinal fins, which increased rigidity and increased the cooling surface, but fins had to be abandoned to simplify production. ( S. Fedoseev. Machine gun "Maxim" model 1910)
Maxim machine guns were used during the First World War and the Civil War; they were used as heavy machine guns and installed on armored cars, armored trains and carts. In 1929, a pilot batch with a corrugated casing was produced, according to some sources with a wide neck, but it was not accepted for production. ( S. L. Fedoseev. "Russian machine guns. Heavy fire"). In 1930, the Maxim was modernized in connection with the adoption of a new cartridge with a heavy bullet. A corrugated casing is also introduced to make the machine gun lighter. The modernized machine gun was called the "7.62 heavy machine gun of the Maxim system, model 1910/30."
Main tactical and technical characteristics:
Maxim machine gun body weight with coolant - 24.2 kg
Weight of Sokolov's machine with shield - 43.4 kg
Machine gun body length - 1107 mm
The maximum width of the machine gun is 140 mm
Rate of fire - 500-600 rounds per minute
Maximum bullet range:
heavy model 1930 - up to 5000 m
light model 1908 - up to 3500 m
The Maxim machine gun model 1910/30 belongs to automatic weapon systems with barrel recoil (short stroke). Locking is carried out by a crank-type mechanism (connecting rod and crank). The machine gun's trigger mechanism is designed for automatic fire only and has a safety device against accidental shots. The machine gun is fed with cartridges from a slide-type receiver with a metal or canvas belt for 250 rounds. When firing, the barrel is cooled by a liquid placed in the casing. The machine gun sight is rack-mounted, the front sight has a rectangular top.
By the end of the 30s, the design of the machine gun was considered obsolete for rifle units. The time of the carts had passed, and the machine gun was powerless against tanks. One of the disadvantages was its former advantage, which allowed continuous shooting - water cooling of the barrel. It significantly increased the weight of the weapon, damage to the casing led to water pouring out, a decrease in the speed and accuracy of fire, and after some time led to the failure of the machine gun. The machine gun became especially inconvenient when operating in the mountains and on the offensive. The machine gun with the machine weighed about 65 kg, the weight of the box with cartridge belt was from 9.88 to 10.3 kilograms, the box with spare parts was 7.2 kilograms. Each heavy machine gun carried a combat set of cartridges, 12 boxes with machine gun belts, two spare barrels, one box with spare parts, one box with accessories, three cans for water and lubricant, and an optical machine gun sight. ( From a manual for an infantry fighter. Chapter 12. Service of a heavy machine gun. 1940). This weight significantly reduced the maneuverability of the machine gun during battle, and the protruding shield made camouflage difficult. On the march, the machine gun was serviced by a team of 5-7 people ( machine gun compartment), during the battle - from 2-3 people.
The need for a link metal tape was recognized. This tape was used in aircraft machine gun PV-1, created on the basis of the Maxim. The fact that this tape was not accepted for ground machine guns is explained by the lack of stamping and pressing equipment allowing its mass production.
To replace the Maxim, on September 22, 1939, a new air-cooled machine gun, the Degtyarev easel model of 1939, was put into service. But the Tula Arms Plant continued to produce Maxims of the 1910/30 model - in 1940, 4049 Maxim machine guns were produced; in terms of orders from the People's Commissariat of Defense for land weapons, 3000 pieces were planned for 1941 ( S. L. Fedoseev. Russian machine guns. Heavy fire). Structurally, the DS-39 machine guns turned out to be unfinished; in June 1941 they were discontinued, and production of Maxims began to increase with the beginning of the war. But already in October 1941, the production of machine guns dropped sharply due to the evacuation of factories.
The main manufacturer of heavy machine guns was the Tula Machine-Building Plant No. 66. In October 1941, due to the approach of Nazi troops to Tula, the equipment of the plant No. 66 was evacuated to the Urals. The production of machine guns declined sharply. During the siege of Tula (November - December 1941), on the basis of the Tula Arms Factory and using equipment collected from other enterprises of the city, among other weapons, 224 Degtyarev heavy machine guns and 71 Maxim system machine guns were assembled. in the last quarter of 1941, instead of the planned 12 thousand Maxim machine guns, the front received 867. For the entire 1941, 9691 Maxim machine guns and 3717 DS machine guns were produced. S. L. Fedoseev. Russian machine guns. Heavy fire).
From October 4 to October 12, 1941, engineers Yu.A. Kozarin and I.E. Lubenets under the leadership of chief designer A.A. Tronenkov at the Tula Arms Plant undertook another modernization of the Maxim machine gun in accordance with new combat, production and economic requirements. To fill the casing with ice and snow, it was equipped with a wide neck with a hinged lid - this solution was borrowed from the Finnish Maxim M32-33, which the Soviet army had to face in 1940. The machine gun was equipped with a simplified sight with one sighting bar instead of two, which were previously replaced depending on the firing of a light or heavy bullet; the bracket for the optical sight was removed from the machine gun, since the latter was not attached to the machine gun.
For using metal and canvas tapes I.E. Lubenets developed a milled receiver; for ease of unloading, it was equipped with a special switch for the upper fingers. But, in order to make maximum use of the significant reserves of canvas tapes, receivers only for them continued to be produced throughout the war. Then, in October, the People's Commissariat of Armaments and the State Autonomous Administration approved design changes, but improvements continued. Since 1942, receivers began to be produced from silumin by injection molding or from broached steel.
The Maxim machine gun of the 1910 model was a modernized version of the machine gun of the 1905 model. Its serial production was carried out at the Imperial Tula Arms Factory (ITOZ) from May 1905 under a license from Maxim, Vickers and Suns (England). The main role in finalizing the systems of both Maxim models and putting machine guns into production belonged to Guard Colonel Tretyakov and senior class master Pastukhov, who served at ITOZ. The essence of the modernization, which was carried out in 1909, was to create a lighter machine gun. Some parts made of bronze (barrel casing, receiver, handles, etc.) were replaced with steel ones. The sight, parts of the casing and box, the trigger rod, and the butt plate were also changed. The first two modernized Tula gunsmiths machine guns were submitted for testing on June 15, 1909 (where they became competitors of the new Vickers machine gun). After appropriate modifications, the Tula “light” machine gun was adopted for service, giving it the designation “Maxim heavy machine gun of the 1910 model” with a field wheeled machine gun of Colonel Sokolov. Serial production of the new modification of the Maxim and the machine began in 1911. The 1910 model machine gun was indeed significantly improved compared to the prototype, primarily in technologically, but it is hardly correct to say that “Russian technicians created, in fact, new machine gun"established in Russian literature.
