It would appear that Maxim was just as interested in producing other weapons as he was machine guns because during the same period he began working on a self-loading pistol design. All of the designs used variations of Maxim’s toggle-lock action. In the patent drawings the outline of the toggle joint can be see showing the position the toggle descends to when the rifle cycles.
Maxim’s rifle includes a single stack box magazine which appears to be holding six rounds of .450/577. While it does not appear to be detachable in his patent Maxim notes that “my improved rifle may be adapted for use with a Lee, Mannlicher, or other magazine.” He notes that the rifle is shown with a Mannlicher-style magazine.
The position of the trigger up under the receiver does not appear to be very ergonomic but the receiver appears to be quire narrow. The rifle also has a bolt hold open catch, shown in fig.4, which is described by the patent as a means of preventing the rifle to operate, as a safety feature. One interesting feature of the rifle is its complex, multi-piece, trigger which has a number of toggle linkages to bring it into contact with the firing pin.
I’ve been unable to find any other reference to Maxim’s rifle design and it is unclear how far the rifle progressed and if prototypes were produced. Maxim spent several years working on pistol designs but they, like the rifle, never saw the development or success of Maxim’s machine guns.
Sources:
‘Magazine Fire Arm’, H.S. Maxim, 5 May, 1885, US #317162 (source)
As early as 1890, the US military had been interested in the Maxim Gun, recommending purchase of a number for troop trials. In the winter of 1897 the Springfield Armory completed an endurance test with a Maxim gun chambered in the then standard .30-40 Krag service ammunition. 20,000 rounds were fired into a specially built sandbox just in front of the gun.
While the US did not immediately adopt the Maxim they were impressed by its reliability and robust design. Once funding allowed, the US Army eventually adopted the Maxim Model of 1904. A decade late the US standardised to the Colt-Vickers Model of 1915 before switching to the
Colt-Browning M1917.
Hiram Percy Maxim, son of Hiram Maxim - inventor of the machine gun, is best known for his line of silencers (suppressors). Maxim developed the first
viable firearm suppressors at the turn of the 20th century. He was granted a series of patents between 1909 and 1920 and began selling his designs through Maxim Silent Firearms Company (which would later become the Maxim Silencer Company) in 1908.
In 1906, Maxim began experimenting with a series of designs to moderate sound. Initially he experimented
with valves, vents and bypass devices. He eventually finalised his basic idea
and developed a series of practical suppressor. He believed that the propellant gases leaving a
firearm’s muzzle could be whirled to create a vortex thereby slowing them
sufficiently to prevent them making a noise as they left the muzzle.
Maxim’s first experimental silencer can be seen in image #3, it used an offset snail shell-shaped chamber and valve to trap and swirl the muzzle gases in an effort to slow their
travel. Maxim’sresults with this design were encouraging and he continued to develop the
idea of swirling the gases. In June 1908,
he filed his patent for an ‘improvement in Silent Firearms’. Granted in March
1909, this design used a series of curved vanes or blades to create a series of
miniature vortices to capture and slow the muzzle gases.
The Model
1909 Maxim silencer was not produced in great numbers and the vortices caused
the suppressor to heat up rapidly. The curved internal vanes proved expensive
to manufacture but the Model 1909 could reduce a .22LR pistol’s report by up to 30
decibels. In October and November 1908, Maxim filled two more patents to
protect an improvement on his earlier design. This new design became the Model
1910 which still relied on Maxim’s gas vortex theory but had a simplified the
vane arrangement. The Model 1910 also moved away from having a centrally
aligned internal channel and instead used an offset (or eccentric) design. This
had the added benefit of not obstructing the weapon’s sights. The majority of rifles
of the day did not have threaded barrels so Maxim developed a coupling device
which was placed over the muzzle and offered an external thread. One of the
main drawbacks of the Model 1910 was that it could not be disassembled for
cleaning. Instead it was recommended that hot water should be run through the silencer’s
channel, a Maxim sales brochure stated that it would take 30 minutes to clean
the silencer this way.
The Maxim
Model 1910 proved commercially successful and was offered in a number of
calibres from .22 up to .45 calibre. The thinner Model 1910 was less effective
than the earlier 1909 and when fitted to a .22LR pistol the Model 1910 reduced the weapon’s report by up to 25 decibels. Both the 1909 and 1910 models
proved to be fairly robust and moderately effective suppressors.
Maxim’s book
'Experiences with the Maxim Silencer’
compiled letters from sportsmen and hunters who had used his silencer. In the
book’s forward Maximexplained that he developed his system in order to
“meet my personal desire to enjoy target practice without creating a
disturbance. I have always loved to shoot, but I never thoroughly enjoyed it
when I knew the noise was annoying other people.”
