It is possible that more 08/15 Maxim machine guns are registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) than any other type machine gun brought back to America from the battlefields of our nation’s history. Their mechanism is ingenious. For the quantity manufactured, their quality of workmanship is unsurpassed. They are a controllable and enjoyable machine gun to shoot. Yet most 08/15 Maxim machine guns are unappreciated, dirty and rusty, resting in some dark space and accumulating more dust from each year of their neglect. It is time to bring these Maxims back to life.

Even if the specific history is lost for most of the Maxim machine guns registered on the NFRTR, they will provide their owners with pride of ownership if given the attention they deserve to bring them back to life.

Restoring a machine gun calls upon the owner’s wisdom to know if it should be restored or left as-is. Restoration requires a commitment of time and patience. If the Maxim is to be reactivated, that process may have legal considerations that must be carefully addressed. Restoring that gun may compromise its value and desirability if the history of the firearm is well documented and significant. It may be better to leave that unique specimen just the way it is. Every war trophy has its own history. Sadly, few veterans documented their war trophy’s history, and even when it was put in writing, time and carelessness have often caused the gun and its history to go separate ways. So it is very likely the dusty, rusty war trophy you have will only be improved with a careful and patient restoration.

It is important to mention that the Maxim machine gun is a complicated piece of firearms technology. This article can only address basic descriptions of parts and assemblies. If you find the mechanism of the Maxim machine gun intriguing, you may thoroughly enjoy the Armorer’s/Operator’s class taught by Long Mountain Outfitters, devoted specifically to Maxim, Vickers and Lewis machine guns. Its instructors have developed their knowledge from decades spent working with these remarkable inventions. You will leave that class with a depth of knowledge articles like this can never provide.

If you are going to move forward with this restoration plan, make certain you have an adequate block of time to complete the project. We all have started a project, disassembled the mechanism, set the project aside before completion due to other priorities and ended up forgetting how to reassemble it, or, worse yet, losing some of its pieces. This author spent 22 hours on the restoration featured in this article. If his specimen had more rust, it would have required substantially more time.

The author’s specimen was a Deactivated War Trophy commonly called a “Dewat.” Since the goal of this project was to restore the gun to shooting condition, doing so will require a change in the status of its registration on the NFRTR. Study the registration papers of your machine gun. If it is described as a “live” machine gun, it is not a Dewat. If your registration form asks “Is the firearm unserviceable?” the “yes” or “no” answers this question. If the registration describes how a part of the gun was welded up, it is a Dewat. If you’re specimen is a Dewat and you intend to reactivate it to shoot, the first question you need to ask is “does the state, county and municipality I live in allow me to own a live machine gun?” Consult a class three dealer in your state and research the question on the web to confirm what the dealer told you. The answer to this question affords no room for error.

Although most readers of this article may not own a 08/15 Maxim machine gun or any other war trophy machine gun, these treasures are more plentiful than you may think. The author chose the 08/15 Maxim because of this model’s abundance. The United States government returned a huge quantity of Maxims to America during and after World War I, possibly intending to convert them to 30-06. Kent Lomont, well known machine gun expert and owner of Lomont Precision Bullets, has told the author he had documented evidence that during the war, examples of the 08/15 Maxim were given to donors making substantial contributions to the war effort. After the war they were distributed to VFW’s and American Legion posts. The Amnesty of 1968 legalized thousands of war trophies when they were registered on the NFRTR.

This article addresses the 08/15 Maxim. However, the procedure is applicable to any other machine gun or Title I firearm that can benefit from restoration. The word “restoration” has many degrees of definition. The firearms industry includes restoration experts able to restore a derelict firearm into an example that looks like it just left the factory. The degree of restoration addressed in this article can be achieved by individuals with reasonable mechanical skill, using readily available tools. The intent of this restoration is to clean up and highlight the firearm’s basic condition. No attempt will be made to address firearms rebluing. The author welcomes someone with more expertise to share his secrets for cold and hot rebluing.

