The Maxim Machine Gun is an easel machine gun developed by the 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 small wars and armed conflicts of the 20th century.

Machine gun Maxim - video

The outdated, but very reliable Maxim machine gun is found in "hot spots" around the world, even today.

In 1873, the American inventor Hiram Stevens Maxim created the first sample of automatic weapons - the Maxim machine gun. He decided to use the recoil energy of the weapon, which had not been used in any way. But the tests and practical use of this weapon 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 in appearance his weapon was already very different from the model of 1873. Perhaps these ten years were spent thinking, calculating and improving the design in the drawings. After that, Hiram Maxim gave a proposal to the US government to adopt his machine gun into service. But nobody in the United States was interested in the invention, and then Maxim emigrated to Great Britain, where his development initially did not arouse much interest from the military either. However, he was seriously interested in the British banker Nathaniel Rothschild, who was present at the tests of the new weapon, who agreed to finance the development and production of the machine gun.

“Maxima Armory Company” began to manufacture and advertise machine guns, showing their work in many states. Hiram Maxim managed to achieve excellent survivability and reliability of his weapon, and at the end of 1899, his machine gun, produced under a British cartridge of caliber .303 (7.7 mm), fired 15 thousand shots without any serious difficulty.

System

The machine gun of the Maxim system (or simply "Maxim") is an automatic weapon based on automation with a barrel recoil with a short stroke. As the shot is fired, the powder gases send the barrel back, setting in motion the reloading mechanism, which extracts the cartridge from the cloth tape, sends it to the breech and at the same time cocks the bolt. After firing the shot, the operation is repeated anew. The machine gun has an average rate of fire - 600 rounds per minute (depending on the versions it varies from 450 to 1000), and the combat rate of fire is 250-300 rounds per minute.

For firing a machine gun of the 1910 model, rifle cartridges of 7.62 × 54 mm R with bullets of the 1908 model (light bullet) and the 1930 model (heavy bullet) are used. The trigger system is designed for automatic fire only and has a safety device against accidental shots. The machine gun is powered by cartridges from a slider-type receiver, with a cloth or metal belt with a capacity of 250 rounds, which appeared later. The sighting device includes a rack-mount sight and a front sight with a rectangular top. Some machine guns could also have an optical sight. The machine gun was originally installed on bulky carriages, modeled on mitrailleus carriages; then portable machines appeared, usually on tripods; Since 1910, the Russian army used a wheeled machine developed by Colonel A. A. Sokolov. This machine gave the machine gun sufficient stability when firing and made it possible, unlike tripods, to easily move the machine gun when changing position.

Basic details

Box
- Casing
- Butt plate
- Shutter
- Receiver
- Return spring
- Recoil spring box
- Lock
- Trigger lever

The manufacture 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 a machine gun in Switzerland, Italy and Austria, Hiram Maxim arrived in Russia with a demonstration model of a machine gun. 45 caliber (11.43 mm). In 1887, the Maxim machine gun was tested for a 10.67-mm Berdan rifle cartridge with black powder. On March 8, 1888, Emperor Alexander III fired from it. After the tests, representatives of the Russian military department ordered Maxim 12 machine guns of the 1885 model for the 10.67-mm cartridge of the Berdan rifle.

The Sons of Vickers and Maxim enterprise began to supply 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; it ordered two more machine guns for testing. Later, the Berdan rifle was removed from service, and the Maxim machine guns were redesigned for the 7.62-mm cartridge of the Russian Mosin rifle. In 1891-1892. five machine guns chambered for 7.62x54 mm 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 gun carriage with large wheels and a large armor shield was 244 kg) was assigned to artillery. Machine guns were planned to be used to defend fortresses, to repel massive attacks by enemy infantry with fire from pre-equipped and defended positions. In March 1904, a contract was signed for the production of Maxim machine guns at the Tula Arms Plant. The cost of producing a Tula machine gun (942 rubles + 80 pounds sterling of commission to the Vickers company, only about 1700 rubles) was cheaper than the cost of purchasing from the British (2288 rubles 20 kopecks for a machine gun). In May 1904, mass 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 designed to support the infantry with fire, as well as to suppress enemy fire and clear the way for infantrymen during an attack, or to provide cover during a retreat. On the defensive, the Maxim machine gun was designed to combat enemy firing points, to fire at open approaches. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, European pacifists often demanded a complete ban on the use of a machine gun 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 indigenous rebels.

In Sudan on September 2, 1898, at the battle of Omdurman, the 10,000-strong Anglo-Egyptian army fought against the 100,000-strong Sudanese army, which consisted mainly of irregular cavalry. The attacks of the Sudanese cavalry were repulsed by massed machine-gun fire. The British units suffered minor losses.

Combat use in the Russo-Japanese War

The Maxim machine gun was used during the Russo-Japanese War. In one of the battles near Mukden, a Russian battery equipped with sixteen Maxim machine guns (then in the Russian army machine guns were subordinated 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 be impossible to repel these attacks so effectively. Having fired several tens of thousands of shots 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 in the troops removed from heavy carriages and, in order to increase maneuverability, were installed on homemade, lighter and more convenient machines for transportation.

Ensign of the Military Driving School at the machine gun in the back of the Berlie training armored vehicle. Petrograd. 1915 year.

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 detachments, as well as the navy. During the war, the combat capabilities of "Maxim" tried to increase not only designers and manufacturers, but also directly in the troops. Soldiers often removed the armor shields from the machine gun, thereby trying to increase maneuverability and achieve less visibility. For camouflage, in addition to camouflage painting, covers were put on the casing and shield of the machine gun. In winter, the "Maxim" was installed on skis, sledges or on a drag boat, from which they fired. During the Great Patriotic War, machine guns were attached to light SUVs "Willis" and GAZ-64.

There was also a quad anti-aircraft version of the Maxim. This ZPU was widely used as a stationary, self-propelled, shipborne, installed in the bodies of cars, armored trains, railway platforms, on the roofs of buildings. Machine gun systems "Maxima" have become the most widespread weapon of military air defense. The quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun mount of the 1931 model differed from the usual "Maxim" by the presence of a forced water circulation device and a large capacity of machine-gun belts - for 1000 rounds instead of the usual 250. at altitudes up to 1400 m at speeds up to 500 km / h). These mounts were also often used to support the infantry.

By the end of the 1930s, the design of the Maxim was morally obsolete. The body of the machine gun (without the machine tool, 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 tool and water, the working mass of the entire system (without cartridges) was about 65 kg. Moving that much weight across the battlefield under fire was not easy. The high profile made camouflage difficult; damage to the thin-walled casing in battle by a bullet or shrapnel practically put the machine gun out of action. It was difficult to use the "Maxim" in the mountains, where the soldiers had to use homemade tripods instead of standard machines. Significant difficulties in the summer were caused by the supply of the machine gun with water. In addition, the Maxim system was very difficult to maintain. A lot of trouble was brought about by the cloth tape - it was difficult to equip it, it wore out, torn, absorbed water. For comparison, the single Wehrmacht MG-34 machine gun had a mass of 10.5 kg without cartridges, was fed with a metal tape and did not require water for cooling (while being somewhat inferior to the "Maxim" in terms of 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 to fire more intensive bursts from it in the presence of spare barrels). Shooting from the MG-34 could be carried out without a machine, 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 unstressed operation of the automatics, it was very stable when firing from a standard machine, gave accuracy even better than later developments, and made it possible to control fire very accurately. Subject to competent maintenance, the machine gun could serve twice as long as the established resource, which was already more than that of the new, lighter machine guns.

