The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-09-03
THE MAXIM.
NEW RAPID FIRING GUN FOR THE
ARMY.
Six Hundred Rounds in One Minute
a Few Men Armed With the
Maxims in Ambush Could Wipe
Out an Entire Army.


port on the Maxim rapid firing gun,
reduced in weight TO twenty-five
pounds, and otherwise arranged for
the use OF infantry, has been issued by
The ordnance board Of the United
States army. The result Of recent
test at Sandy Hook was eminenty
satisfactorily in every way, and the
board viii advise the government to
buy some of the guns. All the members
OF the board said that the feat OF fir
ing more than 500 rounds Of 30-calibre
cartridges from the gun in one minute
which the weapon showed beyond
question its ability to do, was wonder
full, and they could not suggest an I'M
provefient in the gun.
The gun has been used long in 9th
er countries but not in the improved
form IN which It has now been brought.
The gun was first fired i'll the Sierra
Leone campaign by Sir Francis de
Wintar. It was used also by Henry NJ
Stanley during his African campaign,
but never before has it been brought
down to a total weight of less than
forty pounds. With the case and 9TH
er extras, the weight was over sixty
pounds, or too much for any but caVat-
rymen to carry. In its original form
the Maxim gun fired 900 rounds in IA
minutes Its maximum firing ability
in its present form is about $50 rounds
Z minute.
The gun itself is a simple looking af-
fair and can be easily handled by any
body after a few hours practice. It
will be of immense value to the infan-
try service. With its great barrel, du-
plicate mechanism and tools, the en-
lire gun. when folded up and slung
over a soldiers back. weighs but for
ty-five pounds. 1t is claimed by the
Observation-Disclosures company that the
value Of the guns in mountainous
country is inestimable. as a few of
them, if well placed. could wipe out an
army. There is no pause in the firing
after the trigger is pulled until the
cartridges are exhausted, unless the
operator take his hand from the trig-
ger
the weapon is under the complete,
control OF the operator and he can fire
one, two, half a dozen shots from it.
just as long as he holds the trigger
pack and there are cartridges left in
the belt. which feeds the gun, the
weapon belches forth shot after shot.
An inexperienced operator finds 10 i'm
possible to fire but one shot from the
gun, so rapidly does the mechan-
ism work. No matter how rap
IDLY he may pull or release
the trigger, two, three. or more
shots are fired. Major Phipps,
The president of the ordnance board,
was the only one besides the expert
displaying the gun who succeeded in fir
ing one shot at a time. One or two
OtnerS managed TO stop on two shots
The gun is automatic in its action
after the first shot has been fired. The
recoil from the exploded cartridge
gives the barrel, which has a rear at
tachment, a backward motion. The re-
coillng motion is limited to about one
inch, as crank comes in contact with
the breech casing, causing il TO rotate
and strike buffer spring which re-
turns it into firing position. The car
tridges are fed into the gun by means
of belt which passes through feed
blocks. The recoil Of the barrel from
the discharge Of the first cartridge in
serts the next charge from the belt,
raises the breech lock, cocks the ham
mer and fires, extracts and elects the
shells Willie the succeeding charge is
being brought into position.
James Huber, the expert of the
Maxim company. exhibited the gun to
the members Of the ordnance board
and several army officers. The first
Test was general firing and a hundred
cartridges We're discharged in patches
of six. The report from the gun is
neither very loud nor very sharp, but
when a number of shots were fired in
rapid succession the noise is continu-
Gus, and even the members of the
ordnance board, who virtually live in
the shadow of the enormous guns at
the proving ground and are never both
cred in the least by the firing from
them, had to put cotton in their ears.
The second test was to show the abil-
ity of the operator to discharge as
many cartridges as he liked. AT COM
mand Huber fired one. two, three, four,
five and more cartridges without any
difficulty. Not once did he re more
than the number ordered, yet so fast
did the reports follow one another that
1t was impossible TO count them, and
an examination of the cartridge belt
had TO be made each time. The test
showed the eXpOrt to be absolute mas
Ter of the gun, and it pleased the army
officers immensely.
The third test was the speed test,
and Mr.. Huber announced that he
would show the ability of the gun to
fire five hundred shots a. minute. II
can do much better than this, he said,
but the ordnance people were satisfied
with the test proposed. A box con-
tanning a belt of fifty cartridges was
attached 10 the gun, and at the word
from Major Phipps MIR. Huber pulled
the trigger. The gun had been aimed
ana no sooner had. the operator pulled
the trigger than there was a great
colnmotion at that point.
The sand blew UP IN the cloud as
the shower Of lead struck it. The dis
turbance was brief. IT took but five
and four-ffths seconds to explode the
fifty cartridges and the army officers
looked surprised when it was all over
The next test was to show the practi-
csss use OF the gun for infantry. The
weapon was taken apart and was
packed in its case. Then the case was
closed and every strap fastened. Mr..
Huber strapped the entire affair to
his back and walked around until Cap
tain Heath, who held the stop watch
saiu:
Now we want to see what could be
done in the event of suddenly coming
on the field Of action. When 1 say 'gor
unpack the gun, put it in position, and
fire a shot. ] viii time from the word
10 the shot
At the signal Mr.. Huber unslung the
case, unbuckled half a dozen straps,
took out gun and stand, set them in
position, inserted the canvass belt of
cartridges. took seat on the long bar,
sighted the gun and took one shot.
The officers held their breaths, and
some calculated ';GooRf when the
watch was consulted for it was seen
that the entire operation had consumed