The machine gun consisted of: barrel; a frame that included a locking mechanism, a drum, a handle and a chain; shutter (lock) with impact mechanism, combat cylinder, lifting and locking levers; trigger pull; box (riveted) with a hinged lid; butt plate with safety catch, trigger lever and control handles; return spring with casing (box); a receiver having a tape feeding mechanism; barrel casing with sleeve and steam outlet tube, drain and fill holes; sighting devices; muzzle
The automatic system implemented a barrel recoil scheme with a short stroke. The barrel bore was locked by a system consisting of two articulated levers. The connecting rod (front lever) was connected to the bolt with a flat hinge, and the crank (rear lever) was also hinged at the rear of the frame, that is, the frame was receiver. At the right end of the bloodworm axis there was a swinging handle, at the left there was an eccentric (drum) with a Gall chain, which was connected to the return spring. The return spring was mounted in a separate box located on the left wall of the Maxima box. The lock was equipped with a drummer with a double-leaf mainspring. The combat cylinder, which had grips to hold the cartridge case, slid vertically in the grooves of the lock and had a hole for the firing pin to pass through, so the shot could only be fired if the cylinder was in a certain position. The drummer cocked his ankle. At the same time, the upper safety release captured him. The ankle, with its combat platoon, stood on the lower descent.
The trigger lever, which had a finger button, was placed between the control handles and was held in place by a safety lock. A canvas cartridge strip was inserted into the transverse window of the receiver on the right. The tape nests were separated by metal plates fastened with rivets. In this case, the rivets were placed with a slight interference fit, which made it possible to firmly hold the cartridge in the socket. The cartridge box was installed separately from the machine gun. For reliable operation of the feed, the second number supported the tape with his hands in the correct position. The weight of the canvas tape was 1.1 kg. The cutout wall of the left frame of the receiver frame activated the feed mechanism. On the first Maxim machine guns of the 1910 model, a reel was installed on the box, designed to direct the canvas tape to the receiver. Later the coil was moved to the shield.
The shot was fired from a closed bolt. It was necessary to lift the safety and press the trigger lever. At the same time, the trigger rod moved back, pulling the tail of the lower trigger, which released the ankle. The firing pin passed through the hole in the cylinder, breaking the cartridge primer. The lock, under the influence of recoil, tried to move back, transferring pressure to the crank and connecting rod. The crank and connecting rod formed an angle, the apex of which was facing upward, and rested against the protrusions of the frame with their hinge. The barrel and frame with the lock moved backwards. After the movable system had traveled about 20 millimeters, the handle ran onto the fixed roller of the box and rose, turning the crank down. As a result, the lever system straightened and the lock was pressed more closely to the bore. After the bullet had ejected, the powder gases entered the muzzle, pressing on the front section of the barrel, and the moving system received an additional impulse. The design of the Russian-style muzzle was developed by Zhukov and finalized by Pastukhov. The barrel, moving back, opened transverse holes in the muzzle, through which excess powder gases were discharged. By turning, the handle caused the levers to fold down and move away from the lock barrel. In this case, the handle acted as an accelerator of the lock, transferring to it the kinetic energy of recoil and braking the frame and barrel. The lock cylinder, holding the spent cartridge case by the rim, removed it from the chamber. When lowering the connecting rod, the tube of the locking levers pressed on the tail of the ankle, which, turning, cocked the striker. The lifting levers lifted the larva, capturing the next cartridge from the receiver window (the window was longitudinal). During the further movement of the system backwards, curved leaf springs located on the inside of the box lid lowered the cylinder. Simultaneously with this cranked lever, the slider of the feed mechanism was moved to the right. The slider's fingers jumped for the next cartridge. When the handle was turned, the chain wound around the drum, stretching the return spring. The weight of the barrel was 2.105 kilograms, the moving system - 4.368 kilograms. The rear stroke length of the barrel was 26 millimeters, the lock relative to the barrel was up to 95 millimeters. Coordination of the movement of the lock and the barrel was achieved by adjusting the tension of the return spring.
Operation of the automatic system of the Maxim machine gun
At the end of the rotation, the handle hit the roller with its short shoulder and began a reverse rotation (early samples of the Maxim machine gun had a separate spring for this). The moving system moved forward under the action of the return spring. The lock sent the cartridge into the chamber, and the spent cartridge was sent into the cartridge outlet tube, from where it was pushed out during the next cycle. The crank lever shifted the slide to the left, and it advanced the next cartridge to the receiver window. When turning the crank and connecting rod, the tail of the safety release was raised by the tube of the locking levers. When the combat larva stood opposite the striker with its hole, the upper trigger released the firing pin and, if the trigger lever was pressed, a shot was fired.
The machine gun consisted of 368 parts. The maximum gas pressure in the barrel was about 2850 kg/sq.cm, and the average was about 1276 kg/sq.cm. During training, a blank firing bushing was used, which was screwed into the muzzle. When the mainspring broke, the debris was removed through the bottom of the box.
The Maxim machine gun of the 1910 model had a rack-mounted sight mounted on the lid of the box. On the rack there was an aiming bar, which had divisions for aiming at range. On the transverse tube of the clamp, divisions were marked along which the rear sight was installed. The front sight of a triangular cross-section was inserted into a groove on the casing. The length of the aiming line was 911 millimeters. The height of the front sight above the axis of the bore was 102.5 millimeters, so big influence Accuracy was influenced by the accuracy of the casing's fastening. The sight was set to a range of up to 3.2 thousand steps (2270 meters), but the effective range did not exceed 1.5 thousand meters.
The capacity of the casing was about 4.5 liters. Some machine guns had casings with longitudinal fins, which increased rigidity and increased the cooling surface, but fins were abandoned in favor of simplifying production. Canvas or rubber hoses used in some armies to vent steam into the atmosphere or into a condenser canister were used in the Russian army only in armored installations.
Armored trains were heavily armed with machine guns. Russian armored train of the Hunhuz type in Galicia, 1916. Both Maxim and captured Schwarzlose machine guns were used to arm such armored trains.
With the help of a crank mechanism, smooth and almost shockless operation of the automation was ensured. The use of the power supply system drive from the frame was rational from the point of view uniform distribution recoil energy. The Maxim system had high survivability and reliability, which ensured its exceptional longevity. Despite the fact that the external position of the handle was dangerous for the crew, it facilitated the assessment of the condition, as well as the determination and elimination of delays in firing. The production of a machine gun was quite complex and required not only high-quality steel and skilled workers, but also numerous special equipment. Some equipment was also required for assembly and initial running-in of the units.