Machine gun team. Caucasian Front 1914-1915.

Even before the war, a significantly more advanced and modern design of a heavy machine gun was developed and put into production - a DS designed by V. Degtyarev. However, due to problems with reliability and a significantly greater demand for maintenance, its production was soon curtailed, and most of the copies available in the troops were lost at the initial stage of hostilities (in many ways, a similar fate befell another model of the Red Army's weapons - the Tokarev self-loading rifle, which was not managed to bring to the proper level of reliability before the start of the war, and later the production was forcedly curtailed in favor of the outdated, but well-developed and familiar to the fighters "three-line").

Nevertheless, the urgent need to replace the "Maxim" with more modern weapons did not disappear, so in 1943 the 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 to enlist in the troops in the second half of 1943. Meanwhile, "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 machine gun of the Red Army.

The last fact of the use of a machine gun by the Soviet army occurred in 1969 during the border conflict on Damansky Island.

However, this machine gun has been actively used and is 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.

Machine gun type, Austin "1 series 15 auto-machine gun platoon of the Southwestern Front.

Maxim machine gun model 1910

The 7.62-mm Maxim machine gun, model 1910, is a Russian version of the British Maxim machine gun, which was modernized at the Tula Arms Factory under the guidance 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 model of 1908 made it necessary to change the sighting devices in the Maxim machine gun, to alter the receiver to fit the new cartridge, as well as to expand 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 machine by A. A. Sokolov, the English-style armor shield was replaced with a reduced-size armor shield. In addition, A. Sokolov designed ammunition boxes, a cart for transporting cartridges, 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

In the course of the combat use of the Maxim machine gun, it became clear that in most cases the fire was fired at a distance of 800 to 1000 m, and at this range there was no noticeable difference in the trajectory of a light bullet of the 1908 model and a heavy bullet of the 1930 model.

In 1930, the machine gun was modernized again, the following changes were made to the design:

A folding butt plate was installed, in connection with which the right and left valves and the connection of the release lever and the rod have changed
- the fuse is moved to the trigger, which eliminated the need to operate with both hands when opening fire
- the indicator of the tension of the return spring is installed
- changed the sight, introduced a stand and a clamp with a latch, increased the scale on the rear sight of the side corrections
- there was a buffer - a holder for the shield, attached to the casing of the machine gun
- introduced a separate striker to the drummer
- for shooting at long distances and from closed positions, a heavy bullet of the 1930 model was introduced, an optical sight and a protractor - a quadrant
- for greater strength, the barrel casing is made with longitudinal corrugation.

The upgraded machine gun was named "7.62 Maxima machine gun, 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.

The machine gun is a Russian invention

This Finnish machine gun is a variant of the 1910 Russian machine gun. The “Maxim” M / 32-33 was developed by the Finnish gunsmith Aimo Lahti in 1932, it could fire at a rate of fire of 800 rds / min, while a Russian machine gun of the 1910 model fired at a rate of 600 rds / min; besides this "Maxim" M / 32-33 had a number of other innovations. It was actively used by the Finnish side in the Soviet-Finnish war. The used cartridge differed in tolerances from the Soviet one.

Machine gunners of His Majesty's 84th Life-Infantry Shirvan Regiment.

Vickers

The Vickers is the English version of the machine gun and was practically the main heavy automatic infantry weapon in the British army from its introduction in 1912 until the early 1960s. In addition to Great Britain, Vickers were also produced in the USA, Australia, Portugal. Before the United States entered the First World War, the War Department evaluated the weapons of the Entente and then at the end of 1916 ordered 4,000 Vickers machine guns from the Colt arms company.

The device of the Vickers machine gun was slightly different from the device of the Russian machine gun "Maxim" of the 1910 model as follows:

The castle was turned 180 degrees so that the lower slope was turned up; 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 rear half closes the box; both parts are fixed on the same axis.
- A folding butt plate, 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 was the air cooling of the barrel and the synchronizer thrust for firing through the aircraft propeller. Air vents were made in the barrel shroud at the front and back. The mass of the "body" of the machine gun is 13.5 kg, the figure 511 indicated an increased rate of fire with the help of a buffer, which accelerated the initial speed of the roll-off of the mobile system. Vickers was used by both French and Russian aircraft. Machine guns "Vickers" also began to arm the first tanks.

MG 08 (German Maschinengewehr 08) - German version of the Maxim machine gun, it could be installed both on a sled and on a tripod machine. MG 08 was actively used by the German army in the First World War. Like the basic model, the MG 08 automatic works according to the barrel recoil system. The Wehrmacht began World War II with 42,722 MG 08/15 and MG 08/18 heavy machine guns, among other types of machine guns. By the beginning of World War II, the MG 08 was already an outdated 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, based on the German MG 08. Used a standard Swiss rifle cartridge 7.5 × 55 mm Schmidt-Rubin.

PV-1 (Air Machine Gun) - a variant designed 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 jacket.

Type 24

Type 24 is a Chinese version, which is a copy of the German MG 08 (the 24th year according to Mingo's chronology corresponds to 1935 of the Gregorian calendar). It was produced by the Jingling arsenal (Nanjing) with a tripod machine Dreifuß 16. In total, about 36 thousand units were produced. Subsequently, many of them were converted to the Soviet cartridge 7.62 × 54 mm R. There was also a modification of the air-cooled machine gun, "Type 36".

Large-caliber options

In addition to options for a rifle caliber, large-caliber versions were also produced: Vickers .50 (12.7 × 81 mm), used in the British Navy and ground forces, and the experimental MG 18 TuF (13.25 × 92 mm SR). Vickers .50 was used during World War II. There were also quad variants as anti-aircraft machine guns.

Captured Russian easel machine guns of Maxim on a machine-gun cart, Berlin

The performance characteristics of the Maxim machine gun

Entered service: 1889
- Constructor: Maxim, Hiram Stevens
- Designed: 1883

Maxim machine gun weight

Dimensions machine gun Maxim

Length, mm: 1067
- barrel length, mm: 721

Machine gun cartridge Maxim

7.62 × 54 mm R (Maxim 1910)
- 7.92 × 57 mm Mauser (MG 08)
- .303 British (Vickers)
- 7.5 × 55 mm (MG 11)
- 8 × 50 mm R Mannlicher

Caliber machine gun Maxim

Rate of fire machine gun Maxim

600 rounds / min

Bullet speed of the machine gun Maxim

Work principles: barrel recoil, crank locking
Ammunition type: machine gun belt for 250 rounds.

Photo machine gun Maxim

GAU index - 56-P-421

A heavy machine gun, a modification of the British Maxim machine gun, widely used by the Russian and Soviet armies during World War I and World War II. The Maxim machine gun was used to destroy open group targets and enemy fire weapons at a distance of up to 1000 m.

History

After a successful demonstration of a machine gun in Switzerland, Italy and Austria-Hungary, Hiram Maxim arrived in Russia with an exemplary machine gun. 45 caliber (11.43 mm).

In 1887, the Maxim machine gun was tested for a 10.67-mm Berdan rifle cartridge with black powder.

On March 8, 1888, Emperor Alexander III himself shot from it. After testing, representatives of the Russian military department ordered Maxim 12 machine guns mod. 1895 chambered for the 10.67-mm Berdan rifle cartridge.

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.

Subsequently, the Berdan rifle was removed from service, and the Maxim machine guns were redesigned for the 7.62-mm cartridge of the Russian Mosin rifle. In 1891-1892. five machine guns chambered for 7.62x54 mm were purchased for testing.

