By Barry Sturk

If by the time July rolls around you’re already tired of the same old monotonous back yard barbecues, and household chores that you seem to never run out of, maybe a quaint little Maine town by the name of Dover-Foxcroft has just what you are in need of. For the past five years, on the third weekend of July this normally quiet little town of Dover-Foxcroft undoubtedly becomes one of the noisiest when it hosts one of this county’s most spectacular events, the Hiram Maxim Historical Society Northeast Military Firearms Shoot & Expo.

The Hiram Maxim Historical Society is a non-profit organization that got its start over twelve years ago when a small group of machine-gunners that had been “banished” from about every gun organization around, because of the type of firearms they had, decided to start a club that did not discriminate against any firearms. The core belief of the group is that the gun culture was its own worst enemy, and it was time for an organization that allowed and protected all firearm owners’ rights, not just a hunter’s rights or a bench shooter’s rights, but every firearm owner’s rights. They have made it their goal to promote the safe and responsible use of firearms and to educate people on the rich origins and history of firearms in this country. They have one of the biggest machine gun shoots in the United States, second only to the Knob Creek shoot. What better place to have a machine gun shoot then the birth state of Sir Hiram Maxim? We couldn’t think of a better place, and named our Historical Society in the memory of that great man.

The first Northeast Military Shoot & Expo was held in 1996 and had a modest shooter’s line of around 35-40 positions and perhaps 40 dealers at the gun show. The entire event was put on with a shoestring budget and very little advertisement. It seemed that the biggest thing the first year was the name. But that was then and this, well, now it’s a lot different. Since the first Maxim shoot, it has developed into a huge event that costs the organization thousands of dollars just to put on. They advertise in various magazines, on radio stations, and have a direct mailing in the thousands. By 1999,the Northeast Military Shoot & Expo had grown to the point that the shooter’s line had more than 60 positions. There were over 100 dealers and an attendance of around 6000 people through the gate. There was everything from American 180’s, flame-throwers and a Stuart tank on the line, to surplus jeep tires in the dealer tents. You could even get a copy of the Devil’s Paintbrush or the Grand Old Lady of No Man’s Land signed by the author of the books, Dolf Goldsmith.

The Hiram Maxim Historical Society’s Northeast Military Shoot and Expo has grown to be what many people call one of the biggest and best firearms shows in the country. Every July machine gunners, firearm dealers, enthusiasts, and the people that are just curious converge on Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, from all over the world for this event. After all, it’s the only place that you can go and shoot an M-16 before you even buy it! Not to mention the fact that there are numerous machine-gun rentals available like from the Manchester Firing Line and Range, New Hampshire’s biggest class III dealer, that has everything from Krinkovs and M-60’s to RPD’s for you to try out. And where else can you go to see a Stuart tank punch a 9 inch hole in a car or get a chance to shoot at some dynamite taped to a ca

The Northeast Military Firearms Shoot and Expo currently has a four to five year waiting list on their line positions but don’t let that discourage you. What differs between the Maxim shoot and the Knob Creek shoot is that there is only one firing line, and you can purchase a Shooter’s badge for $25.00 a day and shoot from a rotating line position at the same targets everyone else is shooting at. The admission for someone who just wants to watch or browse through the dealer tents is $6.00 per day, or if you wish to pre-reregister it is $15 for the weekend. As mentioned before, if you wish to try out a firearm, you can purchase a shooters badge for $25.00 per day or $40 for the weekend. Also, word has it that there may be some dealer space becoming available for the 2000 shoot at $45.00 per table. The Maxim Shoot also has limited overnight camping available for $25 for the weekend on a first come, first served basis. No explosives, drugs or rowdiness is tolerated. The Hiram Maxim people stress that all the camping rules are strictly enforced and anyone not following them will be removed and possibly face arrest for any violations. Safety is the most important aspect of this event and security is very tight. The Maxim Club says it runs the safest shoot possible and has Police security 24 hours a day with a fully manned ambulance and a Doctor on site at all times.