Sokolov's machine, which he developed with the participation of Platonov, a master of the St. Petersburg gun factory, consisted of a frame with a trunk, wheels and a table. The rim and spokes of the wheels were made of oak, the tire was made of steel, and the nuts and bushings were made of bronze. The table carried a clamp-type swivel with a clamp, fine and coarse vertical aiming mechanisms, as well as a shield. The machine gun was attached to the swivel by the front eyes of the box. The lower eye connected the machine gun and the head of the lifting mechanism. Rough vertical alignment was carried out by moving the table along the arcs of the frame. In the first version of the machine, the frame had two foldable legs, a seat, and a roller at the end of the trunk. This design made it possible to fire from two positions and roll the machine gun by the strap. When carried, the legs folded back and the trunk forward. Later, the front legs, roller and seat were eliminated, and a small opener was strengthened at the end of the trunk. These changes have led to the fact that maximum angle elevation decreased to 18 degrees (from 27), and declination - to 19 degrees (from 56), shooting was carried out only from a prone position. The mass of a 6.5-mm shield measuring 505x400 millimeters was 8.0 kilograms (with a reel guiding the tape - 8.8 kilograms). It was believed that the shield would protect the machine gun crew from rifle bullets at a distance of over 50 meters. Although the convenience of a wheeled machine even on slightly rough terrain is questionable, in our country the addiction to them lasted a long time.
Installation of Maxim machine guns in the turrets of the Austin armored car built at the Putilov plant
Before the complete “victory” of Sokolov’s machines in Russia, several installations were used with the Maxim machine gun. The field and fortress wheeled carriages were removed from service before 1914, but the Vickers tripods of the 1904, 1909 and 1910 models remained.
The Vickers tripod of the 1904 model had a mass of 21 kilograms, the height of the firing line was 710 millimeters, the vertical guidance angle was from -20 to +15 degrees, the horizontal guidance was 45 degrees, its modification of the 1909 model, which had a new lifting mechanism, had a mass of 32 kilograms , vertical guidance angle - from 15 to +16 degrees, horizontal guidance - 52 degrees. The 1910 model tripod had a mass of 39 kilograms, the mass of the shield 534x400 millimeters was 7.4 kilograms, the vertical aiming angle was from -25 to +20 degrees, horizontal - 52 degrees, and occupied three fixed positions at the position.
In 1915, the Kolesnikov system, which was easier to manufacture and lighter, was added to the Maxim machine gun. This machine was produced by the Petrograd gun factory, Kyiv, Bryansk and Petrograd arsenals. The Izhevsk and Sormovo factories were engaged in the production of shields. Kolesnikov’s machine had a tubular boom with a coulter and rope loops instead of handles, 305 mm oak wheels with steel tires and hubs and bronze bushings, horizontal and vertical guidance mechanisms, and a shield mount. The disadvantage of the design was that the axis of the barrel bore was too high relative to the axes of the wheel travel and the vertical guidance mechanism. This increased dispersion during shooting. The mass of the machine was 30.7 kilograms, a 7-millimeter shield measuring 498x388 millimeters was 8.2 kilograms, the vertical guidance angle was from -25 to +32 degrees, and the horizontal guidance was 80 degrees. The machine consisted of 166 parts, including knitting needles. During the war, the machine gun and machine gun were painted in a protective color.
To save money during the training of machine gunners, instead of live cartridges, they used manufactured cartridges that had a reduced powder charge. A box of live ammunition intended for machine guns was marked with the letter “P” before being sent to the troops.
From foreign companies and domestic inventors there were received a large number of proposals regarding sights, as well as devices for conducting “hidden” firing from machine guns. The latter consisted of a periscope sight mounted on the parapet of the trench and an additional trigger lever. Such sights were tested, but not a single sample was accepted for service.
The pressing problem of firing at air targets has given rise to many different options for improvised anti-aircraft installations among the troops. For Sokolov’s machine, for example, they developed a stand with a clip for anti-aircraft shooting. In the fall of 1915, master Kolesnikov made a tripod “machine gun machine for firing at aircraft" The machine, developed in the workshops of the Rifle Range, provided large elevation angles and all-round fire, aiming was free, a clamp was used to fire “at the point,” and a butt could be attached. Titular Councilor Fedorov was represented by anti-aircraft gun, easily made from scrap materials. The machine gun was mounted on it with a Sokolov machine gun. This installation made it possible to fire at vertical guidance angles from +30 to +90 degrees. The 5th Department of Artcom decided to send descriptions of these installations to the troops, transferring them from “procurement” to their own discretion. The standard anti-aircraft machine gun mount was never transferred to the Russian Army.
Lieutenant General Kabakov, inspector of the rifle unit in the troops, on October 11, 1913, in a note to the Aeronautical Unit of the GUGSh, gave recommendations for converting the Maxim machine guns into aviation ones - although these recommendations were not implemented, however, five years later, similar changes were made by the Germans to the MG machine gun. 08/18.
The procedure for unloading the Maxim machine gun, model 1910: Press your fingers at the bottom of the receiver tray on the right side to remove the tape. Pull it back twice and then release the cocking handle located on the right side of the box. Using a pencil or other object suitable for this purpose, make sure that there is no cartridge or cartridge case in the under-barrel front tube. Raise the safety and press the release lever.
The procedure for partial disassembly of the Maxim heavy machine gun of the 1910 model with the Sokolov machine gun:
1. Before disassembling, drain the coolant from the casing. Separate the shield from the machine. To do this: loosen the nut of the connecting bolt; the tail of the bolt head is turned upward to a horizontal position; the shield is removed upwards.
2. Open the box lid by pushing the clasp forward with your thumbs.
3. The lock is removed. To do this: send the handle forward with your right hand until it stops; With your left hand you take the frame of the lock and lift it up a little; smoothly lowering the handle, the lock rises from the box; the lock turns and is removed from the connecting rod.
4. The firing pin is lowered to release the mainspring. To do this, it is necessary: holding the combat cylinder in the uppermost position, press the tube of the locking levers to the platform; release the hammer from the upper descent; by pressing on the tail of the lower trigger, smoothly release the firing pin.
5. The receiver is taken with both hands and pulled out upward.
6. The box with the return spring is separated. To do this, the box is moved forward so that the hooks come off the box spikes, after which the drum chain is removed from the return spring hook.
7. The butt plate extends. To do this, you need to squeeze the head of the split pin with your fingers, pulling it to the side; push the butt plate up by holding its handles with both hands (if it is difficult to extend the butt plate, you can use a special lever device).
8. Fold the handle forward, grasping the roller and the bolt, pull the right bolt to the right, grasping the left bolt from both sides from behind and pull it out.
9. The frame with the barrel is removed. To do this: the connecting rod will rise and rest on the crank; grab the handle with your right hand, fixing it (do not let it turn), grab the drum with your left hand, push the frame back; clasp the barrel and the extended end of the left frame with your left hand; remove the frame with the barrel from the box.
10. The barrel is separated from the frame. To do this: with your left hand grasping the end of the left frame and the barrel, with your right hand the right frame is moved to the side and removed from the barrel axle; after this the left frame is removed.
11. The trigger rod is removed. To do this, the rod is applied to itself, lifted upward by the end and removed from the box.
12. By turning to the right, the cap is removed from the muzzle; the bushing is unscrewed from the muzzle using two keys; The muzzle is unscrewed with a drill key.
Machine gun assembly procedure:
1. A rod is inserted into the box. Its hole is put on a spike in the bottom of the box, while the rod spike is inserted into the hole in the bottom of the box; the thrust moves forward all the way.