Using the correct tools will make this project easier. Fortunately, only simple tools are required. To disassemble the machine gun, the author used a good set of screwdrivers, a pair of standard pliers and a pair of needle nose pliers, a brass punch and a small brass hammer. Brass tools are used to impact gun parts because brass is softer than steel and will allow the tool to deform before the gun part is damaged. To clean the gun, the author used large and small brass bristled brushes, toothbrushes, a sharp pointed tool to remove grease from tight spaces, number 400 steel wool and a one inch wide putty knife. A clean pair of safety goggles is necessary to keep chemicals and small particles of rust and dirt out of your eyes. Some people experience skin irritation from various cleaning chemicals, so a good pair of rubber gloves is important as well. Avoid breathing the fumes of these chemicals by working in a ventilated area. Bright lighting will be helpful when inspecting parts and evaluating the degree of success of your work on the metal surfaces.

Specific chemicals are necessary for removing grease and oil, lifting rust and lubricating the final product. You may already have your preferences. Carburetor and choke cleaner, available at automobile parts stores, is effective for removing grease and oil. To lift rust, the author used Kano Kroil. However Hoppe’s #9 Powder Solvent, Liquid Wrench, Marvel Mystery Oil and even kerosene will also work well. Never use gasoline, camp stove fuel or white gas. Although everyone has their favorite product, the author used Break Free to lubricate parts and give metal surfaces a protective coating after they were cleaned.

The last and possibly most useful “tool” is good reference material. In the case of the 08/15 Maxim machine gun, the best source of information known to the author is Dolf Goldsmith’s fine book: The Devil’s Paintbrush-Sir Hiram Maxim’s Gun, published by Collector Grade Publications. If you are restoring a different firearm, find the appropriate reference material. Disassembly and reassembly of the firearm creates the possibility of breaking old and sometimes irreplaceable parts of the gun, particularly if you are even slightly unfamiliar with the firearm at hand. The author has owned eight Maxim machine guns and still managed to break a part! Consider the cost to purchase reference material as an insurance policy, much more economical than the damage possible from inexperience. Although some Maxim parts have multiple names, this article will use nomenclature consistent with The Devil’s Paintbrush.

Once you have set aside adequate time, located an appropriate place to do the work, assembled the tools, chemicals and the lighting, studied the reference material and assured yourself you have adequate patience, the project is ready to start. The obvious first step is disassembly of the machine gun. Remembering how the small parts of machine guns go back together seems do-able while you are taking them apart. Don’t count on it! Today’s technological advancements make for improved “memory.” Digitally photograph every component and parts group before disassembly. Some parts fit back together in more than one configuration, but only work one way.

The machine guns registered on the NFRTR fall under one of two categories of operability: live or deactivated. If you’re machine gun is registered as a live or serviceable firearm, move on in this process. If it is registered as deactivated or unserviceable and you intend to leave it that way, move on. However, if it is unserviceable, registered as a deactivated war trophy – a Dewat – and you intend to make it into a live machine gun, BATF&E laws and regulations must be complied with before reactivation of the firearm.

The first step of the reactivation process is to conclusively establish if you can legally own a live machine gun in your state, county and municipality. If the answer is “yes,” you have two choices. You can employ a licensed machine gun manufacturer in your state to reactivate your machine gun or you can do it yourself.

If you chose to employ a licensed machine gun manufacturer, ATF Form 5 (Application for Tax Exempt Transfer and Registration of Firearm) must be filed and approved by ATF prior to delivering the machine gun to the manufacturer. This is a tax exempt transfer because at this point, the machine gun is unserviceable. Upon receipt of the approved Form 5, the machine gun can be delivered to the manufacturer. The licensed manufacturer will then complete the reactivation and file ATF Form 2 (Notice of Firearms Manufactured or Imported) to re-register the machine gun as a live machine gun. After approval of Form 2, the manufacturer will submit ATF Form 4 (Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of Firearm) plus the required $200 tax, re-conveying the live machine gun back to you, its owner. Delivery of the machine gun to you may take place only after receipt of approval of this final Form 4. The machine gun manufacturer you work with should be willing to prepare all forms and other paperwork you will need to complete this process.

The alternative to employing a licensed manufacturer to re-register your machine gun as a live machine gun is for you, as its registered owner, to do it yourself. You must file ATF Form 1, (Application to Make and Register a Firearm) and perform the physical reactivation of the gun yourself. Form 1 plus a $200 registration tax must be submitted to BATF&E, and its approval received, prior to performing the reactivation process.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive’s website www.atf.gov is a helpful source for required documents.