To increase the reliability of the 7.62-mm machine gun's automation, a "muzzle booster" was introduced into the design - a device designed to use the energy of powder gases to increase the recoil force. The front of the barrel was thickened to increase the muzzle area and then a muzzle cap was attached to the water jacket. 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. During 1897-1904, 291 machine guns were purchased.

The machine gun (the mass of which on a heavy gun carriage with large wheels and a large armor shield was 244 kg) was assigned to artillery. It was planned to use machine guns for the defense of fortresses, for repulsing with fire from pre-equipped and defended positions of massed attacks by enemy infantry.

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-artillery fire due to the obvious superiority of artillery over small-caliber weapons in range.
In March 1904, a contract was signed for the production of Maxim machine guns at the Tula Arms Plant. The cost of producing a Tula machine gun (942 rubles + 80 pounds sterling of commission to the Vickers company, only about 1700 rubles) was cheaper than the cost of purchasing from the British (2288 rubles 20 kopecks for a machine gun). In May 1904, serial production of machine guns started at the Tula Arms Plant.

At the very beginning of 1909, the Main Artillery Directorate 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: the 7.62-mm Maxim machine gun of the 1910 model, which was modernized at the Tula Arms Plant under the guidance of I A. Pastukhov, I. A. Sudakov and P. P. Tretyakov. The body weight of the machine gun was reduced and some parts were changed: a number of bronze parts were replaced with steel ones, the sights were changed to match the ballistics of the cartridge with a pointed bullet mod. 1908, the receiver was changed to fit the new cartridge, plus the bore of the muzzle sleeve was widened. The English wheeled carriage was replaced with a lightweight wheeled machine by A. A. Sokolov, the English-style armor shield was replaced with a reduced-size armor shield. In addition, A. A. Sokolov created ammunition boxes, a cart for transporting cartridges, 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).

Design

Automatic machine gun works on the principle of using the recoil of the barrel.

The device of the Maxim machine gun: the barrel is covered with a thin layer of copper on the outside to protect it from rust. The barrel is equipped with a casing filled with water to cool the barrel. Water is poured through a pipe connected to the casing by a branch pipe with a tap. A hole closed with a screw cap serves to drain the water. The casing has a steam outlet pipe through which steam comes out of it when firing through a hole in the muzzle (closed with a stopper). A short, movable tube is put on the tube. At elevation angles, it descends and closes the lower opening 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 opening into the tube and then go out through the tube. For declination angles, the opposite will happen.

Combat use

World War I

The Maxim machine gun was the only machine gun produced in the Russian Empire during the First World War. By the time the mobilization was announced, in July 1914, the Russian army had 4157 machine guns (833 machine guns were not enough to meet the planned needs of the troops). After the start of the war, the Ministry of War issued an order to increase the production of machine guns, but it was very difficult to cope with the task of supplying the army with machine guns, since machine guns were produced in Russia in insufficient quantities, and all foreign machine gun factories were loaded to the limit. In general, during the war, the Russian industry produced 27,571 machine guns for the army (828 pieces in the second half of 1914, 4,251 pieces in 1915, 11,072 pieces in 1916, 11 420 pieces in 1917) , but the volume of production was insufficient and could not meet the needs of the army.

In 1915, they accepted into service and began production of a simplified machine gun of the Kolesnikov system, model 1915.

Civil War

During the civil war, the Maxim machine gun arr. 1910 was the main type of machine gun in the Red Army. In addition to machine guns from the warehouses of the Russian army and trophies captured during the hostilities, in 1918-1920, 21 thousand new machine guns mod. 1910, several thousand more were repaired.

In the civil war, the cart became widespread - a spring cart with a machine gun directed backward, which was used both for movement and for firing directly on the battlefield. The cars were especially popular among the Makhnovists (armed rebel formations during the Civil War in Russia, operating in the south-east of Ukraine from July 21, 1918 to August 28, 1921, under the slogans of anarchism).

In the 1920s-1930s in the USSR

In the 1920s, on the basis of the design of the machine gun in the USSR, new types of weapons were created: the Maxim-Tokarev light machine gun and the PV-1 air machine gun.

In 1928, an anti-aircraft tripod mod. 1928 system of M.N.Kondakov. In addition, in 1928, the development of Maxim's quad anti-aircraft machine gun mounts began. In 1929, an anti-aircraft ring sight mod. 1929 of the year.

In 1935, new staffs of the Red Army rifle division were established, according to which the number of Maxim heavy machine guns in the division was somewhat reduced (from 189 to 180 pieces), and the number of light machine guns was increased (from 81 pieces to 350 pieces).

The cost of one "Maxim" machine gun on the Sokolov machine (with a set of spare parts) in 1939 was 2635 rubles; the cost of the "Maxim" machine gun on a universal machine (with a set of spare parts) - 5960 rubles; the cost of a 250-cartridge tape is 19 rubles

In the spring of 1941, in accordance with the staff of the Red Army rifle division No. 04 / 400-416 dated April 5, 1941, the standard number of heavy machine guns "maxim" was reduced to 166 pieces, and the number of anti-aircraft machine guns was increased (to 24 pieces. 7 , 62-mm complex anti-aircraft machine guns and 9 pcs. 12.7-mm DShK machine guns).

Maxim machine gun mod. 1910/1930

During the combat use of the Maxim machine gun, it became clear that in the vast majority of cases the fire was fired at a distance of 800 to 1000 meters, and at such a distance there was no noticeable difference in the trajectory of light and heavy bullets.

In 1930, the machine gun was upgraded again. The modernization was carried out by P. P. Tretyakov, I. A. Pastukhov, K. N. Rudnev and A. A. Tronenkov. The following changes have been made to the design:

A folding butt plate was installed, in connection with which the right and left valves and the connection of the release lever and the rod have changed
-the fuse is moved to the trigger, which eliminated the need to operate with both hands when opening fire
-installed tension indicator of the return spring
-Changed the sight, introduced a stand and a clamp with a latch, increased the scale on the rear sight of the lateral corrections
-a buffer appeared - a holder for a shield, attached to the casing of the machine gun
-introduced a separate striker to the drummer
- for firing at long distances and from closed positions, a heavy bullet mod. 1930 telescopic sight and protractor - quadrant
- for greater strength, the barrel casing is made with longitudinal corrugation
The modernized machine gun was named "7.62 Maxim machine gun, model 1910/30". In 1931, a more advanced universal machine gun arr. 1931 of the S. V. Vladimirov system and a PS-31 machine for long-term firing points were created and adopted.

By the end of the 1930s, the design of the machine gun was morally obsolete, primarily due to its large weight and size.

On September 22, 1939, the 7.62-mm heavy machine gun mod. 1939 DS-39 ", which was intended to replace the Maxim machine guns. However, the operation of the DS-39 in the troops revealed design flaws, as well as the unreliability of the functioning of the automation when using cartridges with a brass sleeve (for the reliable functioning of the automation, the DS-39 required cartridges with a steel sleeve).

During the Finnish War of 1939-1940. the combat capabilities of the Maxim machine gun tried to increase not only the designers and manufacturers, but also directly in the troops. In winter, the machine gun was installed on skis, sledges or drag boats, on which the machine gun was moved through the snow and from which, if necessary, fired. In addition, in the winter of 1939-1940, there were cases when machine gunners planted on the armor of tanks installed Maxim machine guns on the roofs of tank towers and fired at the enemy, supporting the advancing infantry.