2. The barrel and frame are connected: take the barrel with the rear oil seal wound on it in left hand(the number should be turned up) and put the frame frame on the barrel axles - the left one, and then the right one.
3. Insert the barrel and frame: place the connecting rod on the crank; carefully slide the barrel into the casing and the frame into the box.
4. Lift the handle to insert the right latch; push in the left one.
5. Insert the butt plate. To do this, hold the buttplate by the handles and slide it onto the box slats using the grooves. In this case, it is necessary that the thrust be in the forward extreme position. Insert a pin on the right side.
6. Attach a box with a return spring. To do this, it is necessary to position the tension screw knob vertically; put the handle in place and put the drum chain on the hook of the spring (the spring is circled from below); holding the machine gun, move the box forward and place the box hooks on the box spikes.
7. Insert the receiver. To do this, the receiver is inserted with grooves into the upper cutouts of the box; The slider must be in the left position.
8. Screw in the muzzle. Wind the front seal onto the muzzle end of the barrel, screw the bushing into the muzzle, insert the muzzle into the hole in the casing, and then screw the muzzle.
9. Place a lock in the box. To do this, the connecting rod is raised, and the firing pin is cocked. After this, holding the lock with its horns forward and the combat cylinder upward, put the tube of the lock levers onto the connecting rod until it stops, turn the lock and place it in the box; While holding the lock, send the handle forward and release it. The lock should fit into the grooves of the frame ribs with its pad.
10. Close the box lid.
11. Raise the safety, press the release lever.
12. Place the cap on the muzzle.
Technical characteristics of the Maxim heavy machine gun, model 1905
Cartridge - 7.62 mm model 1891 (7.62x53);
The weight of the machine gun “body” (without coolant) is 28.25 kg;
The length of the machine gun “body” is 1086 mm;
Barrel length – 720 mm;
Initial bullet speed – 617 m/s;
Sighting range – 2000 steps (1422 m);
Rate of fire – 500-600 rounds/min;
Combat rate of fire – 250-300 per minute;
Belt capacity – 250 rounds.
Technical characteristics of the Maxim heavy machine gun, model 1910:
Cartridge - 62 mm model 1908 (7.62x53);
The weight of the machine gun “body” (without coolant) is 18.43 kg;
The length of the machine gun “body” is 1067 mm;
Barrel length – 720 mm;
Initial bullet speed – 665 m/s;
Rifling – 4 right-hand;
Rifling stroke length – 240 mm;
Initial bullet speed – 865 m/s;
Sighting range – 3200 steps (2270 m);
The longest firing range is 3900 m;
The maximum flight range of a bullet is 5000 m;
Direct shot range – 390 m;
Rate of fire – 600 rounds/min;
Combat rate of fire – 250-300 rounds/min;
Belt capacity – 250 rounds;
Weight of the loaded belt – 7.29 kg;
Tape length – 6060 mm.
Technical characteristics of the Sokolov machine:
Weight with shield – 43.5 kg;
Vertical guidance angle – from -19 to +18 degrees;
Horizontal guidance angle – 70 degrees;
The height of the firing line is about 500 mm;
The greatest length of the machine gun with the machine is 1350 mm;
Stroke width – 505 mm;
The distance from the center of gravity to the coulter is 745 mm.
Based on materials: S. Fedoseev - Machine guns in the First World War
The Maxim machine gun is a heavy machine gun developed by American-born British gunsmith Hiram Stevens Maxim in 1883. The Maxim machine gun became one of the founders of automatic weapons; it was widely used during the Boer War of 1899-1902, World War I and World War II, as well as in many minor wars and armed conflicts of the 20th century.
Maxim machine gun - video
The outdated but very reliable Maxim machine gun is found in hot spots around the world even today.
In 1873, American inventor Hiram Stevens Maxim created the first example of an automatic weapon - the Maxim machine gun. He decided to use the recoil energy of the weapon, which had not been used in any way before. But testing and practical use of these weapons were stopped for 10 years, since Maxim was not only a gunsmith and, in addition to weapons, was interested in other inventions. His range of interests included various technology, electricity, and so on, and the machine gun was just one of his many inventions. In the early 1880s, Maxim finally took up his machine gun, but appearance his weapons were already very different from the 1873 model. Perhaps these ten years were spent thinking about, calculating and improving the design in the drawings. After this, Hiram Maxim made a proposal to the US government to accept his machine gun for service. But no one in the USA was interested in the invention, and then Maxim emigrated to Great Britain, where its development initially also did not arouse much interest from the military. However, the British banker Nathaniel Rothschild, who was present at the testing of the new weapon, became seriously interested in it and agreed to finance the development and production of the machine gun.
The Maxima Arms Company began to manufacture and advertise machine guns, showing their work in many countries. Hiram Maxim managed to achieve excellent survivability and reliability of his weapon, and at the end of 1899, his machine gun, chambered for the British .303 caliber (7.7 mm) cartridge, fired 15 thousand rounds without any serious difficulties.
System
The Maxim system machine gun (or simply “Maxim”) is an automatic weapon based on automatic recoil with a short-stroke barrel. As the shot is fired, the powder gases send the barrel back, setting in motion the reloading mechanism, which removes the cartridge from the fabric tape, sends it into the breech and at the same time cocks the bolt. After firing the shot, the operation is repeated again. The machine gun has an average rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute (depending on versions varies from 450 to 1000), and the combat rate of fire is 250-300 rounds per minute.
To fire a 1910 model machine gun, 7.62x54 mm R rifle cartridges with 1908 model (light bullet) and 1930 model (heavy bullet) bullets are used. The trigger system is designed only for automatic fire and has a safety lock against accidental shots. The machine gun is powered by cartridges from a slider-type receiver, with a fabric or metal belt with a capacity of 250 cartridges, which appeared later. The sighting device includes a rack-mount sight and a front sight with a rectangular top. Some machine guns could also be equipped with an optical sight. The machine gun was initially mounted on bulky carriages, modeled after mitrailleuse carriages; then portable machines appeared, usually on tripods; Since 1910, the Russian army has used a wheeled machine developed by Colonel A. A. Sokolov. This machine gave the machine gun sufficient stability when firing and, unlike tripods, made it possible to easily move the machine gun when changing position.
Main details
Box
- Casing
- Butt pad
- Shutter
- Receiver
- Return spring
- Return spring box
- Lock
- Release lever
The production of one Maxim machine gun required 2448 operations and took 700 working hours.
Hiram Maxim with his machine gun
Maxim machine gun in Russia
After a successful demonstration of the machine gun in Switzerland, Italy and Austria, Hiram Maxim came to Russia with a demonstrative example of a .45 caliber (11.43 mm) machine gun. In 1887, the Maxim machine gun chambered for the 10.67 mm Berdan rifle cartridge with black powder was tested. On March 8, 1888, the Emperor fired from it Alexander III. After the tests, representatives of the Russian military department ordered Maxim 12 machine guns of the 1885 model chambered for the 10.67 mm Berdan rifle cartridge.