If you are reactivating your machine gun yourself, only after receiving ATF Form 1 approval may you start the physical reactivation process. If you have not yet received an approved ATF Form 1, do not tempt fate with your impatience. The consequences can mean jail time. Likewise, if you are filing ATF Form 1 to reactivate your machine gun, YOU MUST DO THE WORK ON YOUR MACHINE GUN YOURSELF, ON YOUR PREMISES. Do not contract out the work to someone else. Doing so has legal consequences far beyond the scope of this article. Just do it right!

When your machine gun was deactivated, the legal requirements called for a steel plug to be welded into the barrel chamber and for the barrel to be welded to the receiver so that it could not be readily removed and replaced with an operational barrel. Welding the chamber solid to prevent it from accepting a cartridge was a straightforward process. However, the means of securing the barrel to the receiver so that it could not be readily replaced, may have been completed in a variety of ways. Generally, the barrel was welded to the receiver. In the case of the 08/15 Maxim, this was achieved with more than one technique. Sometimes the barrel was welded to one of the barrel extension plates and that plate was welded to the receiver. An alternative was to braze the barrel’s threaded brass buffer ring to the receiver’s trunnion. (The trunnion is the complex part positioned between the receiver and the water jacket). An ingenious method the author witnessed was simply welding the feed block to the receiver. This prevented the barrel from being removed because the lower feed arm of the feed block prevented movement of the barrel extension. The point of describing multiple ways your machine gun could have originally been deactivated is to explain why this article can not specifically detail how to remove the welded impediment that prevents your barrel from being removed from the machine gun. You will have to study your example in order to ascertain what was originally done to deactivate it. Only then will you be able to decide what to do to reactivate it and what specific tools will be required. At this point you may want to reconsider employing a licensed manufacturer to reactivate your war trophy in order to have this sometimes-delicate step completed correctly.

One of the useful tools in this process is a Dremel tool, which can be purchased at many hardware stores. It may remind you of the tools dentists have used on us, although not quite as small. Selecting the appropriate carbide bit will make a big difference in ease of completion. Metal filings can be propelled into your eyes so always wear safety goggles when using a Dremel tool. Muster maximum patience and remove the slightest amount of metal weld with each stroke of the Dremel tool’s bit on the weld, until you have removed just enough of the weld to remove the barrel. Once the weld is removed, the Maxim crank handle assembly can be withdrawn from the receiver, removing the barrel with it. You can more neatly finish dressing down the remaining weld on the parts and the receiver after their disassembly when you have easier access to the critical areas.

If you do not feel comfortable performing this work yourself, worried that you may damage the gun more than the cost of the alternative, figure this out in advance of filing your ATF Form 1 and contract a licensed manufacturer capable of professionally completing the reactivation. The paperwork approval process may take more time, but you may be much more content with the finished product.

Now that the barrel is free, study how its chamber has been welded. You can measure the length of the internal chamber plug by inserting a cleaning rod into the muzzle of the barrel, marking its inserted length to reach the chamber plug. Then withdraw the cleaning rod from the barrel and compare that length to the overall length of the barrel. The difference is the length of the chamber plug. At this time, original Maxim barrels are available. The 08 Maxim and the 08/15 Maxim use the same basic barrel, with the exception that a muzzle sleeve is attached to the threads on the muzzle of the barrel when used in the 08/15 Maxim. Thus, an 08 Maxim barrel can be used by simply removing the muzzle sleeve from your welded-up 08/15 barrel and securely attaching it to the 08 barrel.

The quantity of available original Maxim barrels is diminishing, so you may choose to restore your welded-up barrel. Since only the receiver of a war-trophy machinegun is the registered part, restoring the barrel can be handled by a third party, a competent gunsmith/machinist. (Not all gunsmiths have machinist skills and equipment to perform lathe work). The best way for him to perform this is for you to provide him with the welded-up barrel and an original un-welded barrel to use as an example. The author chose to restore the welded-up barrel removed from his Dewat because it was the original barrel serial numbered to the gun. It was too important to discard and justified the gunsmith/machinist’s cost, which may exceed today’s cost of an original replacement barrel. With a serviceable example of a Maxim barrel in hand, the gunsmith/machinist will understand that the least amount of metal should be removed in order to remove the plug which was welded into the chamber. Depending upon the exuberance of the welder when the plug was welded into the chamber, the barrel’s chamber may be restored to shootable specifications without the need of a chamber reamer. In the case of the author’s barrel, significant metal had to be removed from the chamber and back surface of the barrel trunnion (the square block of steel forming the rear surface of the barrel) in order to remove the welded plug. After the plug was removed, the barrel was taken to an experienced welder and additional weld was applied to its rear surface. With the help of an 8x57mm Mauser finishing chamber reamer, the gunsmith/machinist was then able to restore the chamber to shootable condition and re-machine the rear surface of the barrel trunnion to match the un-welded example provided. Restoring a welded-up barrel may seem to be a lot of work and extra trouble. Eventually, original barrels will no longer be available and there will be no alternative.