The Maxim Club kicks off the weekend events on Friday at 10:00 am. After the range officer goes over the safety rules and gives the command to “commence fire,” then all at once over 100 machine guns unleash an incredible torrent of flames, lead and smoke down range at the various cars and motorcycles with dynamite strapped to them. For someone that has never been to a machine gun shoot before, it is the most incredible feeling that you could ever experience. Every sensorineural part of you body is almost overwhelmed by trying to process everything at once. All the machine gun fire, percussion from the exploding dynamite, cars blowing up, the intense heat from the flames mushrooming down range, brass going everywhere, and machine gunners frantically feeding the ammo into their guns, as if an imaginary enemy was quickly approaching, is surely one of the most incredible things you could ever witness.

When the line shuts down every hour or so you can take a few minutes to grab a quick lunch at one of the various food vendors, then browse through the large gun show. There you will find everything you could possibly think of that is gun or military surplus related. They have everything from BDU’s (camo pants) to registered BMG’s (Browning machine guns) for sale. There is table after table of ammo, collectible militara, knives and even cannons and flame-throwers that can all be had for the right price

The Northeast Military Firearms Shoot & Expo is a three-day event. The firing line and gun show goes until 5pm on Friday and 9:30pm on Saturday. Saturday they have a spectacular nighttime tracer shoot that is a must see. The whole weekend event wraps up on Sunday and the hours are from 9am to 2 pm. If you are interested in more information on the event or you would like information on how to join HMHS you can contact HMHS inc. at P.O. Box 1491 Waterville, Maine 04903. Phone (207) 465-2336 or check out their web site at www.hirammaxim.com.

Barry Sturk is currently the President of the Hiram Maxim Historical Society, and understandably one of the clubs main boosters. The experiences of many of the RKI’s in the Class 3 world indicate that the HMHS Northeast Military Firearms Shoot and Expo is a good place to be, so SAR says “See you there!”

The small New England town of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine would appear to be a most unlikely place to hold a military firearms shoot and expo to most people. But what most people don’t know is that the hills surrounding the Dover-Foxcroft area are no stranger to machine gunfire. In fact, even before any battlefield had heard the reverberating echo of gunfire back in the 1880’s, the Dexter, Dover-Foxcroft area of Maine was host to this country’s, and the world’s, first ever true machine gun fire. It was on a small hill overlooking Lake Wassookeag in the early 1880’s that an inventor from Maine called Hiram Stevens Maxim shot one of the world’s first machine guns.

Hiram Stevens Maxim was born on February 5, 1840, in the small town of Orneville, Maine, just outside of Dover-Foxcroft. At the very early age of 15, he made his first prototype of a makeshift machine gun out of wood and submitted it to a gun maker. Although he expressed interest in the concept, he felt it would be much too costly to manufacture at that time.

Throughout the years that followed, Hiram Maxim continued to dream and work on his idea of a fully automatic firearm. It was not until July 16,1883 that his dream was finally realized with the world’s first truly fully automatic firearm called appropriately, the “Forerunner.”

The Forerunner was comprised of a blowback system that featured a hydraulically dampened, and spring returned breech block. The ammunition was fed by a continuous belt of rimless cartridges that was unheard of at that time, also specially designed by Maxim. The Forerunner was a large and very cumbersome machine-gun that wasn’t much to look at and never had the opportunity to be proven battle worthy. But the fact remained, the world had now got a glimpse of it’s first true “machine-gun” from a little known man called Hiram Stevens Maxim, from the obscure New-England state of Maine.

Now more than one hundred and ten years later the hills around Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, are once again filled with the distinctive sound of machine-gun fire when the Hiram Maxim Historical Society holds it’s annual Northeast Military Shoot & Expo on the third weekend of July of each year.

Each year, on the third weekend of July, fellow machine-gunners from all over the country and some enthusiasts from as far away as England start converging on the little New-England town of Dover-Foxcroft , for what most people who attend call one of the most exciting and fastest growing machine-gun events in the country. Some of the people who make this yearly pilgrimage start arriving as early as the Wednesday before the event in hopes of securing a coveted site at the limited camping area within the gate. Other people arrive early in hopes of have some time to visit the area were Hiram Maxim was born and see the famous lake were Hiram shot one of the world’s first machine-guns. But whatever the reason, the people that come to this event share one thing in common: their passion and love of machine guns.