The company “Sons of Vickers and Maxim” began supplying Maxim machine guns to Russia. The machine guns were delivered to St. Petersburg in May 1889. The Russian navy also became interested in the new weapon and ordered two more machine guns for testing. Subsequently, the Berdan rifle was removed from service, and the Maxim machine guns were converted to accept the 7.62 mm cartridge of the Russian Mosin rifle. In 1891-1892 Five machine guns chambered for 7.62x54 mm cartridges were purchased for testing. During 1897-1904 Another 291 machine guns were purchased.
In 1901, the 7.62-mm Maxim machine gun on an English-style wheeled carriage was adopted by the ground forces; during this year, the first 40 Maxim machine guns entered the Russian army. The machine gun (the mass of which on a heavy carriage with large wheels and a large armored shield was 244 kg) was assigned to the artillery. The machine guns were planned to be used for the defense of fortresses, to repel massive attacks by enemy infantry with fire from pre-equipped and protected positions. In March 1904, a contract was signed for the production of Maxim machine guns at the Tula Arms Plant. The cost of production of the Tula machine gun (942 rubles + 80 pounds sterling commission to the Vickers company, about 1,700 rubles in total) was cheaper than the cost of acquisition from the British (2,288 rubles 20 kopecks per machine gun). In May 1904, serial production of machine guns began at the Tula Arms Plant.
Machine gun "Maxim" model 1895 on a fortress carriage with a shield.
Application
The Maxim machine gun was intended to support infantry with fire, as well as to suppress enemy fire and clear the way for infantrymen during an attack, or for cover during a retreat. In defense, the Maxim machine gun was intended to combat enemy firing points and to fire at open approaches. IN late XIX- at the beginning of the 20th century, European pacifists often demanded a complete ban on the use of machine guns in military conflicts, as an inhumane weapon. These demands were provoked by the fact that Great Britain was the first among the colonial empires to identify the advantages of the machine gun and actively began to use it in clashes with poorly armed native rebels.
In Sudan on September 2, 1898, at the Battle of Omdurman, a 10,000-strong Anglo-Egyptian army fought a 100,000-strong Sudanese army, which consisted mainly of irregular cavalry. The attacks of the Sudanese cavalry were repulsed by massive machine-gun fire. The British units suffered minor losses.
Combat use in the Russo-Japanese War
The Maxim machine gun was used during Russo-Japanese War. In one of the battles near Mukden, a Russian battery, equipped with sixteen Maxim machine guns (at that time in the Russian army machine guns were subordinate to the artillery department), resisted several Japanese attacks, and soon the Japanese side lost half of the attackers. Without the help of machine guns it would have been impossible to repel these attacks so effectively. Having fired several tens of thousands of rounds in a relatively short period of time, the Russian machine guns nevertheless did not fail and were in good condition, thereby proving their exceptional combat characteristics. Now machine guns began to be purchased in the hundreds, despite the significant price, over 3,000 rubles per machine gun. At the same time, they were already removed from the heavy carriages by the troops and, in order to increase maneuverability, they were placed on homemade machines that were lighter and more convenient to transport.
An ensign of the Military Driving School at a machine gun in the back of a Berliet training armored vehicle. Petrograd. 1915
Application in the Great Patriotic War
The Maxim machine gun was actively used by the Red Army in the Great Patriotic War. It was used by both infantry and mountain rifle units, as well as the navy. During the war, not only designers and manufacturers tried to increase the combat capabilities of the Maxim, but also directly among the troops. Soldiers often removed the armor shield from the machine gun, thereby trying to increase maneuverability and achieve less visibility. For camouflage, in addition to camouflage coloring, covers were put on the casing and shield of the machine gun. In winter, the Maxim was mounted on skis, sleds or a drag boat, from which they fired. During the Great Patriotic War, machine guns were mounted on light SUVs “Willis” and GAZ-64.
There was also a quadruple anti-aircraft version of the Maxim. This ZPU was widely used as a stationary, self-propelled, ship-based one, and was installed in the bodies of cars, armored trains, railway platforms, and on the roofs of buildings. Machine gun systems"Maxima" became the most common weapon military air defense. The quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun mount of the 1931 model differed from the usual "Maxim" in the presence of a forced water circulation device and a large capacity of machine gun belts - 1000 rounds instead of the usual 250. Using anti-aircraft ring sights, the mount was able to conduct effective fire on low-flying enemy aircraft (maximum at altitudes up to 1400 m at speeds up to 500 km/h). These mounts were also often used to support infantry.
By the end of the 1930s, the Maxim design was obsolete. The body of the machine gun (without the machine, water in the casing and cartridges) had a mass of about 20 kg. The weight of Sokolov's machine is 40 kg, plus 5 kg of water. Since it was impossible to use a machine gun without a machine and water, then working weight the entire system (without cartridges) was about 65 kg. Moving such weight across the battlefield under fire was not easy. High profile made camouflage difficult; Damage to the thin-walled casing in battle by a bullet or shrapnel practically rendered the machine gun inoperable. It was difficult to use Maxim in the mountains, where fighters had to use homemade tripods instead of standard machines. Significant difficulties in the summer were caused by supplying the machine gun with water. In addition, the Maxim system was very difficult to maintain. The cloth tape caused a lot of trouble - it was difficult to equip, it wore out, broke, and absorbed water. For comparison, the single Wehrmacht machine gun MG-34 had a mass of 10.5 kg without cartridges, was powered by a metal belt and did not require water for cooling (while being somewhat inferior to the Maxim in firepower, being in this indicator closer to the Degtyarev light machine gun, although and with one important nuance - the MG34 had a quick-change barrel, which made it possible, if there were spare barrels, to fire more intensive bursts from it). Firing from the MG-34 could be carried out without a machine gun, which contributed to the secrecy of the machine gunner's position.
On the other hand, the positive properties of the Maxim were also noted: thanks to the shockless operation of the automatic system, it was very stable when fired from a standard machine gun, gave even better accuracy than later developments, and allowed very precise fire control. Provided proper maintenance, the machine gun could last twice as long as the established service life, which was already longer than that of new, lighter machine guns.
Machine gun team. Caucasian Front 1914-1915.
Even before the war, a significantly more advanced and modern design of an easel machine gun was developed and put into production - the DS designed by V. Degtyarev. However, due to problems with reliability and significantly greater demands on maintenance, its production was soon curtailed, and most of the copies available to the troops were lost at the initial stage of hostilities (in many respects a similar fate befell another model of Red Army weapons - the Tokarev self-loading rifle, which was not managed to bring it to the proper level of reliability before the start of the war, and subsequently production was forced to curtail in favor of the outdated, but well-developed and familiar to the fighters of the “three-line system”).