The cover of Maxim’s book ‘Experiences with the Maxim Silencer’ (source)
The Maxim
Silencer Company sold the silencers via mail order, shipping them in cardboard
tubes. A .22 calibre silencer cost $5 while larger calibre silencers cost $7. Maxim’s
silencers were expensive when adjusted for inflation these prices equate to
approximately $120 and $165 respectively.
In 1912, with commercial growth slow, Maxim turned his attention to the military market and began designing a silencer which could moderate the report of a Springfield M1903 rifle. In 1909, the Ordnance Corps had tested Maxim’s first silencer. Colonel S.E. Blunt, the commanding officer of the Springfield Armory, reported that the silencer eliminated approximately 66% of the noise and 67% of the recoil normally made when a rifle was fired.
Patent
drawing for Maxim’s coupling design for attaching a Model 1912 silencer to a
Springfield M1903 rifle (source)
The Maxim
Silencer Company developed the Model 1912 and subsequently the further improved
Model 15 which Maxim christened the 'Government Silencer’. In images #2 and #4 above Maxim himself can be see with Springfield M1903′s equipped with his silencers. Encouraged by this early military interest Maxim
envisioned a military silencer being useful in roles such as sniping, guard
harassment and marksmanship training. He believed that the increasing number of
American men joining the military from cities who lacked experience in shooting
were struggling to master the .30-06 M1903 because of its loud report and
recoil. Maxim felt that using a silencer would prevent recruits being
intimidated by their rifle and help them to learn the fundamentals of
marksmanship faster. Maxim also developed a larger silencer suitable for suppressing aBenét–Mercié
M1909 Machine Rifle, he can be seen firing one of these in image #1.
Maxim’s military silencers, along with those of Robert A. Moore, were tested by the US Army in 1912. The
Springfield Armory’s report in July 1912, found that the Moore silencer was
more accurate and had a better attachment system. The Maxim silencer, however,
was more durable and could withstand more prolonged rapid fire. Army Ordnance
recommended the purchase of 100 of both silencers for field trials with two
silencers be issued per company for use by sharpshooters in conjunction with
two star-gauge (accurate barrelled) rifles and the M1908 and M1913 Musket
Sights. This was not the large scale contract that Maxim had hoped for
believing silencers might become standard issue, however, the funding was not
available and the idea behind the silencers use was not fully embraced by the
military. The US military deployed silencers in small numbers during the 1916 expedition against Pancho Villa and later when the American expeditionary Force was deployed to France in 1917.
A Springfield M1903 outfitted with an M1910 Maxim Silencer (source)
While these silenced rifles could not prevent the supersonic crack which occurred down range they
were able to mitigate muzzle flash and the rifle’s report. In 1917-18 a plan to
deploy silencers with rifles with accurate star-gauged barrels was developed. An order for 9,100 was placed although part of
this order was fulfilled before the end of the war the exact number of silencer
equipped rifles manufactured remains unknown. After the war these rifles were
offered for sale through the Civilian Marksmanship programme in 1920, others
were given to National Guard units for training purposes while the remainder
were declared obsolete in March 1925. In 1967, a Frankford Arsenal report on silencers found that Maxim’s silencer for the M1903 performed very well, even when compared to more modern designs.
While
the First World War offered a brief boom in sales of silencers this did not
last and Maxim’s company continued to diversify after the war. The Maxim
Silencer Company manufactured not only firearm silencers but also sound
moderating devices for everything from automobiles to naval engines; from plant
machinery to building silencers which were fitted to heating and air
conditioning systems. Hiram Percy
Maxim died in 1936. The company began to move away from firearms silencers in 1925,
instead concentrating on industrial and automotive sound moderators. Public interest in firearm suppressors was quashed in 1934 by the National Firearms Act which required a prohibitively
expensive $200.00 tax stamp (approximately $3,500 today). Although
no longer family owned, the company continues to specialise in industrial sound
moderating devices and technology.
Silencers, Snipers & Assassins: An
Overview of Whispering Death,
J.D. Truby (1972) Firearm Silencers, N. Wilson (1983) Hatcher’s Notebook, J.S. Hatcher (1947) Maxim Model 1909 Torture Test, Small Arms Review, Aug. 2002, A. Paulson History of the Maxim Silencer Company,
Small Arms Review, F. Iannamico (source) Maxim
Silencer Company Sales Brochure c.1915 (source)
So does that mean the Us went to war using British designed guns?
You could argue that’s true. The M1917 Enfield and Colt-Vickers M1915 both have somewhat British roots although they’re both a little more complicated. The M1917 was developed in 1913 by the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield but it’s bolt is based on Mauser’s action - which is German.