The three-day event officially kicks off on Friday when the gates open at 9:00AM to the public. All shooters have to be registered and are given the safety rules of the range and their appropriate badges. The spectators, on the other hand, just have a chance to browse around the more than 100 dealer tables and military displays at the event, or maybe take a minute to sign up for a flame-thrower demo while the shooters prepare their guns for the day’s awesome firepower display.

By 10:00AM, the firing line is almost ready to rock & roll. The firing line is set up with more than 50 line positions filled with beltfeds ready to roar. The air is filled with an overwhelming feeling of anticipation as the shooters and spectators eagerly wait for the signal to open fire. The range officer calls a brief shooters meeting to go over all the safety rules one more time. This year, the official start-off comes with a few rounds from a beautifully refurbished 1943 US-M1 57mm artillery piece that was brought up to the event from Vermont. A brief pause is given while the guys with the 57mm do a quick safety check on the gun after firing and move it from the line. Then the range officer gives the call to commence fire. With an unmistakable crescendo, the line lights up with an awesome display, flames from the beltfed machine guns and sub-guns, while the cars and other targets down range blow up and catch fire as the many thousands of rounds make impact with the various pyrotechnics placed down range. The firing line stays “hot” until noontime when the shooters take a break for lunch and to do any reloading or needed repairs on their guns. During the lunch break dealers are given the opportunity to give demonstrations of their products on the line and spectators are given the opportunity to do various things, such as try their hand at a flame-thrower or make arrangements to rent a machine gun for later. The line starts up again around 1:00- 1:30 PM and goes until 5:00 PM with breaks off and on to give the shooters a chance to rest and reload.

Saturday the gates opened at the same time as the previous day – 9:00 AM sharp. This year the weather brought as perfect a day as any one could wish for. It was slightly overcast with a cool breeze, so there was no danger of the shooters and spectators over-heating.

The whole time that you are attending the Hiram Maxim Shoot, you can’t help but notice the very strict safety and security regulations that are enforced. If you talk to any of the staff, they will tell you that they have a little saying that they live by which goes, “ asking us to overlook a simple safety rule would be like asking us to compromise our entire attitude toward the value of your life”. And believe me, there is no compromising when it comes to safety. There is a doctor, fire-crew and ambulance on site at all times – just in case.

Saturday tends to be the day that the shooters look forward to the most because they will be allowed to shoot tracers in the evening until around 9:30 PM. The tracer-fire show on Saturday is truly a spellbinding thing to witness. If the shooter is proficient with his machine gun he can give the spectators a spectacular laser-like show that is truly amazing. This year on the line there seemed to be an unofficial competition among several shooters to out-do each other. A couple of times you were left wondering if there was any end to the belts that were being shot.

The whole event winds down on Sunday. In the dealer tents, most of the dealers are trying to make that last minute bargain basement deal so they don’t have to truck it all back home. Even some of the shooters are starting to wear thin as their ammunition runs out. The line shuts down around noon-time so that the various competitions can be held. The competitions include marksmanship rifle where the competitor is timed as he engages several targets at 200 yards, a belt-fed competition that is much the same, and a sub-gun competition where teams are timed as they shoot a series of bowling pins off of a table. The competitions are just recreational and are no way as competitive as NFA championship matches, but they just give the shooter a chance to win a trophy and maybe boost their ego a little while have a load of fun.

What separates the Hiram Maxim Northeast Military Shoot and Expo from most events of its kind is the people that make it work. The Hiram Maxim Historical Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the safe and responsible use of firearms and to educating people about machine guns. All of the people that work the event do it for nothing more then the special comraderie. The members of HMHS share more than a common passion for firearms; they believe that without the freedoms that allow them to hold such an event, this country would not be free.

For more information on the Hiram Maxim Historical Society contact them at: P.O. Box 1491 Waterville, Maine 04903 or check out the web-site at http://www.hirammaxim.com.