When using the Dremel tool, you may have removed too much metal when grinding away the original weld, resulting in an unsightly gouge to the interior of the receiver. Please note that the receiver of this machine gun is the “registered part” and it is registered to you. It must always be in your possession or securely stored under lock and key to which only you have access. Speaking practically, it may be more prudent to overlook the damage you did to the receiver. Just dress it up the best you can and move on in the process. Do not ask others to work on your machine gun receiver. They are probably not knowledgeable of the legal aspects of machine gun ownership. Doing so is foolish and may have stiff legal consequences you are not ready to address.

In the likelihood that you are reading this article without having acquired and studied the additional reference material, in this case The Devils Paintbrush-Sir Hiram Maxim’s Gun, you may not be familiar with the nomenclature of Maxim machine gun parts. To learn the most from this article, understanding terminology is essential. The time and effort you put into building that understanding translates into the quality of workmanship your finished product will exhibit. The information and wisdom in Chapters 14 and 15 of The Devil’s Paintbrush are worth its purchase price.

Several of the 08/15 Maxim machine guns acquired by the author have suffered from the same flaw: a broken lower feed arm on the feed block. The lower feed arm is positioned on the bottom of the feed block. A protrusion on the end of the lower feed arm fits into a notch on the left barrel extension plate, causing the feed block to advance the cartridge belt one cartridge each time the barrel extension cycles. For some reason, the end of the lower feed arm and its protrusion had been cleanly broken off on each of these three machine guns. Again, Kent Lomont provided an explanation. When our government returned a large number of Maxim machine guns to the United States after World War I, gifting them to appropriate civilian recipients, this part of the lower feed arms was broken off in order to prevent the machine guns from functioning as machine guns. Although this damage did not fulfill ATF requirements to become a Dewat machine gun, the lower feed arm will have to be repaired or replaced in order to allow the gun to function. If you are fortunate, you might locate an original replacement part. The alternative is to find someone knowledgeable enough to repair the broken lower feed arm. Periodically an advertisement has appeared offering the service. We all should have retained a copy of that ad.

In order to thoroughly clean the Maxim machine gun, it needs to be disassembled. Chapter 14 of Dolf Goldsmith’s book The Devils Paintbrush describes the procedure to follow to field strip the MG 08 Maxim. The same procedure applies to the 08/15 Maxim.

In this restoration, for the reasons given, the author chose not to completely disassemble five component assemblies, the feed block, sights, crank handle assembly, steam tube assembly and the lock. The feed block was left intact because its main component is still a complex shape with many irregular surfaces, so little was to be gained by disassembling this unit. In addition, after some tapping, the upper feed arm did not want to release the lower feed arm shaft and the author was reluctant to use more force on these 90-year-old parts. The sights are easy to clean in place.

The crank handle assembly includes the barrel extension plates with cross head, the connecting rod and the crank handle plus the somewhat delicate linked arm that attaches to the fusee spring. Forcing its disassembly could damage parts that are hard to replace, so this assembly was cleaned as a single unit.

Inside the water jacket, running its full length and positioned above and parallel to the barrel, is the brass steam tube assembly. It is basically a sliding tube positioned around a smaller stationary tube. The steam tube assembly permits the steam buildup to escape from within the water jacket when the muzzle is elevated or depressed, without allowing the boiling water to also escape. Test your gun by pointing the muzzle upward and then pointing it downward. If you hear a “loose” part inside the water jacket, the sliding tube is functioning properly and the assembly does not have to be removed. However, if the sliding tube is not “loose”, the assembly will have to be removed to clean it. This can be done by unscrewing the small lock screw, and then unscrewing the steam tube disassembly plug, located on the back of the trunnion and visible when the top cover is removed from the receiver.