In 1940, in the barrel water cooling jacket for quick water changes, the small diameter water filling hole was replaced with a wide mouth. This innovation was borrowed from the Finnish Maxim (Maxim M32-33) and allowed to solve the problem of the lack of access to the coolant in the calculation in the winter, now the casing could be filled with ice and snow.

After the outbreak of World War II, in June 1941, the DS-39 was discontinued and enterprises were ordered to restore the curtailed production of Maxim machine guns.

In June 1941, at the Tula arms factory, under the leadership of chief engineer A. A. Tronenkov, engineers I. E. Lubenets and Yu. A. Kazarin began the final modernization (in order to improve the manufacturability of production), during which the "Maxim" was equipped with a simplified sighting device (with one aiming bar instead of two, which were previously replaced depending on the shooting with a light or heavy bullet), the mount for the optical sight was dismantled from the machine gun mount.

Maxim machine gun as a means of military air defense

On the basis of the design of the machine gun, single, twin and quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun mounts were created, which were the most common weapons of the army's air defense. For example, the M4 quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun of the 1931 model differed from the usual Maxim machine gun by the presence of a forced water circulation device, a larger capacity of machine-gun belts (for 1000 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, self-propelled, shipborne, mounted in the bodies of cars, armored trains, railway platforms, on the roofs of buildings.

Paired and quad mounts of Maxim machine guns were also successfully used to fire at ground targets (in particular, to repel enemy infantry attacks). So, during the Finnish war of 1939-1940, units of the 34th tank brigade of the Red Army, encircled in the Lemitte-Uomas area, successfully repulsed several attacks of the Finnish infantry, using two twin installations of Maxim's anti-aircraft machine guns installed on the lorries as mobile firing points.

Application in the Great Patriotic War

The Maxim machine gun was actively used in the Great Patriotic War. It was in service with infantry and mountain rifle troops, border guards, and the navy, and was installed on armored trains, Willis and GAZ-64 jeeps.

In May 1942, in accordance with the order of the USSR People's Commissar for Armaments D.F.

On May 15, 1943, a heavy machine gun of the Goryunov SG-43 system with an air barrel cooling system was adopted by the Red Army, which began to enter the troops in June 1943. But the Maxim machine gun continued to be produced until the end of the war at the Tula and Izhevsk factories, and until its end it was the main machine gun of the Soviet Army.

Operating countries

Russian Empire: the main machine gun in service with the army.
-Germany: captured machine guns were used during the First World War.
-THE USSR
-Poland: in 1918-1920, a number of Russian machine guns Maxim arr. 1910 (under the name Maxim wz. 1910) was in service with the Polish army; after the 7.92x57 mm cartridge was adopted as a standard rifle and machine gun ammunition in 1922, a number of machine guns were converted to this cartridge, they received the name Maxim wz. 1910/28.
-Finland: after the proclamation of Finland's independence in 1918, up to 600 7.62-mm Maxim machine guns mod. 1910 entered service with the emerging units of the 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 units were purchased in Poland); in 1932, a modernized Maxim M / 32-33 machine gun powered by a metal belt was adopted, some of the machine guns installed in pillboxes were supplied with forced water cooling of the barrel. By the winter of 1939, Maxim machine guns of various modifications still constituted the bulk of the Finnish army's heavy machine guns. They were used in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. and the "continuation war" 1941-1944.

In 1918-1922. a number of Russian machine guns "maxim" mod. 1910 entered service with paramilitary units in China (in particular, Zhang Zuolin received them from White emigrants who retreated to northern China)
-Bulgaria: in 1921-1923. a number of Russian 7.62 mm Maxim machine guns mod. 1910 entered the disposal of the Bulgarian army after the disarmament of the units of Wrangel's army that arrived in Bulgaria.
-Second Spanish Republic: after the outbreak of the war in Spain in 1936, 3221 machine gun was purchased by the government of the Spanish Republic.
-Mongolian People's Republic
-Third Reich: captured Soviet Maxim machine guns (under the designation MG 216 (r)) were used by the Wehrmacht and entered service with paramilitary and security police units in the occupied territory of the USSR.

Czechoslovakia: in January 1942, the 1st Czechoslovak independent infantry battalion received the first 12 Maxim machine guns, and later - other Czechoslovak units.
-PNR: in 1943, the 1st Polish Infantry Division named after T. Kosciuszko received Soviet machine guns, and later - and other Polish units.
-Ukraine: as of August 15, 2011, the Ministry of Defense had 35,000 units in storage. machine guns; On October 8-9, 2014, the use of volunteer battalions during the battles for Donetsk airport was noted; in early December 2014, another machine gun was seized by SBU officers from DPR supporters in the Slavyansk region. Machine guns "Maxim" of the 1910 model (released in 1944) were issued to the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that took part in the armed conflict in the Donbass.

Reflection in culture and art

The Maxim machine gun is mentioned in many works about the events of the First World War, the Civil War (films "Thirteen", "Chapaev", etc.), the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War.

Civil version

In 2013, the Maxim machine gun, without the function of automatic fire, was certified in Russia as a hunting rifled weapon, sold under license.

TTX

Weight, kg: 20.3 (body), 64.3 (with the machine)
-Length, mm: 1067
- barrel length, mm: 721
- Cartridge: 7.62x54 mm R
-Principles of work: barrel recoil, crank locking
-Fire rate, rounds / min: 600
-Initial bullet speed, m / s: 740
-Kind of ammunition: canvas or metal ammunition tape for 250

Maxim machine gun model 1910/1930(GAU index - 56-P-421) - an easel machine gun, a variant of the British Maxim machine gun, widely used by the Russian and Soviet armies during World War I and World War II. The machine gun was used to engage open group targets and enemy fire weapons at a distance of up to 1000 m.

TACTICAL AND TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Model:arr. 1910/30 M / 32-33 PV-1
Manufacturer:Tula arms factoryn / aArms factory in Tambov
Cartridge:
Caliber:7.62 mm
Weight, machine gun body:23.8 kg24 Kg14.5 kg
Weight on the machine:64.3 kg54 Kgn / a
Length:1107 mm1180 mm1067 mm
Barrel length:721 mm
Number of grooves in the barrel:4 right-handed
Firing mechanism (USM):Shock typen / aShock type
Operating principle:Barrel recoil, crank locking
Rate of fire:550-600 rounds / min650-850 rounds / min750 rounds / min
Fuse:A lever between the control handles next to the release lever.n / a
Aim:Rack sight and front sight, optical sight can be installedAnti-aircraft sight, rack-mount sight and front sight on infantry variants
Effective range:800 m
Sighting range:2700 m2000 m
Bullet muzzle velocity:740 m / sn / a800 m / s
Ammunition type:Canvas or metal tapeMetal tape
Number of cartridges:250 200–600
Production years:1910–1939, 1941–1945 1933–1944 1927–1940


History of creation and production

After a successful demonstration of a machine gun in Switzerland, Italy and Austria-Hungary, Hiram Maxim arrived in Russia with a demonstration model of a machine gun. 45 caliber (11.43 mm).

In 1887, the Maxim machine gun was tested for a 10.67-mm Berdan rifle cartridge with black powder.

On March 8, 1888, Emperor Alexander III fired from it. After testing, representatives of the Russian military department ordered Maxim 12 machine guns mod. 1895 chambered for the 10.67-mm Berdan rifle cartridge.

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.

Subsequently, the Berdan rifle was removed from service, and the Maxim machine guns were redesigned for the 7.62 mm cartridge of the Russian Mosin rifle. In 1891-1892. five machine guns chambered for 7.62x54 mm were purchased for testing.

