The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-05-16
WORK OF MACHINE GUNS.
Remarkable Examples Of tho Speed
At Which They Can
Be Fired.
An Able Article Written by Hiram
s. Maxim on tho
Subject.

The Recruits That Are Attained by the
Different Styles OF Cartridges and
this Attach TENT
The hrat automAtio Maxim gun, which
Was submitted TO II official test 1t Enfield,
Was claimed to hrs GOO rounds . minute.
using the Royal Laboratory machine gun
cartridge. AT ths trials 1000 cartridges.
all in ono belt. wsrs nrsd in one and one
half minutes. This wozld give : speed Of
666 rounds per minute, writes Hirnm s.
Maxim, in Engineering. Tho Royal Wool
wioh sartridass, considered from al points,
are perhaps the most perfect cartridge to
be met with to-day. OF over 200, 600 rounds
which ] myself have Aired, I havs only
found one faulty cartridge, and this nisssd
fire on account Of not having any fulmi-
mating powder in the prime or. At the othcial
trials in Switzerland. where ths German
Mauser cartridge was used, the ofhoial
speed was 612 psr minute. Al the Italian
trials, which took place with the same
cartridge at Spezzia.s the rate Of Ore was
found TO be $40 per minute. The French
cartridges, which had been made seven or
eight years. wsrs found to fire at the rate Of
about 500 Pr minute; those which were
only two Or three years old, at the rate
ct GOO Z minute; while with those that had
only bsen made q few weeks, the rats Of
ire amounted TO noarly 700 Per ninute. At
tho Austrian trials with the old Nanlieher
cartridge, the rate Of fire was so per nin-
ute. Whsn The new Austrian cartridge
With conpresssd powder. ! speed as high a.
40 per minute was attained. With the
Russian Bsrdan cartridge. made on tho old
fashioned plan, having : hollow rim, 1000
POUNDS were fred out sf ! siagls belt in two
ont Of Ill European cartridges except these
made in Italy for the cid Vsttsrli rife.
which were found to be very imperfect,
and the rats OF fire il sons sases did not
exceed 300 per minute. In Spain cartridges
could not be fred 1t ill with m automatic
gun. I'm Germany the rats OF tirs varies ae-
corainR to tho kind Of cartridges which are
employed and ranges from 500 TO
700 per minute. Or al the
b~laek-powdsr cartridges, the Ameri-
attain the Highest speed. This arises from
the fact that the cartridge is mail and
short, the powder compressed and the
primers yery large. Al trials which took
place in England with this cartridge this
rate Of frs WAS 742 Per minute. Az trials
which new cartridges made by the Union
Metallic Cartridge company were employed,
the rate Of fire was IT'S per minute. This
was tho highest rate of tre ever attained BY
N automatic gun deriving ell Of its energy
from the resoil. After the Maxim gun had
hAAn f0rnH aliv a10u&a6 into hor rneiAu<~3.
perviee il was found necessary to provide
Some means Of operating them with blank
cartridges, ~ these, of course, did not give
sufficient resell 70 operate the mechanism.
Attachments were then Put on the guns
which were required for the manesvsrs, in
which the essapiAR gases at tho muzzle OF
the gun produced an action upon the bar
rel similar to that OF -~reooil. The FIRST of
these gums was made for tho Easter man
eavera some five years ago. and the first
cartridgea experimental with were loaded
with sixty grains OF black powder, tina rest
oftthe ease being filled with tallow, but tho
rate of Are was SO enormously high that
the powder charge was reduced to forty
two grains, and with this tho rate of IRE
fell to about 600 Per minute. About two
years ago while we were experimenting
with the Frsash Lsbsl cartridges In Paris
I had . gun son struoted to utilize ths force
of tho escaping gases at the muzzle
for operating the mechanism. The
number of cartridges which the officer
brought to the trial was only 200; conse-
quently only small bolts were ussd., Upon
the belt of twenty cartridges in the
gun and pulling the trigger l remarked,
'"Ihe gun has stopped; it docs not work."
my French assistant pulled the
bslt out and said, ut is quite empty My
cal had bsen accustomed to a 1ls of about
500 per minute. and the usual belts that We
try 4 gun with hold only ten cartridges.
These twenty Lebsl cartridges had gone off
in just about tho tim that ten English ear
would have boon fred. The speed
found to be somewhere between 1, 100
LOO rounds per minute. and the off
in charge decided that the rate of IRE was
altogether too high, exprossinR the wish that
should 81 K to reduce tho rate OF fire
rather than to increase it. II is ! curious
that the German and French commit
lees. acting quite Independently OF each
other, expressed their opinion that tho most
ute, and guns were, in fact, made for these
i've nations provided with regulators. but :
il was found that the m%sohAnism necessary
10 reduce and regulate the spced of = gun
quite equal to all the rest Of the NECK
,nism in the arm: The first one-poundsr
Maxim guns hred at the rats of 400 shots
per minute. Tho speed was afterward re-. f.
to 300 per minute. /,
Tho effect Of very rapid firing upon the :
and rifinR of the gun is most y
marked. In Austria, whom a gun was fred J
1t tho rate Of about 500 per minute with +
'teel-covsred bullets, and the fire was often
to rsplace the ammunition boxes,
t was found that the gun made as good q .
after 20, 600 rounds had been fled ~ c
1 did upon starting, while with q sneed OF II
no per minute, with practically no stop c
tho bore was considerably injured
lfter 10000 rounds had been fred. During
i'll of 4he Austrian trials with the Maxin
100000 rounds Of ammunition wore T
lsed, the greatest numbe fred at one tims
rem . single gun being $4,000. .
As regards tins speed that il might be I
'essibls to attain with u singlo-barroled =
.un, | would say that probably II both tho
,un and cartridge were made expressly for
Producing the highest possible rate Of fire,
nd II the rscoil energy, together with the
force OF the gases, were both .util- 4
zed, 1900 to 1000 rounds a minute might be +
irsd, but at this spesd the barrel would be !
cry highly heated, even if Enclosed in a '
casing. {
Machine guns which are operated by .
and are rs Il rule provided with moro than z
ne barrel, and perhaps the greatest abso-
ate speed that has ever bssn attained was
nth n twslve-barrsl Nordenfeld gun. in
1hloh each barrel was fired 100 rounds per =
minute, but this feat can only be accom-
liahsd by 4 very powerful and trained ath- 4
The Calling ten-bxrrsl gun did moi. :
believe, fro over 400 rounds ! minute at