The final part the author did not intend to disassemble is the lock assembly. Its disassembly and reassembly are more complicated than disassembling and reassembling the entire gun. It can be cleaned and lubricated reasonably well without disassembly. Two main parts need to be checked, the firing pin and the firing pin spring. Doing so can be physically painful so exercise extreme care. To remove the lock from the receiver, retract the crank handle. This action moves the lock rearward and allows it to be tilted up and lifted out of the receiver. Rotating it 45° on its shaft allows it to be removed from the gun. Please note that at this point, the lock is cocked. Pressing the “trigger” on the lock will release its hammer, seriously squeezing any part of your hand which may be located at the point of the impact of the hammer. Hold the lock so that you can activate its trigger and keep clear of the hammer’s point of impact. While doing so, listen to the firing pin spring when the firing pin is released. If the spring sounds strong, the spring is probably in good condition. If it sounds weak, the lock was probably left in its cocked position for years and the spring needs to be replaced. After the hammer has been released, the tip of the firing pin should protrude through the firing pin hole. If it does not, as was the case with the author’s Maxim, it is broken and the firing pin needs to be replaced. If parts replacement is necessary, you have the option of searching for replacement parts and installing them following Mr. Goldsmith’s instructions, or purchasing a complete original lock, still available when you can find one.

To this point, you have been confirming details of the law in your place of residence, making choices, handling legal issues, photographically documenting the original placement of parts and disassembling your gun. It is finally time to start the slow but rewarding process of restoring your Maxim’s metal surfaces. The easiest part to start with is the receiver, the boxy part attached to the water jacket. It’s large, flat surfaces are ideal for you to use to develop your technique. Most Maxims have remained in dirty but reasonably dry storage for decades. Their original deep blue surfaces may have turned brown from age and humidity. But this light rust has not pitted the metal surface. Inspect your receiver carefully, under a bright light. One of the 08/15 Maxims the author owned appeared to have been an outdoor exhibit for many years. The bottom surface of the inside of the receiver had deep rust pitting from water standing within the receiver. The exterior of the receiver had thick rust but no pitting. In spite of the condition of the inside of the receiver, this gun cleaned up nicely and functioned well. The exterior surface of the Maxim the author is currently addressing was covered with light rust. Under dirt and grime, the inside of the receiver still retained much of its original blued finish.

Arrange your receiver on your work area so that one of its large flat surfaces is horizontal. You will be putting pressure on the receiver, so make certain its underside is well supported with small boards or similar material. Apply the Kroil, or other product you may be using, to the surface and rub it in with the fine 400 steel wool. All you are trying to do is remove a light coat of surface rust. After working an area, wipe it clean with a dry rag and inspect the area under a bright light. With the penetrating oil, the light rust on the surface will lift and the steel wool will clean it away, exposing the clean metal surface of the receiver. In many cases, the original bluing will be visible. Be careful to avoid working an area too much as your effort can actually wear through the original bluing, providing that finish still exists on your gun beneath the surface rust. Always have a thick coating of Kroil on the metal before working it with steel wool. Work one small area at a time. Metal edges and irregular surfaces will require additional attention. Brass bristled brushes are useful in working corners, cracks and irregular surfaces. But they, too, should only be used when a liberal coat of penetrating oil has been applied to the surface of the metal. As the rust disappears and the original surface of the metal is again exposed, this process starts to become exciting and rewarding. Take your time and finish all the details of the exterior of the receiver before working on its interior.

Although the Dremel tool, previously used to remove welding, frequently includes brass brushes, the author discourages their use. The speed of the Dremel tool will rapidly and unintentionally erode any original finish remaining under the rust. Time you may save using a Dremel tool will be offset by your disappointment in the finished product.

If your Maxim has a much thicker coat of rust, two options exist. You may choose to let the Kroil “soak into the rust” by letting the heavily rusted areas sit for 24 hours in a bath of penetrating oil. Then use the steel wool and see if the rust lifts. If fine steel wool has no effect, use a heavier grade steel wool. Some rust conditions justified the use of number one steel wool, with a substantial coating of oil.