To increase the reliability of the 7.62-mm machine gun's automation, a "muzzle booster" was introduced into the design - a device designed to use the energy of powder gases to increase the recoil force. The front of the barrel was thickened to increase the muzzle area and then a muzzle cap was attached to the water jacket. 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. In general, during the years 1897-1904, 291 machine guns were purchased.


Machine gun "Maxim" model 1895 on a fortress carriage with a shield.

The machine gun (the mass of which on a heavy gun carriage with large wheels and a large armor shield was 244 kg) was assigned to artillery. It was planned to use machine guns for the defense of fortresses, for repulsing by fire from pre-equipped and defended positions of massed attacks by enemy infantry.

In March 1904, a contract was signed for the production of Maxim machine guns at the Tula Arms Plant. The cost of producing a Tula machine gun (942 rubles + 80 pounds sterling of commission to the Vickers firm, about 1700 rubles in total) was cheaper than the cost of purchasing from the British (2288 rubles 20 kopecks for a machine gun). In May 1904, mass production of machine guns began at the Tula Arms Plant.

At the beginning of 1909, the Main Artillery Directorate announced a competition for the modernization of the machine gun, as a result of which a modified version of the machine gun was adopted in August 1910: the 7.62-mm Maxim machine gun of the 1910 model, which was modernized at the Tula Arms Plant under the leadership of I. A. Pastukhov, I. A. Sudakov and P. P. Tretyakov. The body weight of the machine gun was reduced and some parts were changed: a number of bronze parts were replaced with steel ones, the sights were changed to match the ballistics of the cartridge with a pointed bullet mod. 1908, the receiver was changed to fit the new cartridge, and the bore of the muzzle sleeve was widened. The English wheeled carriage was replaced with a lightweight wheeled machine by A. A. Sokolov, the English-style armor shield was replaced with a reduced-size armor shield. In addition, A. A. Sokolov designed ammunition boxes, a cart for transporting cartridges, 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).


The Maxim machine gun was the only example of a machine gun produced in the Russian Empire during the First World War. By the time the mobilization was announced, in July 1914, the Russian army had 4157 machine guns (833 machine guns were not enough to meet the planned needs of the troops). After the outbreak of the war, the Ministry of War issued an order to increase the production of machine guns, but it was very difficult to cope with the task of supplying the army with machine guns, since machine guns were produced in Russia 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 pieces in the second half of 1914, 4,251 pieces in 1915, 11,072 pieces in 1916, 11 420 pieces in 1917) , but the volume of production was insufficient and could not meet the needs of the army.

In 1915, they accepted into service and began production of a simplified machine gun of the Kolesnikov system, model 1915.

During the civil war, the Maxim machine gun arr. 1910 was the main type of machine gun in the Red Army. In addition to machine guns from the warehouses of the Russian army and trophies captured during the hostilities, in 1918-1920, 21 thousand new machine guns mod. 1910, several thousand more were repaired.

In the civil war, the cart became widespread - a spring cart with a machine gun directed backward, which was used both for movement and for firing directly on the battlefield. The carts were especially popular among the Makhnovists.

In the 1920s, on the basis of the design of the machine gun in the USSR, new types of weapons were developed: the Maxim-Tokarev light machine gun and the PV-1 air machine gun.

In 1928, an anti-aircraft tripod mod. 1928 system of M.N.Kondakov. In addition, in 1928, the development of Maxim's quad anti-aircraft machine gun mounts began. In 1929, an anti-aircraft ring sight mod. 1929 of the year.


In 1935, new staffs of the Red Army rifle division were established, according to which the number of Maxim heavy machine guns in the division was somewhat reduced (from 189 to 180 pieces), and the number of light machine guns was increased (from 81 pieces to 350 pieces).

The cost of one "Maxim" machine gun on the Sokolov machine (with a set of spare parts) in 1939 was 2635 rubles; the cost of the "Maxim" machine gun on a universal machine (with a set of spare parts) - 5960 rubles; the cost of a 250-cartridge tape is 19 rubles

In the spring of 1941, in accordance with the staff of the Red Army rifle division No. 04 / 400-416 dated April 5, 1941, the standard number of heavy machine guns "maxim" was reduced to 166 pieces, and the number of anti-aircraft machine guns was increased (to 24 pieces. 7 , 62-mm complex anti-aircraft machine guns and 9 pcs. 12.7-mm DShK machine guns).

In the course of the combat use of the Maxim machine gun, it became clear that in most cases the fire was conducted 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 1930, the machine gun was upgraded again. The modernization was carried out by P. P. Tretyakov, I. A. Pastukhov, K. N. Rudnev and A. A. Tronenkov. The following changes have been made to the design:

  • a folding butt plate is installed, in connection with which the right and left valves and the connection of the release lever and the rod have changed
  • the fuse is moved to the trigger, which eliminates the need to operate with both hands when opening fire
  • the indicator of the tension of the return spring is installed
  • the sight was changed, a stand and a clamp with a latch were introduced, the scale on the rear sight of the side corrections was increased
  • a buffer appeared - a holder for a shield, attached to the casing of a machine gun
  • a separate striker was introduced to the striker
  • for firing at long distances and from closed positions, a heavy bullet mod. 1930 telescopic sight and protractor - quadrant
  • for greater strength, the barrel casing is made with longitudinal corrugation

The upgraded machine gun was named "7.62 easel machine gun of the Maxim system, model 1910/30"... In 1931, a more advanced universal machine gun arr. 1931 of the S. V. Vladimirov system and a PS-31 machine for long-term firing points were developed and adopted.




By the end of the 1930s, the design of the machine gun was morally obsolete, primarily due to its large weight and size.

On September 22, 1939, the 7.62-mm heavy machine gun mod. 1939 DS-39 ", which was intended to replace the Maxim machine guns. However, the operation of the DC-39 in the troops revealed design flaws, as well as the unreliability of the functioning of the automation when using cartridges from a brass sleeve (for the reliable functioning of the automation, the DC-39 required cartridges with a steel sleeve).

During the Finnish War of 1939-1940. the combat capabilities of the Maxim machine gun tried to increase not only the designers and manufacturers, but also directly in the troops. In winter, the machine gun was installed on skis, sledges or drag boats, on which the machine gun was moved through the snow and from which, if necessary, fired. In addition, in the winter of 1939-1940, there were cases when machine gunners planted on the armor of tanks installed Maxim machine guns on the roofs of tank towers and fired at the enemy, supporting the advancing infantry.

In 1940, in the barrel water cooling jacket for quick water changes, the small diameter water filling hole was replaced with a wide mouth. This innovation was borrowed from the Finnish Maxim ( Maxim M32-33) and made it possible to solve the problem of the lack of access to the coolant in the calculation in the winter, now the casing could now be filled with ice and snow.

After the outbreak of World War II, in June 1941, the DS-39 was discontinued and enterprises were ordered to restore the curtailed production of Maxim machine guns.

Also, in June 1941, at the Tula arms factory, under the leadership of chief engineer A.A. a simplified sighting device (with one sighting bar instead of two, which were previously replaced depending on the shooting with a light or heavy bullet), the mount for the optical sight was removed from the machine gun mount.

On the basis of the design of the machine gun, single, twin and quadruple anti-aircraft machine-gun mounts were developed, which were the most common weapons of the army's air defense.