The M1915 is a Vickers improved version of Hiram Maxim, who was from Maine although he later became a naturalised British citizen. So broadly speaking the US went into war with some half-British designed guns, but almost all of them were manufactured in the US and both excellent weapons.
Ordnance of the Week: Hotchkiss & Maxim 37mm Auto-Cannons
At the turn of the 20th century two of the heaviest automatic weapons to appear on battlefields during the Boer War and later the First World War were the Hotchkiss and Maxim 37mm Auto-Cannons. Both guns were essentially scaled-up versions of their machine gun counterparts with the Maxim 37mm Cannon based on Hiram Maxim’s belt-fed machine gun and the Hotchkiss 37mm was based on the Hotchkiss Mle 1897.
Like its smaller cousin the Hotchkiss cannon fed from strips, with each strip holding eight 37mm explosive shells while the Maxim also fired the explosive 37mm shell but had the advantage of feeding from a belt. The Maxim 37mm or ‘Pom-Pom’ gun as it became known because of the distinct sound it made when fired. The French Hotchkiss et Cie company had a background in 37mm weapons having successfully marketed a manually operated 37mm revolving cannon, similar to a Gatling Gun with five barrels, since the 1870s.
The Maxim 37mm was developed in 1890 and was the first autocannon of its type ever designed. It was originally developed as land based anti-personnel weapon it was soon adapted for use aboard ships, as an anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapon and even as an aircraft mounted weapon. After encountering Maxim-Nordenfelt made Boer 37mm Maxim’s the British Army purchased several hundred Maxims from Vickers-Armstrong and designated them the QF 1 Pounder.
The new Hotchkiss auto-cannon was intended to be a competitor to the highly successful Maxim auto-cannons which had proved so effective during the Second Anglo-Boer War (see images #3 & #4). However, the Hotchkiss found relatively few customers with only small orders reportedly placed by Mexico and Japan.
The US military had been slow to appreciate the practicality of the machine gun, they had also been slow to adopt the hand cranked Gatling and they were slow to abandon it. In the late 1880s the US, like almost every other major power began to take a growing interest in truly automatic machine guns.
The successful employment of venerable Gatlings and new Colt-Browning M1895s during the Spanish-American War saw growing acceptance of machine guns by the skeptical US Military. At the turn of the century the US began purchasing and testing a variety of machine guns including the Colt-Browning M1895, the Maxim Gun and later the Hotchkiss M1909 Benet–Mercie.
In 1904 after testing the Maxim gun produced by the British arms company Vickers, Sons & Maxim. The British Maxim was adopted as the Maxim Model of 1904 and an order for 90 guns was placed while Colt geared up for manufacturing the Vickers-Maxim under license. Colt however contracted to produce only the gun and even after production had shifted from Britain to Colt Vickers continued to make the guns’ tripods. Some 287 Maxim M1904s were produced when the US decided to adopt the lighter Benet-Macie in 1909. Initially, like the Springfield 1903, the M1904 was chambered in the short lived US .30-03 calibre round before switching to the more efficient .30-06 round. The M1904 is instantly distinguishable by its large muzzle boost at the front of the water jacket and by its brass fittings which by the 1910s had been discontinued on all Vickers-Maxims. The Model of 1904 was extremely well made but also has the distinction of being the heaviest Maxim gun ever produced, weighing in at 145 lbs once its water jacket was filled.
US soldiers with a Maxim Model of 1904 during exercises in Texas, 1911 (source)
According to the M1904’s handbook issued by the War Department states that the weapon should be used by specialised machine gun companies or troops consisting of four tripod mounted Maxims. The M1904 was deployed to the US-Mexican border seeing action during the border troubles and Pershing’s subsequent incursion into Mexico in 1916. It also saw service in the Philippines, Caribbean and Central America during the US’s so-called Banana Wars. None of the original M1904 Maxims were dispatched to France with the expeditionary force in 1917, instead they remained at home as training weapons, during which most of the above photos were probably taken.
The M1904 was superseded by the M1909 Benet-Mercie, which in turn was replaced by another Maxim, the Colt-Vickers Model of 1915 which was widely used during the war before it too was replaced with the Browning M1917.
The US military had been slow to appreciate the practicality of the machine gun, they had also been slow to adopt the hand cranked Gatling and they were slow to abandon it. In the late 1880s the US, like almost every other major power began to take a growing interest in truly automatic machine guns.
The successful employment of venerable Gatlings and new Colt-Browning M1895s during the Spanish-American War saw growing acceptance of machine guns by the skeptical US Military. At the turn of the century the US began purchasing and testing a variety of machine guns including the Colt-Browning M1895, the Maxim Gun and later the Hotchkiss M1909 Benet–Mercie.