The other option to remove heavy rust calls for the use of a putty knife. Choose a 1 inch wide putty knife. A well-worn putty knife is preferable, with its sharp corners worn into rounded edges. If you only have a new putty knife, use a sharpening stone or sander to dress off the square edges. You want the working edge to be pointed and the corners of the blade to be rounded off so they do not gouge the metal. Apply the penetrating oil and let it soak in overnight to soften the rust. Hold the putty knife at a low angle to the surface of the receiver. Work the blade of the putty knife back and forth to scrape away the rust. As you push it along gently, it will remove rust encrustations. Work a very small area at a time. As you see results, you may choose to apply more pressure to the putty knife, taking advantage of its spring blade. Initially practice on an area that is less visible, until you develop your technique. With patient working of an area, keeping it well oiled, heavy rust can be removed. Generally, with heavy rusting the original bluing is long gone. But the removal of the rust substantially improves the beauty of the gun.

The water jacket on Maxim machine guns, as well as on other water-cooled machine guns, can be the one item that presents philosophical issues. Two of the Maxims I’ve restored still had substantial original green paint on the water jacket. Many of the scratches in that painted surface took place while the guns were being used in action. Do I want to remove that storybook of history? In both cases I did, concluding that the many scratches on the paint would be more of a distraction than an asset. However one grime-covered 08/15 Maxim I spotted years ago in the corner of a machine shop had its water jacket hand painted in the original camouflage used by the Germans in World War I. No matter what condition that painted surface was in, it presented a remarkable opportunity to preserve the story of the gun.

If you choose to remove the painted surface, it generally comes off quite easily by applying carburetor cleaner and wiping the saturated paint off with a clean white rag. Then save this rag in case you choose to match the original German green paint at a later date. Frequently, the blue surface of the water jacket beneath the paint has been protected and remains quite beautiful. If your water jacket is rusty, treat it with the same care you applied to your receiver. Use the brass bristled brush and carburetor cleaner or Kroil as appropriate to clean the detailed corners and fitting attachments. In the process of inspecting and cleaning the entire surface, you will locate manufacturer’s markings and proof marks which can be cleaned with the brass brush for highlighting with white paint as described later in this article.

While you are working on the receiver, an area that is easily overlooked needs your attention. The barrel slides into the rear of the trunnion and forms a water-tight seal in this area when appropriate packing material is used. However the first 3 inches of the trunnion’s interior surface must be very smooth or the water seal will fail. The author has used a 12 gauge shotgun brass cleaning brush on a cleaning rod, rotated with an electric drill. Applying Kroil to the area and working the rotating cleaning brush back and forth will clean and smooth out the surface, allowing a tight water seal.

One part of the Maxim that seems to attract rust is the fusee spring cover. Even Maxims with a lot of original bluing remaining on the other parts, have browned fusee spring covers. In part this is because the covers are made of sheet metal. Plus, they protrude from the gun and probably received a lot more rough treatment. Frequently these covers have dents which can be easily removed. Remove the spring from the inside of the cover, leaving the indicator mechanism in place. Rest that dented surface on a hard flat surface like a piece of iron. Place a smaller piece of flat steel or iron over the dent on the inside, tapping it gently with a hammer. With patience, most of the dents can be removed. However you may find that some are not worth risking damage to the overall cover and are best left alone. Use your brass bristled brush to clean the serial number and spring tension indicator markings.

After the rapid progress you made cleaning the water jacket, the feed block will seem very tedious. Its many details create numerous surfaces to catch grime and accumulate rust. So don’t be surprised if you spend an entire evening on this part alone. As mentioned earlier, I chose not to disassemble the feed block out of concern for breaking a part. If your feed block has a broken lower feed arm, the feed block assembly will have to be disassembled to replace that part. So tap the retaining pin out of the lower feed arm shaft using a properly-size punch, and carefully work to separate the upper feed arm from the lower feed arm shaft. Kroil is excellent penetrating oil and may loosen the parts after they have been soaked in it overnight.

To clean the feed block assembly, you may have to soak it in a solvent like paint thinner if it is seriously encrusted with dried grease. Brass brushes of various sizes, toothbrushes and a pointed tool made of a soft material like a piece of brass welding rod (not an ice pick or screwdriver which will scratch the surface) will help in reaching into the many recesses of the feed block. As I cleaned this part, I realized how many hours it took highly-skilled German machinists to make this one assembly. I believe more man hours of competent machinists’ time went into making each Maxim feed block than are required of five M-16s. And certainly more skill.

I treated the lock assembly like the feed block, soaking it in a solvent and then cleaning it intact, rather than disassembling this complicated mechanism. As mentioned before, if you want to disassemble the lock assembly, carefully read that portion of Dolf Goldsmith’s book or enroll in the instructive class offered by Long Mountain Outfitters.