However, the urgent need to replace the Maxim with more modern weapons did not disappear, so in 1943 the heavy machine gun of the Pyotr Goryunov SG-43 system with an air barrel cooling system was adopted. The SG-43 was superior to the Maxim in many respects. He began enlisting in the troops in the second half of 1943. Meanwhile, the Maxim continued to be produced until the end of the war at the Tula and Izhevsk factories, and until the end of production it remained the main heavy machine gun of the Red Army.
The last use of a machine gun by the Soviet army occurred in 1969 during the border conflict on Damansky Island.
However, this machine gun was and is actively used in many hot spots to this day: in particular, it is used by both opposing sides during the war in Donbass, mainly as stationary firing points.
Austin type machine gun, series 1, 15th machine gun platoon of the Southwestern Front.
Maxim machine gun model 1910
The 7.62-mm Maxim machine gun of the 1910 model is a Russian version of the British Maxim machine gun, which was modernized at the Tula Arms Plant under the leadership of masters I. A. Pastukhov, I. A. Sudakov and P. P. Tretyakov. The body weight of the machine gun was reduced and some details were changed: the adoption of a cartridge with a pointed bullet of the 1908 model made it necessary to change the sighting devices in the Maxim machine gun, remake the receiver to fit the new cartridge, and also widen the hole in the muzzle sleeve, in order to avoid too much shaking of the machine gun when firing. The English wheeled carriage was replaced with a lightweight wheeled carriage by A. A. Sokolov, and the English-style armor shield was replaced with an armored shield of reduced dimensions. In addition, A. Sokolov designed cartridge boxes, a gig for transporting cartridges, and sealed cylinders for boxes with cartridges.
Maxim machine gun mod. 1910 with the machine weighed 62.66 kg (and together with the liquid poured into the casing to cool the barrel - about 70 kg).
Maxim machine guns mod. 1910 were used during the First World War and the Civil War, they were used as heavy machine guns, installed on armored cars, armored trains and “carts”.
German fire support horse
Maxim machine gun model 1910/30
During the combat use of the Maxim machine gun, it became clear that in most cases fire was fired at a distance from 800 to 1000 m, and at such a range there was no noticeable difference in the trajectory of the light bullet of the 1908 model and the heavy bullet of the 1930 model.
In 1930, the machine gun was again modernized, the following changes were made to the design:
A folding buttplate was installed, as a result of which the right and left valves and the connection of the release lever and rod were changed
- the safety was moved to the trigger, which eliminated the need to use both hands when opening fire
- installed return spring tension indicator
- the sight has been changed, a stand and a clamp with a latch have been introduced, the scale on the rear sight for lateral adjustments has been increased
- a buffer appeared - a shield holder attached to the machine gun casing
- a separate firing pin was introduced to the firing pin
- for shooting at long distances and from closed positions, a heavy bullet of the 1930 model was introduced, an optical sight and a quadrant protractor
- for greater strength, the barrel casing is made with longitudinal corrugation.
The modernized machine gun was named “7.62 heavy machine gun of the Maxim system, model 1910/30”
In 1940, following the experience of the Soviet-Finnish War, the machine gun received a wide filler hole and a drain valve for the pouring hole (following the example of the Finnish M32), now in winter conditions the casing could be filled with ice and snow.
Motorized machine gun - Russian invention
This Finnish machine gun is a variant of the Russian machine gun of the 1910 model. The Maxim M/32-33 was developed by Finnish gunsmith Aimo Lahti in 1932, it could fire at a rate of fire of 800 rounds per minute, while the Russian machine gun of the 1910 model fired at a rate of 600 rounds per minute; in addition to this, the Maxim M/32-33 had a number of other innovations. It was actively used by the Finnish side in the Soviet-Finnish War. The cartridge used differed in tolerances from the Soviet one.
Machine gunners of His Majesty's 84th Life Infantry Regiment of Shirvan.
Vickers
The Vickers is an English version of the machine gun; it was practically the main heavy automatic infantry weapon in the British Army from the time it was adopted in 1912 until the early 1960s. In addition to Great Britain, Vickers were also produced in the USA, Australia, and Portugal. Before the US entered the First world war The War Department assessed the weapons of the Entente and then, at the end of 1916, ordered 4,000 Vickers machine guns from the Colt arms company.
The design of the Vickers machine gun differed slightly from the design of the Russian Maxim machine gun of the 1910 model as follows:
The castle was rotated 180 degrees so that the lower slope was facing upward; this made it possible to reduce the height and weight of the box.
- The box cover is divided into two halves: the front half of the cover covers the receiver, and the back half covers the box; both parts are fixed on the same axis.
- The butt plate is folding, attached to the box with two bolts (upper and lower).
Vickers in aviation
In 1914, Vickers began to be installed on military aircraft, and in 1916 the Vickers Mk I (51) appeared, its distinctive feature there was air cooling of the barrel and a synchronizer rod for firing through the aircraft propeller. Ventilation holes were made in the barrel casing at the front and rear. The mass of the machine gun’s “body” is 13.5 kg, the number 511 indicated an increased rate of fire with the help of a buffer, which accelerated initial speed rolling up of the moving system. The Vickers was used by both French and Russian aircraft. The first tanks were also equipped with Vickers machine guns.
MG 08 (German: Maschinengewehr 08) - a German version of the Maxim machine gun, it could be mounted on either a sled or a tripod machine. MG 08 was actively used by the German army in the First World War. Like the base model, the MG 08 automatic operates using a barrel recoil system. The Wehrmacht began World War II armed with, in addition to other types of machine guns, 42,722 heavy machine guns MG 08/15 and MG 08/18. By the beginning of World War II, the MG 08 was already an obsolete weapon; its use in the Wehrmacht was explained only by the lack of newer and more modern machine guns.
The Swiss version of the Maxim machine gun was based on the German MG 08. It used the standard Swiss rifle cartridge 7.5x55 mm Schmidt-Rubin.
PV-1 (Air Machine Gun) - a variant intended for installation on military aircraft. It differs from the base model in the way it is attached to the carrier and in the absence of a water cooling casing.
Type 24
Type 24 - Chinese version, which is a copy of the German MG 08 (the 24th year according to the Mingo calendar corresponds to 1935 Gregorian calendar). Produced by the Jingling Arsenal (Nanjing) with a Dreifuß 16 tripod machine. A total of about 36 thousand pieces were produced. Subsequently, many of them were converted to Soviet cartridge 7.62x54 mm R. There was also a modification of the air-cooled machine gun, “Type 36”.
Large-caliber options
In addition to variants for rifle caliber, large-caliber versions were also produced: Vickers .50 (12.7 × 81 mm), used in the British Navy and ground forces and experimental MG 18 TuF (13.25x92 mm SR). The Vickers .50 was used during World War II. There were also quad variants as anti-aircraft machine guns.