  • Thus, the M4 quad anti-aircraft machine gun of the 1931 model differed from the usual Maxim machine gun by the presence of a forced water circulation device, a larger capacity of machine-gun belts (for 1000 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, self-propelled, shipborne, installed in the bodies of cars, armored trains, railway platforms, on the roofs of buildings.

7.62mm quad M4 anti-aircraft machine gun in the back of an abandoned truck.

Major modifications


Design and principle of operation

The Maxim machine gun is an automatic weapon with a water-cooled barrel. The barrel casing is steel, most often corrugated, with a capacity of 4 liters. On machine guns released after 1940, the neck for filling the casing with water was made enlarged (like the Finnish machine guns of the same system), which made it possible to fill the casing not only with water, but also with snow or crushed ice. Automatic machine gun uses the recoil of the barrel with its short stroke. The barrel is locked by a cranked pair of levers located between the bolt and the receiver rigidly connected to the barrel. After firing, the barrel with a movable system begins to roll back until the cocking handle mounted on the rear axle of the lever pair hits the roller located on the receiver with its curly shank. The interaction of the cocking handle with the roller causes it to rotate downward, which in turn causes the crankset to move out of the dead center position and causes it to "fold" downward. The return spring is located under a separate shroud on the outside on the left side of the receiver, and is connected to an eccentric on the rear locking arm axis. The spring, unlike most systems, works in tension rather than compression. The barrel with the shank then stops, and the bolt ("lock") connected to the lever pair continues to move backward, while simultaneously removing the new cartridge from the tape and the spent cartridge case from the barrel. When the movable system rolls forward, the new cartridge is lowered to the barrel line and sent to the chamber, and the spent cartridge case is fed into the cartridge outlet channel located below the barrel. Shot casings are thrown from the weapon forward, under the barrel. To implement such a feeding scheme, the shutter mirror has a T-shaped vertical groove for the sleeve flanges, and in the process of rollback-roll it moves down and up, respectively.


Rack sight of the machine gun "Maxim"
(click on the picture to enlarge it)

Cartridges are fed from canvas (later - metal non-scattering) tape, from right to left. The slider tape feed mechanism is driven by a movable barrel. The machine gun allows only automatic fire. Shooting is carried out from a closed bolt. To control fire, the machine gun has a pair of vertical handles located on the butt plate of the receiver, and a trigger located between the handles. The machine gun was standardly equipped with a rack-mount sight, which had markings for light and heavy bullets from 0 to 2200 and 2600 m, respectively. The rear sight also had a mechanism for entering lateral corrections. Additionally, machine guns could be equipped with an optical sight of the 1932 model with a magnification of 2X, for which a special bracket was made on the receiver. On machine guns produced during the war years, there is a rack-mount sight with one aiming bar, there is no mount for an optical sight.

The standard machine for the Russian Maxim machine gun was a wheeled machine of the Sokolov system, equipped with a steel protective shield (weighing about 11 kg), and in the period before the First World War - also a pair of folding legs, which made it possible to raise the firing line if necessary. Sokolov's machine tool allowed firing only at ground targets. In 1939, a universal Vladimirov wheeled machine was additionally adopted for the Maxim machine gun, which allowed firing at both ground and air targets. At Vladimirov's machine, the U-shaped support of the machine was replaced by three tubular supports, in the stowed position or in the position for firing at ground targets, folded together. In the position for firing aerial targets, these three supports were disconnected and laid out into an anti-aircraft tripod, and the wheels and shield were disconnected. Soldiers often removed the armor shields from the machine gun, thereby trying to increase maneuverability and achieve less visibility.

Usage

Video

Machine guns of the First World War.

Maxim machine gun. Design and principle of operation.

GAU index - 56-P-421

A heavy machine gun, a modification of the British Maxim machine gun, widely used by the Russian and Soviet armies during World War I and World War II. The Maxim machine gun was used to destroy open group targets and enemy fire weapons at a distance of up to 1000 m.

History

After a successful demonstration of a machine gun in Switzerland, Italy and Austria-Hungary, Hiram Maxim arrived in Russia with an exemplary machine gun. 45 caliber (11.43 mm).

In 1887, the Maxim machine gun was tested for a 10.67-mm Berdan rifle cartridge with black powder.

On March 8, 1888, Emperor Alexander III himself shot from it. After testing, representatives of the Russian military department ordered Maxim 12 machine guns mod. 1895 chambered for the 10.67-mm Berdan rifle cartridge.

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.

Subsequently, the Berdan rifle was removed from service, and the Maxim machine guns were redesigned for the 7.62-mm cartridge of the Russian Mosin rifle. In 1891-1892. five machine guns chambered for 7.62x54 mm were purchased for testing.

To increase the reliability of the 7.62-mm machine gun's automation, a "muzzle booster" was introduced into the design - a device designed to use the energy of powder gases to increase the recoil force. The front of the barrel was thickened to increase the muzzle area and then a muzzle cap was attached to the water jacket. 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. During 1897-1904, 291 machine guns were purchased.

The machine gun (the mass of which on a heavy gun carriage with large wheels and a large armor shield was 244 kg) was assigned to artillery. It was planned to use machine guns for the defense of fortresses, for repulsing with fire from pre-equipped and defended positions of massed attacks by enemy infantry.

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-artillery fire due to the obvious superiority of artillery over small-caliber weapons in range.
In March 1904, a contract was signed for the production of Maxim machine guns at the Tula Arms Plant. The cost of producing a Tula machine gun (942 rubles + 80 pounds sterling of commission to the Vickers company, only about 1700 rubles) was cheaper than the cost of purchasing from the British (2288 rubles 20 kopecks for a machine gun). In May 1904, serial production of machine guns started at the Tula Arms Plant.

At the very beginning of 1909, the Main Artillery Directorate 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: the 7.62-mm Maxim machine gun of the 1910 model, which was modernized at the Tula Arms Plant under the guidance of I A. Pastukhov, I. A. Sudakov and P. P. Tretyakov. The body weight of the machine gun was reduced and some parts were changed: a number of bronze parts were replaced with steel ones, the sights were changed to match the ballistics of the cartridge with a pointed bullet mod. 1908, the receiver was changed to fit the new cartridge, plus the bore of the muzzle sleeve was widened. The English wheeled carriage was replaced with a lightweight wheeled machine by A. A. Sokolov, the English-style armor shield was replaced with a reduced-size armor shield. In addition, A. A. Sokolov created ammunition boxes, a cart for transporting cartridges, 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).

Design

Automatic machine gun works on the principle of using the recoil of the barrel.

The device of the Maxim machine gun: the barrel is covered with a thin layer of copper on the outside to protect it from rust. The barrel is equipped with a casing filled with water to cool the barrel. Water is poured through a pipe connected to the casing by a branch pipe with a tap. A hole closed with a screw cap serves to drain the water. The casing has a steam outlet pipe through which steam comes out of it when firing through a hole in the muzzle (closed with a stopper). A short, movable tube is put on the tube. At elevation angles, it descends and closes the lower opening 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 opening into the tube and then go out through the tube. For declination angles, the opposite will happen.

Combat use

World War I

The Maxim machine gun was the only machine gun produced in the Russian Empire during the First World War. By the time the mobilization was announced, in July 1914, the Russian army had 4157 machine guns (833 machine guns were not enough to meet the planned needs of the troops). After the start of the war, the Ministry of War issued an order to increase the production of machine guns, but it was very difficult to cope with the task of supplying the army with machine guns, since machine guns were produced in Russia in insufficient quantities, and all foreign machine gun factories were loaded to the limit. In general, during the war, the Russian industry produced 27,571 machine guns for the army (828 pieces in the second half of 1914, 4,251 pieces in 1915, 11,072 pieces in 1916, 11 420 pieces in 1917) , but the volume of production was insufficient and could not meet the needs of the army.