In 1904 after testing the Maxim gun produced by the British arms company Vickers, Sons & Maxim. The British Maxim was adopted as the Maxim Model of 1904 and an order for 90 guns was placed while Colt geared up for manufacturing the Vickers-Maxim under license. Colt however contracted to produce only the gun and even after production had shifted from Britain to Colt Vickers continued to make the guns’ tripods. Some 287 Maxim M1904s were produced when the US decided to adopt the lighter Benet-Macie in 1909. Initially, like the Springfield 1903, the M1904 was chambered in the short lived US .30-03 calibre round before switching to the more efficient .30-06 round. The M1904 is instantly distinguishable by its large muzzle boost at the front of the water jacket and by its brass fittings which by the 1910s had been discontinued on all Vickers-Maxims. The Model of 1904 was extremely well made but also has the distinction of being the heaviest Maxim gun ever produced, weighing in at 145 lbs once its water jacket was filled.
According to the M1904’s handbook issued by the War Department states that the weapon should be used by specialised machine gun companies or troops consisting of four tripod mounted Maxims. The M1904 was deployed to the US-Mexican border seeing action during the border troubles and Pershing’s subsequent incursion into Mexico in 1916. It also saw service in the Philippines, Caribbean and Central America during the US’s so-called Banana Wars. None of the original M1904 Maxims were dispatched to France with the expeditionary force in 1917, instead they remained at home as training weapons, during which most of the above photos were probably taken.
The M1904 was superseded by the M1909 Benet-Mercie, which in turn was replaced by another Maxim, the Colt-Vickers Model of 1915 which was widely used during the war before it too was replaced with the Browning M1917.
Workers at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, in Maryland, test fire three Browning machine guns. The Proving Grounds themselves were opened by in 1917 to test and develop new weaponry for the US Army. Occupying 114sq miles the Proving Ground replaced the older Sandy Hook grounds in New Jersey and allowed longer range artillery to be tested safely.
From left to right the above machine guns are: the watercooled .30 calibre Browning M1917A2, the Browning .50 calibre M2 and the ubiquitous air-cooled Browning M1919A4.
These three machine guns are arguably John Browning’s crowning achievement and certainly his most lasting legacy in terms of military firearms. Arguably these three machine guns were one of the deciding factors in America’s success during the Second World War; they were an ever reliable source of firepower. The M1917 was developed when Browning’s own M1895 proved obsolete when compared to the British Vickers and German Maximduring the First World War. The 1919A4 saw the M1917 refined and lightened making it more portable and would become the most common US machine gun of WWII. While the M2 provided firepower to infantrymen, PT boats, tanks and aircraft. Browning’s machine guns were true interservice weapons, welcomed by all arms for their excellent reliability and the firepower they provide. The .50 calibre M2 has been unsurpassed for over 60 years and is still in use today.
Above are a collection of photographs showing the Maxim gun in action in Belgium and France during the early stages of the Great War. While the Maxim is an iconic machine gun in its own right - the grandfather of all those which followed it. It is the Vickers Machine Gun, chambered in .303, which replaced it in British Service in 1912 which is most often seen in photographs from the war.
The Vickers machine gun was a refined Maxim gun which became Britain’s main medium machine gun for the duration of WWI and WWII and on into the 1960s. However, during the early stages of the war the number of Vickers available could not match demand and some older Maxims were rechambered from their original .45in(11.5mm) calibre into the British army’s standard .303 cartridge and allocated to battalions on their way to Flanders. British battalions at the beginning of the war each had a Machine Gun Section, commanded by a lieutenant, made up of two 6 man squads operating the battalions’ two heavy machine guns. As the war progressed the number of machine guns was increased, before they were seconded to the Machine Gun Corps in 1916 and the Lewis Gun became the standard machine gun of British line battalions.
The Maxim first saw limited use with the British Army during the First Matabele War in 1893 but it officially entered British Service in 1896, seeing action during the First Boer War. In 1912 it was replaced by the improved Vickers however, as the small professional British Army mobilised in 1914 it was clear there were not enough Vickers to equip each battalion destined for France. The rechambered Maxims were allocated to regimental Machine Gun Sections with both the Army and the Royal Marines. Alongside the newer Vickers It saw action during the early stages of the war at the Battles of Mons, Le Cateau, Siege of Antwerp and the First Battle of the Marne. However, as war production stepped up the Vickers became more widely available and the venerable old Maxims were replaced.
Image Captions:
Image One: A company of British troops line a road during the Siege of Antwerp in September 1914. A two man machine gun team tends to a Maxim with an unusual, large pre-war quad-pod.