Captured Russian Maxim heavy machine guns on a machine-gun gig, Berlin
Tactical and technical characteristics of the Maxim machine gun
Entered into service: 1889
- Constructor: Maxim, Hiram Stevens
- Designed: 1883
Maxim machine gun weight
Dimensions of the Maxim machine gun
Length, mm: 1067
- Barrel length, mm: 721
Maxim machine gun cartridge
7.62×54 mm R (Maxim model 1910)
- 7.92×57 mm Mauser (MG 08)
- .303 British (Vickers)
- 7.5×55 mm (MG 11)
- 8×50 mm R Mannlicher
Maxim machine gun caliber
Maxim machine gun rate of fire
600 rounds/min
Maxim machine gun bullet speed
Work principles: barrel recoil, crank locking
Type of ammunition: machine gun belt for 250 rounds.
Photo of the Maxim machine gun
, Vietnam War
shots/min:
Machine gun "Maxim" model 1910(GAU index - 56-P-421 listen)) is a heavy machine gun, a variant of the British Maxim machine gun, widely used by the Russian and Soviet armies during the First World War and the Second World War. The Maxim machine gun was used to destroy open group live targets and enemy fire weapons at a distance of up to 1000 m.
Story
Maxim machine gun on a serf (“artillery”) carriage. 1915
By 1899, the Maxim machine guns were converted to the 7.62x54 mm caliber of the Russian Mosin rifle from the 10.67 mm caliber Berdan rifle under the official name "7.62 mm heavy machine gun."
To increase the reliability of the machine gun, the so-called “muzzle accelerator” was used - a device that works on the principle of a muzzle brake. The front of the barrel was thickened to increase the muzzle area and then a muzzle cap was attached to the water casing. The pressure of the powder gases between the muzzle and the cap acted on the muzzle of the barrel, pushing it back and helping it roll back faster. A similar device was later used on a German machine gun MG-42.
In the Russian army the new kind weapons - a machine gun - were subordinated to the artillery. It was installed on a heavy carriage with large wheels and a large armored shield. The weight of the structure was about 250 kg. It was planned to use this installation for the defense of fortresses; from pre-equipped and protected positions, it was planned to counter massive attacks by enemy infantry with machine-gun fire. This approach may now cause bewilderment: after all, even during the Franco-Prussian War, French mitrailleuses used in an artillery manner, that is, with batteries, were suppressed by Prussian counter-artillery fire due to the obvious superiority of artillery over small-caliber weapons in terms of range.
Soon the machine gun mount was reduced to an acceptable size, although the armor shield that revealed the position was still left, and the machine gunners wore it during two world wars. The crew often simply threw away the armored shield, own experience having established that for a machine gun position camouflage is best protection when defending, and when attacking, especially when advancing through a field riddled with craters or a city littered with debris, mobility is more important than armor protection. In addition to the Russian army, the armored shield was used in the German army ( MG-08) during the First World War, however, the German armored shield was half the size, which provided some level of protection for the shooter and machine gun without impairing visibility.
The machine gun turned out to be an extremely reliable and effective weapon. Production of the Maxim began in 1904 at the Tula Arms Factory.
Tula machine guns were cheaper, easier to manufacture and more reliable than foreign ones; their valves were completely interchangeable, something that English and German factories could not achieve for a long time. Sokolov's wheeled machine showed the best results; Sokolov also designed special cartridge boxes, a gig for transporting ammunition, and sealed cylinders for boxes with cartridges. Simultaneously with the development of a more convenient machine gun, the weight of the machine gun itself was reduced, and some parts were also altered in connection with the adoption of a cartridge with a pointed bullet of the 1908 model, which necessitated the need to change the sighting devices in the Maxim machine gun, and remake the receiver so that it would fit the new rifle cartridge 7.62×54 mm with bullets of the 1908 model (light bullet) and the 1930 model (heavy bullet), and also widen the hole in the muzzle sleeve to avoid too much shaking of the machine gun when firing. The Maxim machine gun with the machine weighed more than 60 kg; it also included machine gun belts, machines for filling belts with cartridges, and a supply of water for cooling the barrel.
Mechanism
The automatic machine gun operates on the principle of using the recoil of the barrel.
The design of the Maxim machine gun: the barrel is coated on the outside with a thin layer of copper to protect it from rust. A casing is placed on the barrel, filled with water to cool the barrel. Water is poured through a tube connected to the casing by a pipe with a tap. To release water there is a hole closed with a screw cap. The casing has a steam outlet pipe through which steam escapes from it when firing through a hole in the muzzle (closed with a plug). A short, movable tube is placed on the tube. At elevation angles, it lowers and closes the lower hole of the tube, as a result of which water cannot enter this latter, and the steam accumulated in the upper part of the casing will enter through the upper hole into the tube and then exit through the tube to the outside. The opposite will happen at declination angles.
A frame is attached to the trunk (Fig. 4, 5), consisting of two slats. The front ends are put on the axles of the barrel, and the rear ends are put on the axles of the bloodworm. The crank is connected by a hinge to the connecting rod, and this latter is connected to a lock. To the frame (Fig. 4, 5, 7) of the lock, which has two cheeks, are attached on studs from the outside: lock levers, crank levers; inside - the lower trigger, the boot, the trigger, the safety trigger with its spring and the mainspring. A combat cylinder is placed on the front of the castle so that it can move up and down relative to it. Its upward movement is limited by the protrusion, and its downward movement by the rod. Lock lever head AND is put on the front end of the connecting rod (Fig. 6) and when it is rotated 60° relative to the connecting rod, its three sector protrusions extend beyond the corresponding protrusions of the head of the lock levers. This way the locking levers, and therefore the lock, will be connected to the connecting rod. The lock can slide its protrusions along the frame in its grooves formed by the ribs. The protrusions of the frame (Fig. 3, 4, 5) fit into the slots on the side walls of the box. These slots D covered with slats. The lugs on the box serve to strengthen the machine gun on the carriage. The side walls and bottom of the box are one piece. On the inside of these walls of the box at the beginning and at the end there are grooves in the form of a swallow's tail. The front wall of the box, which is integral with the casing, is pushed into the front ones using corresponding protrusions, and the butt plate is pushed into the rear ones. The front wall has two through channels. A barrel is inserted into the upper one, and spent cartridges pass through the lower one, and a spring prevents the cartridges from falling inside the box. The trigger lever is attached to the buttplate by an axis, the lower end of which is connected by a hinge to the rod. The trigger rod is secured at the bottom of the box with two rivets and so that it can move slightly along the box. The box is closed with a hinged lid Sh with latch Sh. The lid has a press that does not allow the lock E rise up when it comes out of the grooves with its ribs when the barrel moves back. On the left side wall of the box (Fig. 3, 8) there is a box mounted on spikes. It is connected to the front wall with a screw 6 spiral (return) spring 7 . Screw 6 serves to regulate the degree of spring tension. The other end grabs it with its hook by the chain, and this latter, in turn, is connected with the eccentric rush of the bloodworm IN(Fig. 5). The receiver (Fig. 3, 4, 11) is inserted into the slots on the side walls of the box. It has a two-finger and a heel slider. A crank lever is placed on the heel, the other end of which goes into the cutout of the frame (Fig. 5). At the bottom of the receiver (Fig. 11) there are two more fingers, which, like the upper ones, have springs.