In 1915, they accepted into service and began production of a simplified machine gun of the Kolesnikov system, model 1915.

Civil War

During the civil war, the Maxim machine gun arr. 1910 was the main type of machine gun in the Red Army. In addition to machine guns from the warehouses of the Russian army and trophies captured during the hostilities, in 1918-1920, 21 thousand new machine guns mod. 1910, several thousand more were repaired.

In the civil war, the cart became widespread - a spring cart with a machine gun directed backward, which was used both for movement and for firing directly on the battlefield. The cars were especially popular among the Makhnovists (armed rebel formations during the Civil War in Russia, operating in the south-east of Ukraine from July 21, 1918 to August 28, 1921, under the slogans of anarchism).

In the 1920s-1930s in the USSR

In the 1920s, on the basis of the design of the machine gun in the USSR, new types of weapons were created: the Maxim-Tokarev light machine gun and the PV-1 air machine gun.

In 1928, an anti-aircraft tripod mod. 1928 system of M.N.Kondakov. In addition, in 1928, the development of Maxim's quad anti-aircraft machine gun mounts began. In 1929, an anti-aircraft ring sight mod. 1929 of the year.

In 1935, new staffs of the Red Army rifle division were established, according to which the number of Maxim heavy machine guns in the division was somewhat reduced (from 189 to 180 pieces), and the number of light machine guns was increased (from 81 pieces to 350 pieces).

The cost of one "Maxim" machine gun on the Sokolov machine (with a set of spare parts) in 1939 was 2635 rubles; the cost of the "Maxim" machine gun on a universal machine (with a set of spare parts) - 5960 rubles; the cost of a 250-cartridge tape is 19 rubles

In the spring of 1941, in accordance with the staff of the Red Army rifle division No. 04 / 400-416 dated April 5, 1941, the standard number of heavy machine guns "maxim" was reduced to 166 pieces, and the number of anti-aircraft machine guns was increased (to 24 pieces. 7 , 62-mm complex anti-aircraft machine guns and 9 pcs. 12.7-mm DShK machine guns).

Maxim machine gun mod. 1910/1930

During the combat use of the Maxim machine gun, it became clear that in the vast majority of cases the fire was fired at a distance of 800 to 1000 meters, and at such a distance there was no noticeable difference in the trajectory of light and heavy bullets.

In 1930, the machine gun was upgraded again. The modernization was carried out by P. P. Tretyakov, I. A. Pastukhov, K. N. Rudnev and A. A. Tronenkov. The following changes have been made to the design:

A folding butt plate was installed, in connection with which the right and left valves and the connection of the release lever and the rod have changed
-the fuse is moved to the trigger, which eliminated the need to operate with both hands when opening fire
-installed tension indicator of the return spring
-Changed the sight, introduced a stand and a clamp with a latch, increased the scale on the rear sight of the lateral corrections
-a buffer appeared - a holder for a shield, attached to the casing of the machine gun
-introduced a separate striker to the drummer
- for firing at long distances and from closed positions, a heavy bullet mod. 1930 telescopic sight and protractor - quadrant
- for greater strength, the barrel casing is made with longitudinal corrugation
The modernized machine gun was named "7.62 Maxim machine gun, model 1910/30". In 1931, a more advanced universal machine gun arr. 1931 of the S. V. Vladimirov system and a PS-31 machine for long-term firing points were created and adopted.

By the end of the 1930s, the design of the machine gun was morally obsolete, primarily due to its large weight and size.

On September 22, 1939, the 7.62-mm heavy machine gun mod. 1939 DS-39 ", which was intended to replace the Maxim machine guns. However, the operation of the DS-39 in the troops revealed design flaws, as well as the unreliability of the functioning of the automation when using cartridges with a brass sleeve (for the reliable functioning of the automation, the DS-39 required cartridges with a steel sleeve).

During the Finnish War of 1939-1940. the combat capabilities of the Maxim machine gun tried to increase not only the designers and manufacturers, but also directly in the troops. In winter, the machine gun was installed on skis, sledges or drag boats, on which the machine gun was moved through the snow and from which, if necessary, fired. In addition, in the winter of 1939-1940, there were cases when machine gunners planted on the armor of tanks installed Maxim machine guns on the roofs of tank towers and fired at the enemy, supporting the advancing infantry.

In 1940, in the barrel water cooling jacket for quick water changes, the small diameter water filling hole was replaced with a wide mouth. This innovation was borrowed from the Finnish Maxim (Maxim M32-33) and allowed to solve the problem of the lack of access to the coolant in the calculation in the winter, now the casing could be filled with ice and snow.

After the outbreak of World War II, in June 1941, the DS-39 was discontinued and enterprises were ordered to restore the curtailed production of Maxim machine guns.

In June 1941, at the Tula arms factory, under the leadership of chief engineer A. A. Tronenkov, engineers I. E. Lubenets and Yu. A. Kazarin began the final modernization (in order to improve the manufacturability of production), during which the "Maxim" was equipped with a simplified sighting device (with one aiming bar instead of two, which were previously replaced depending on the shooting with a light or heavy bullet), the mount for the optical sight was dismantled from the machine gun mount.

Maxim machine gun as a means of military air defense

On the basis of the design of the machine gun, single, twin and quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun mounts were created, which were the most common weapons of the army's air defense. For example, the M4 quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun of the 1931 model differed from the usual Maxim machine gun by the presence of a forced water circulation device, a larger capacity of machine-gun belts (for 1000 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, self-propelled, shipborne, mounted in the bodies of cars, armored trains, railway platforms, on the roofs of buildings.

Paired and quad mounts of Maxim machine guns were also successfully used to fire at ground targets (in particular, to repel enemy infantry attacks). So, during the Finnish war of 1939-1940, units of the 34th tank brigade of the Red Army, encircled in the Lemitte-Uomas area, successfully repulsed several attacks of the Finnish infantry, using two twin installations of Maxim's anti-aircraft machine guns installed on the lorries as mobile firing points.

Application in the Great Patriotic War

The Maxim machine gun was actively used in the Great Patriotic War. It was in service with infantry and mountain rifle troops, border guards, and the navy, and was installed on armored trains, Willis and GAZ-64 jeeps.

In May 1942, in accordance with the order of the USSR People's Commissar for Armaments D.F.

On May 15, 1943, a heavy machine gun of the Goryunov SG-43 system with an air barrel cooling system was adopted by the Red Army, which began to enter the troops in June 1943. But the Maxim machine gun continued to be produced until the end of the war at the Tula and Izhevsk factories, and until its end it was the main machine gun of the Soviet Army.

Operating countries

Russian Empire: the main machine gun in service with the army.
-Germany: captured machine guns were used during the First World War.
-THE USSR
-Poland: in 1918-1920, a number of Russian machine guns Maxim arr. 1910 (under the name Maxim wz. 1910) was in service with the Polish army; after the 7.92x57 mm cartridge was adopted as a standard rifle and machine gun ammunition in 1922, a number of machine guns were converted to this cartridge, they received the name Maxim wz. 1910/28.
-Finland: after the proclamation of Finland's independence in 1918, up to 600 7.62-mm Maxim machine guns mod. 1910 entered service with the emerging units of the 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 units were purchased in Poland); in 1932, a modernized Maxim M / 32-33 machine gun powered by a metal belt was adopted, some of the machine guns installed in pillboxes were supplied with forced water cooling of the barrel. By the winter of 1939, Maxim machine guns of various modifications still constituted the bulk of the Finnish army's heavy machine guns. They were used in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. and the "continuation war" 1941-1944.