By now you have a good idea how to clean the remainder of your Maxim’s parts. Remove the wood parts from the steel assemblies to which they are attached. Try to remove cotter keys so they can be reused. But if they break, you can obtain new ones at the hardware store. New cotter keys will be longer than needed and will have a modern zinc finish. Choose the appropriate diameter cotter key and cut it to the proper length. You can remove the unsightly zinc finish in one of two ways. The zinc finish will disappear if soaked in a mild solution of muriatic acid for a couple minutes. Use gloves and eye protection. Afterwards, thoroughly wash off the part before oiling it to prevent rust from forming. The second approach is to simply burn it off using the flame of a small torch. Both of these processes create dangerous fumes so avoid breathing the fumes and perform the process outdoors.

Restoring a machine gun is an organized process. By now you have disassembled the complete firearm, degreased each part, removed rust as appropriate and cleaned all of the manufacturer’s markings. Before rushing to reassemble the gun, arrange all the parts in an organized fashion on the clean surface. Reinspect them under a bright light to make sure you did not miss details that will become disappointments after the gun is assembled.

Now is the time to address the missing and the broken parts. You may have been fortunate to have a 100% complete Maxim machine gun. Mine had several deficiencies. It did not have a bipod, so I purchased a reproduction from International Military Antiques, a frequent advertiser in Small Arms Review. My Maxim had lost its muzzle booster/flash hider. The pair of flat springs riveted to the inside of the top cover were broken off. The top cover hinge pin had been replaced with a long bolt and nut. The firing pin was broken. One of the screws holding the steam port cover seal in place had also been broken off. I chose to ignore the broken off screw and found my missing parts on the Internet. I also needed the steam hose and purchased a reproduction from IMA.

The identification marks on a firearm are frequently the only link we have to its personal history. So I chose to highlight these markings. Since I already cleaned each of the markings using the brass brush, I now applied carburetor cleaner and wiped each marking with a clean rag. White enamel paint from a hobby shop was then applied to each marking and the excess wiped off with a rag and a flexible plastic implement. It took several tries to start to get the touch needed to make the end product appear satisfactory. Carburetor cleaner worked well to remove my mistakes so I could try again. The serial number etched into the fusee spring cover was so shallow that it did not take the paint well. Likewise, I was not successful with the most important markings of the gun, those on the top cover. I trust you will develop a better technique than I employed.

Your next decision concerns the water jacket: do you want to paint it or leave it unpainted? I chose to paint my water jacket and use the same color to paint the bipod. I had saved the rag used to remove the original German green paint from the water jacket. The best match I found for that color was an aerosol spray paint manufactured by Aervoe-Pacific Company of Gardnerville, NV and designated “Camouflage Paint 987 Olive Drab 34087.” Before painting the water jacket, clean it once again with carburetor cleaner and a clean rag. Then use masking tape to mask off the trunnion and receiver as well as the front sight. Spray painting it was the easy part.

The most rewarding step of this entire process is the reassembly of the gun. First oil the surfaces of all of the pieces before you reassemble them. As the pieces come together, you will feel rewarded for all of your hours of patience. If you do not remember how parts were to be reassembled, consult the digital photographs you took as you disassembled your machine gun or study The Devil’s Paintbrush. If you have to force the reassembly of pieces, you are probably doing it incorrectly.

Your completely assembled 08/15 Maxim machine gun is now a piece of beauty.

Themed “Freedom’s 2nd Army,” the 135th National Rifle Association Annual Meetings & Exhibits will take place May 19-21, 2006 at the Midwest Airlines Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. More than 300 exhibitors representing every major firearm, ammunition and accessory manufacturer, as well as hunting outfitters from around the world, will be set up at the show. Seminars, business meetings, special interest sessions, fund-raising auctions and banquets will occur throughout the weekend. 45,000 people are expected to attend this major weekend event.

In addition to the huge array of commercial displays, an extremely popular show area are the exhibits of some of the finest and rarest firearms in the United States shown by NRA affiliated collectors associations. Collecting firearms of all types is an integral part of the National Rifle Association membership and the opportunity to see some of these rare and historic firearms is, in itself, worth the visit.

Collecting rare and historic automatic weapons has, unfortunately, been a stepchild to the larger collecting community for many years. The good news is that is finally changing and is beginning to be accepted as a legitimate collecting discipline.

