Firearms question

[ffutures]

Someone probably knows this...

Could the original Maxim gun be fired single shot?

Comments

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

I'm 99.9% sure that it could not. I looked at my 'Military Small-Arms of the Twentieth Century' and there was nothing there to say for certain, although the picture showed no sign of a selector, but then I checked my copy of a very rare and unusual book 'Britain's Modern Army' published in 1942. Part of it seems to be intended as a Home Guard training manual and it contains detailed instructions on the operation of the British Vickers .303 machine gun (which was closely based on the Maxim) and there is definitely no single shot option on that.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks - I had a feeling that was the case.

[ratmmjess.livejournal.com]

Given its rate of fire (what, something like eleven shots per second?) I don't see how it could be. Maybe with substantial tinkering--but nobody would have wanted to do that.

[landsmand.livejournal.com]

No, although a skilled operator could tap the trigger bar and fire one or two rounds at a time.

[jeffreyab.livejournal.com]

I agree, most full auto weapons can be fired this way, with some practice.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

Trained Thompson gunners could fire a single shot, and depending on what you mean by "Maxim Gun," trained Maxim gunners could too. Note that during the Great War, pilots were taught to shoot in short bursts of two or three shots.

Now I demand to know why you're asking, or I will shoot you with my Maxim gun.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I added some background stuff on Maxim guns for the porn weapons section of the PDF as a page filler, thought it'd be a good thing to get that part of it right.