The History of Military Small Arms by B. Smith

Author:B. Smith
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2013-07-13T05:00:00+00:00

Gun as modified by Maxim to produce semi-automatic action. This design was produced in prototype but was not put into general manufacture. This weapon was not

produced in quantity.

The recoil driving the piece back and compressing the spring between the weapon itself and the butt plate operated the levers to open the trigger guard lever. This action of course ejected the empty case and cocked the rifle. The reaction of the now compressed spring under the butt plate at the end of the recoil action forced the arm ahead, and working through the compound levers closed the action on the chambered cartridge ready for the next trigger pull.

This was the first truly successful automatic functioning of any firearm of which we have evidence.

This epochal development occurred in 1883. It achieved tremendous attention throughout Europe. It was applied to many Turkish Winchester, 44 s, specimens of which are occasionally encountered in arms collections abroad.

First Patent

In 1884 Maxim was granted his first basic patent. This covered a recoil operated lock breech system and was applied to machine guns. From it was evolved many of the important items which followed.

Early automatic rifle developed by Maxim. This weapon was not produced in quantity.

Automatic Rifles

One of his early developments was a fully automatic rifle loaded from a revolving magazine based on the Roper system which was then being tried in repeating shotguns in the United States. A study of the drawings of this arm are of interest. They show positioning of the recoil spring in the butt of the rifle, much as in the common practice in some of the world's finest lightweight automatic and semi-automatic arms rifles, shotguns, and machine weapons.

While Maxim invented several automatic rifles and automatic pistols in the course of his career, none of these was ever manufactured commercially. His entire successful developmental progress centered around the machine gun. It is to that field we must turn for most of our essential observations on his firearms developments, though his principles were exploited by others in lesser arms.

Machine-Gun Development

Maxim began experimental development of a machine gun at a small plant at 57 Hatton Gardens, London. Among the equipment he used was a new Browne and Sharpe milling machine recently imported from America, an item which itself had been developed primarily in relation to gun manufacture. He proceeded to develop all the tools for building the necessary parts, all the holding fixtures, jigs and gauges. The one thing he would not undertake to produce personally was the barrel; barrels were purchased.

The ability, genius, and hard work of Maxim at this point is difficult to imagine. If one remembers that he had no guideposts, since he was operating in an entirely new field, one gathers some little insight into the tremendous problems he faced and overcame despite warnings from―experts‖ that he could not possibly succeed. He operated in the face of such criticism and foreboding at all times during his life, constantly upsetting the experts in the field.

Drawings from Scientific American Magazine in 1884. The Maxim gun basic mechanism has changed very little through the years.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.