Terry Carter Posted 26 May , 2003 Share Posted 26 May , 2003 Was there much difference in the British Vickers gun and the German maxim machine gun. i.e. did they have similar rate of fire? The British had a belt of ammo that was 9 yards long. Did the maxim have a similar length? Cheers Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 27 May , 2003 Share Posted 27 May , 2003 Both guns had a 250 round belt, Terry. The Maxim was heavier but had a slightly higher rate of fire. The Maxim also had the heavier tripod. Vickers .303 inch, water-cooled, 500 rounds-per-minute, muzzle velocity 2240 feet-per-second Gun - 33 lbs. Tripod - 40 lbs. Maxim 7.92 mm, water-cooled, 600 rounds-per-minute. muzzle velocity 2750 feet-per-second Gun - 40.5 lbs. sleigh-mount tripod - 83 lbs. (from "A Military Atlas of the Great War", Arthur Banks) (I've never been sure about the "nine yards" thing.) Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 27 May , 2003 Share Posted 27 May , 2003 What about the MG 08/15 (the light-version of the Maxim (MG 08)? Any idea about a comparison between the two? Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chass Posted 27 May , 2003 Share Posted 27 May , 2003 The nine yard length of a machine gun belt is one possible explanation of the phrase: "The whole nine yards" - but on wordorigins.net, it is suggested that the belt was carried by a WWII fighter plane and rather dismissed. Wordorigins Maybe there's an ounce of truth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Carter Posted 27 May , 2003 Author Share Posted 27 May , 2003 Thanks for that Tom. Now on 1st July, 1916, I know we had machine-gun companys by then, but was it still two per battalion. And for every one we had how many would the Germans have facing our troops as they crossed no man's land. Can anyone answer that please. Thanks Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 27 May , 2003 Share Posted 27 May , 2003 What about the MG 08/15 (the light-version of the Maxim (MG 08)? Any idea about a comparison between the two? Jan From the same book, Jan, Maxim 08/15 7.92 mm, water-cooled, 250-round belt, 600 rounds-per-minute, muzzle velocity 2750v feet-per-second, wight 31 lbs. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 27 May , 2003 Share Posted 27 May , 2003 Hello, In 1914 every Infanterie-Regiment had 1 MGCoy (4 officers, 95 ORs and 6 MGs). The number of MGs in a company was brought to 12 by 1916. With Hindenburg (September 1916) each battalion was to have one MGCoy by absorbing other existing smaller MG units. There were also independent MG units in active areas (Maschinengewehr-Scharfschützen-Abteilungen). Later (1917) every infantry company was issued with three MG08/15. Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest john craven Posted 1 June , 2003 Share Posted 1 June , 2003 I sent a post about 1/4th Duke of wellingtons Regt having two Maxims in the Fleurbaix sector in 1915, I cant find the post and I didnt print it off either, totaly disorganised, but I was asking about ammunition. size length of belt etc. These Guns they had could have been German maxims, there is at least one in the Dukes Museum (Bankfield Museum) Halifax, I did ask if the one on display was an origional used in the first world war, but I didnt get an (email) answer, I am visiting Halifax next weekend and hope to pop in. I will have to demand if the Maxims the Dukes used were indeed .303 or 7.92 ammunition. That would mean British Soldiers using German weapons on German Soldiers? I will print this post and file it and I will hope tell you more of my visit. If you dont hear from me then do give me a nudge. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 1 June , 2003 Share Posted 1 June , 2003 John, there's nothing special about British using captured German weapons or Germans using captured British weapons. See replies in this thread. Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 1 June , 2003 Share Posted 1 June , 2003 All MG companies in infantry battalions in 1914, and most of them in 1915 had the Maxim Machine Gun - the British version of the weapon designed by Sir H.Maxim. The only ones who had the Vickers, which was a different weapon, in 1914 was the London Scottish, who had bought them privately. Most Maxims in use 1914/15 were made around 1899-1902 (Boer War period) and only fired around 450 rpm. The Vickers, if I remember correctly, fired around 650, which is why we gradually replaced the Maxim with it. The German model of the Maxim was far superior to our own, but the Vickers was better than all of them - in my mind clearly testified to the fact that it remained in use until the 1950s, whereas the German Maxim 08 was pretty much old hat after WW1, although it did reappear now and again in WW2 in second-rate units. The British Maxim and the Vickers were both .303 - only the German Maxim was 7.92. The MG 08/15 was a good sustained fire weapon, but it wasn't the light machine gun the German army craved - it was too heavy and bulky, and was still water cooled, not air-cooled, so you also needed to carry a conenser tin. That is why German units were always keen to capture Lewis Guns, and then re-chamber them to 7.92. The German Army never had an effective LMG throughout WW1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest john craven Posted 1 June , 2003 Share Posted 1 June , 2003 Jan, I was wondering if they were issued to the Battalion before landing in France, or issued at Fleurbaix. I shall find out next weekend. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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