In 1918-1922. a number of Russian machine guns "maxim" mod. 1910 entered service with paramilitary units in China (in particular, Zhang Zuolin received them from White emigrants who retreated to northern China)
-Bulgaria: in 1921-1923. a number of Russian 7.62 mm Maxim machine guns mod. 1910 entered the disposal of the Bulgarian army after the disarmament of the units of Wrangel's army that arrived in Bulgaria.
-Second Spanish Republic: after the outbreak of the war in Spain in 1936, 3221 machine gun was purchased by the government of the Spanish Republic.
-Mongolian People's Republic
-Third Reich: captured Soviet Maxim machine guns (under the designation MG 216 (r)) were used by the Wehrmacht and entered service with paramilitary and security police units in the occupied territory of the USSR.

Czechoslovakia: in January 1942, the 1st Czechoslovak independent infantry battalion received the first 12 Maxim machine guns, and later - other Czechoslovak units.
-PNR: in 1943, the 1st Polish Infantry Division named after T. Kosciuszko received Soviet machine guns, and later - and other Polish units.
-Ukraine: as of August 15, 2011, the Ministry of Defense had 35,000 units in storage. machine guns; On October 8-9, 2014, the use of volunteer battalions during the battles for Donetsk airport was noted; in early December 2014, another machine gun was seized by SBU officers from DPR supporters in the Slavyansk region. Machine guns "Maxim" of the 1910 model (released in 1944) were issued to the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that took part in the armed conflict in the Donbass.

Reflection in culture and art

The Maxim machine gun is mentioned in many works about the events of the First World War, the Civil War (films "Thirteen", "Chapaev", etc.), the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War.

Civil version

In 2013, the Maxim machine gun, without the function of automatic fire, was certified in Russia as a hunting rifled weapon, sold under license.

TTX

Weight, kg: 20.3 (body), 64.3 (with the machine)
-Length, mm: 1067
- barrel length, mm: 721
- Cartridge: 7.62x54 mm R
-Principles of work: barrel recoil, crank locking
-Fire rate, rounds / min: 600
-Initial bullet speed, m / s: 740
-Kind of ammunition: canvas or metal ammunition tape for 250

  • Cards
  • Photo
  • Museum
  • Machine guns "Maxim"

    Machine gun of the H. Maxim system, model 1910/30

    The Maksim machine gun, model 1910, is a Russian version of the British machine gun, which was modernized at the Tula Arms Factory under the guidance of masters I. Pastukhov, I. Sudakov and P. Tretyakov. The weight of the machine gun's body was reduced and some details were changed: the adoption of a cartridge with a pointed bullet of the model of 1908 made it necessary to change the sights in the machine gun and remake the receiver so that it would fit a new cartridge. The English wheeled carriage was replaced by A. Sokolov's lightweight wheeled machine. In addition, A. Sokolov designed ammunition boxes, a cart for transporting cartridges, sealed cylinders for boxes with cartridges. Some of the machine guns had a casing with longitudinal ribbing, which increased rigidity and increased the cooling surface, but the ribbing had to be abandoned in order to simplify production. ( S. Fedoseev. Easel machine gun "Maxim" arr. 1910)

    Machine guns "Maxim" 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. In 1929, an experimental batch with a corrugated casing was produced, according to some sources with a wide neck, but it was not accepted into production. ( S. L. Fedoseev. "Machine guns of Russia. 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 facilitate the machine gun. The modernized machine gun was named "7.62 easel machine gun of the Maxim system, model 1910/30".

    Main tactical and technical characteristics:

    Body weight of Maxim machine gun with coolant - 24.2 kg

    The weight of the Sokolov machine with a shield - 43.4 kg
    Machine gun body length - 1107 mm
    The greatest width of the machine gun - 140 mm
    Rate of fire - 500-600 rounds per minute
    Maximum range of a bullet:

    heavy sample 1930 - up to 5000 m
    light sample 1908 - up to 3500 m

    Maxim's easel machine gun, model 1910/30, refers to automatic weapon systems with barrel recoil (short stroke). Locking is carried out by a crank-type mechanism (connecting rod and crank). The trigger mechanism of the machine gun is designed for automatic fire only and has a safety device against accidental shots. The machine gun is powered by cartridges from a slide-type receiver with a metal or canvas tape for 250 rounds. When firing, the barrel is cooled by a liquid placed in a casing. Rack-mount machine gun sight, front sight with 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 the tanks. One of the drawbacks was its previous advantage, which allowed continuous shooting - water cooling of the barrel. It significantly increased the mass of the weapon, damage to the casing led to the pouring of water, a decrease in the speed and accuracy of fire, and after a while led to the failure of the machine gun. The machine gun became especially inconvenient when operating in the mountains and in the offensive. The machine gun with the machine tool had a mass of about 65 kg, the weight of the box with the 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 of machine-gun belts, two spare barrels, one box of spare parts, one box of accessories, three cans for water and grease, an optical machine gun sight. ( From the infantry soldier's manual. Chapter 12. Service heavy machine gun. 1940). This weight significantly reduced the maneuverability of the machine gun during the battle, and the protruding shield made camouflage difficult. On the march, the machine gun was served by a team of 5-7 people (machine gun squad), during the battle - from 2-3 people.

    The need for a link metal tape was recognized. This tape was used in the PV-1 aircraft machine gun, 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.

    On September 22, 1939, the Maxim was replaced by a new air-cooled Degtyarev easel machine gun of 1939. 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 of the People's Commissariats of Defense for land weapons, 3000 pieces were planned for 1941 ( S. L. Fedoseev. Machine guns of Russia. Heavy fire). Structurally, the DS-39 machine guns turned out to be unfinished, in June 1941 they were discontinued, and the production of "Maximov" with the beginning of the war began to increase. But already in October 1941, the production of machine guns fell 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, in connection with the approach of Nazi troops to Tula, the equipment of the Plant No. 66 was evacuated to the Urals. The production of machine guns fell sharply. During the siege of Tula (November - December 1941), on the basis of the Tula arms factory and using equipment collected from the rest of the city's enterprises, among other weapons, 224 Degtyarev heavy machine guns and 71 Maxim machine guns were assembled. In the last quarter of 1941, the front received 867 units instead of the planned 12 thousand Maxim machine guns. For the entire 1941, 9691 Maxim machine guns and 3717 DS machine guns were produced. S. L. Fedoseev. Machine guns of Russia. Heavy fire).

    From 4 to 12 October 1941 engineers Yu.A. Kozarin and I.E. Lubenets under the leadership of chief designer A.A. Tronenkov, at the Tula Arms Plant, they undertook another modernization of the Maxim machine gun in accordance with the new combat and production and economic requirements. To fill the casing with ice and snow, it was equipped with a wide neck with a lid on a hinge - 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 aiming bar instead of two, which were replaced earlier depending on the shooting with 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.

    To use metal and canvas tapes I.E. A milled receiver was developed by Lubenets; for the convenience of unloading it was equipped with a special switch for the upper fingers. But, in order to maximize the use of significant reserves of canvas tapes, receivers only for them continued to be produced throughout the war. Then, in October, the People's Commissariat of Arms and the GAU approved the design changes, but the improvement continued. Since 1942, receivers began to be produced from silumin by injection molding or from steel by broach.