Machine gun action
The automatic action of the machine gun is based on the recoil of the bolt and the barrel coupled to it under the pressure of powder gases. Having rolled back a certain distance, the bolt and barrel disengage and move independently of each other.
In the position in FIG. 4 machine gun is ready to fire. To fire a shot, you must raise the safety lever I and press the upper end of the trigger lever. Then the rod will move back and with its protrusion will turn the lower descent P, which will free the ankle. The trigger, no longer held by the palm of the hand, is under the action of the mainspring ABOUT will move forward and break the cartridge primer (Fig. 10). The bullet flies out of the barrel through the hole in the steel muzzle plug. Powder gases will push the barrel and frame back and exit through the muzzle holes. To increase the recoil energy, a muzzle is used, and the barrel in the muzzle is thickened. Bloodworm IN rests against the edge and cannot rise up, so the lock in this position of the bloodworm will only move backwards together with the frame and barrel. If, after the shot, the lock was immediately thrown away from the barrel by powder gases, the cartridge case would be torn apart.
The spring, unlike most systems, works in tension, not compression. The barrel with the shank then stops, and the bolt (“lock”) connected to the lever pair continues to move backward, simultaneously removing a new cartridge from the tape and a spent cartridge case from the barrel. When the moving system rolls forward, a new cartridge is lowered to the barrel line and sent into the chamber, and the spent cartridge case is fed into the cartridge outlet channel located below the barrel. The spent cartridges are thrown forward from the weapon, under the barrel. To implement such a feeding scheme, the shutter mirror has a T-shaped vertical groove for the flanges of the sleeves, and during the rollback process it moves down and up, respectively.
When the barrel and frame move backwards, the following happens: the handle G bloodworm (Fig. 3) slides along the roller X(attached to the axis of the right bar 12) and, thanks to its outline, will lower the bloodworm down. This movement of the bloodworm will cause the lock to accelerate its movement relative to the frame, while the lock will slide along the frame with its edges towards (Fig. 4, 5, 7, 9, 10) in the grooves 23 and separates from the trunk. Combat larva TO holds the cartridges located in the chamber of the barrel and in the receiver, capturing with its ribs L for the rims of the cartridges. At the moment of recoil, the combat larva pulls the cartridge from the receiver and, when the lock is separated from the barrel, the spent cartridge case from the chamber. The cartridge and sleeve are held in the appropriate places on the cylinder by latches M And N with springs and cannot lower relative to it. When lowering the bloodworm head I lock levers presses on the ankle, and this latter will pull the trigger back. Safety release P under the influence of its spring, its protrusion jumps over the protrusion 24 trigger The ankle is held in the retracted position by the lower trigger of the machine gun. Fighting larva, sliding along the ledges ABOUT the side walls of the box with their protrusions R, towards the end of the movement it will fall down due to its own gravity and under the influence of springs WITH mounted on the box lid until its protrusions R won't fall on your ribs E frames In this position of the combat larva, the new cartridge will be against the chamber, and the sleeve against the outlet channel 2 . When the frame moves backwards, the coil spring 7 stretches and when the bloodworm turns, the chain 8 winds around the eccentric tide of bloodworms. The frame when moving backwards with its cutout 17 (Fig. 5) turns the bell crank 15 (Fig. 11) so that the slider 13 moves to the right and his upper fingers 16 go for the next cartridge.
Power scheme
When recoil ends, the coil spring 7 compresses and returns the frame with the barrel to its original position. Lever G, sliding along the roller X, turns the crank, causing the lock to fit the barrel, a new cartridge enters the chamber, and the sleeve into the output channel. Crank lever 15 , turning, advances the slider into the receiver 13 , and this last one with his fingers 16 will move the tape to the left so that the new cartridge falls into the receiver socket R. Before the end of the lock movement E lock levers AND by clicking on the cutouts 25 (Fig. 7), turn the crank arms L, as a result of which the combat larva rises to its upper position and will be held in it by a spring AND(Fig. 5). The fighting larva, rising, will grab with its ribs L by the edge of the new cartridge lying in the receiver, and it is held in place by a latch M, and now located in the chamber with a latch N. With further movement of the lock, the lock levers slide into the second cutout 26 crank levers and, pressing on these latter, will send the lock close to the barrel. When the bloodworm stops moving, the head I lock levers (Fig. 4) will raise the end of the safety trigger and release the trigger, which is now held in the cocked position only by the lower trigger. At the same time the handle G(Fig. 3) jumps over the delay ledge F and therefore cannot be reflected forward. By pressing the end of the trigger lever, we will fire again. With continuous squeezing, shooting will also continue continuously. The ballistic data of a machine gun is almost the same as that of a shotgun.
Trophy Russians heavy machine guns on a horse carriage
The cartridges are inserted into the sockets of cartridge (canvas) tapes, 450 pieces each. The tape is placed in the cartridge box (Fig. 11). Firing speed - up to 600 rounds per minute. The barrel gets very hot during shooting and after 600 shots the water in the casing boils. The disadvantages include the complexity of the mechanism and a large number of small parts, as a result of which delays during firing are possible due to their malfunctioning. After a large number of shots, the muzzle becomes clogged with small particles of bullet casing, flying out along with the powder gases, and impedes the movement of the barrel.
Sokolov machine
An important distinctive feature of the machine was the presence of a movable table on which the machine gun swivel was attached. This made it possible to give it a horizontal position, which ensured dispersed firing. Sokolov also designed special cartridge boxes, a gig for transporting ammunition, and sealed cylinders for boxes of cartridges.
Machine system of General A. A. Sokolov for 3-row. Maxim machine gun
Combat use in World War I
Combat use in the Civil War
There was also a quadruple anti-aircraft version of the machine gun. This ZPU was widely used as a stationary, self-propelled, ship-based one, and was installed in the bodies of cars, armored trains, railway platforms, and on the roofs of buildings.
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| Crimean Front, 1942 | Quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun mount model 1931 | "Maxim" on a drag boat |
Machine gun "Maxim" as a means of military air defense
Maxim machine gun systems became the most common weapon in army air defense. The quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun mount of the 1931 model differed from the conventional Maxim machine gun in the presence of a forced water circulation device and a larger capacity of machine gun belts - 1000 rounds instead of the usual 250. Using anti-aircraft ring sights, the mount was able to conduct effective fire at low-flying enemy aircraft (maximum at altitudes up to 1400 m at speeds up to 500 km/h). These mounts were also often used to support infantry.
Combat use experience