In the last several years, the Thompson Collectors Association (TCA), an NRA affiliated organization, exhibited rare and historic Thompson submachine guns a number of times at the annual NRA shows. The exhibits were extremely popular and well received, winning a number of prestigious NRA Gun Collector Awards for their exceptionally professional presentations. But more importantly, they led the effort to break the “barrier” and underserved “stigma” of collecting Class III weapons. They were the leaders in helping to establish the legitimacy of historic Class III collecting within the arms collecting community and have demonstrated that collecting historic automatic weapons is just as reasonable, and important, as collecting Colt Single Action Armys, Winchester repeating rifles, Revolutionary War muskets, or anything else in the historic weapons collecting repertoire. They followed up on their mission of legitimizing the collecting of automatic weapons by putting together and sponsoring a Thompson exhibit at the William B. Ruger Gallery of the National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia (see Small Arms Review Vol. 8, No. 1, October 2004). So popular was this exhibit, it was extended for another four months beyond its original run.

In their efforts to continue this legacy of promoting Class III collectibles, the Thompson Collectors Association board of directors have voted to sponsor, along with the Dallas Arms Collectors Association, an exhibit at this year’s NRA show in Milwaukee. The title of the exhibit will be The American Genius of Sir Hiram Maxim: Father of the Modern Machine Gun. The theme of the exhibit will be the brilliance of American Sir Hiram Maxim and his invention of the world’s first truly automatic weapon. This groundbreaking 10×20 exhibit will feature six different historic models of the Maxim gun, along with rare accessories, highlighting the genius of Hiram Maxim and the contribution he made to the arms world. The foresight and dedication of the Thompson Collectors Association and the Dallas Arms Collectors Association in their continuing efforts to make Class III collecting acceptable to the wide-spread firearms collecting community should be commended and applauded for their hard work that benefits all of us.

So modern and revolutionary in its design and operation, Maxims were used by many countries throughout the world at the turn of the twentieth century. Efficient and reliable, some models were made, under license, by manufacturers in other countries. To the layman, the words “German Maxim” are one and the same. In reality, Hiram Maxim was an American, living and producing his guns in England, and licensing manufacturing around the world, including Russia, Switzerland, the United States, and, of course, Germany.

A thumbnail history of the six featured Maxims that will be on display at the NRA show in Milwaukee follow.

Argentine Maxim Model 1895

Argentina was an early user of the Maxim and began by ordering 50 Maxims from the Maxim Nordenfelt Co. in England in 1895. In 1898, a second order of the Model 1895 was placed with Deutsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken (DWM), a licensed Maxim manufacturer in Germany, for another 150 guns. Even though most South American countries adopted the French Hotchkiss machine gun, by 1902, Argentina had 200 of these early Maxims in their inventory. Beautifully made with its water jacket, feed block, fusee spring cover, receiver floor plate and rear grip plate made of brass, the Model 1895 was a stunning, and lethal, piece of the firearm maker’s craft. This model had the early straight style of crank handle, an 1889 style lock and wooden roller belt assist located within the brass feed block. The gun also has provisions for attaching a commercially made 2×12 optical sight made by Carl Zeiss of Jena, Germany and a shoulder brace made of steel and wood. The gun was mounted on an Ackland tripod that was manufactured by VSM (Vickers, Sons & Maxim) in England.

All 200 of Argentina’s Maxims were originally chambered in the 7.65x53mm 1891 Belgium Mauser caliber and the long sight bar affixed to the upper receiver was calibrated for this round-nosed, high trajectory bullet. Each gun was fitted with a brass data plate on the top cover over the feed block reading, “Cartoucho Mauser Argentino 1891” indicating the use of the 1891 Mauser cartridge. In 1909, Argentina adopted the new 7.65x53mm Spitzer round with the pointed bullet and flatter trajectory. All of Argentina’s Maxims were then rebarreled for the new cartridge and the long sight bar was shortened for the high-speed, flatter trajectory of the new cartridge. The brass cartridge data plate had the “1891” milled out and “1909” engraved in its place to reflect the change. Because of the restamped “1909”, the gun is often mistakenly identified as a Model 1909.

Though well equipped, Argentina did not participate in any major conflicts during the period that the Maxim was in their inventory. In the late 1950s, Argentina decided to sell some of their now obsolete weaponry and 91 Model 1895 Maxims were exported to the United States. Those that remained in Argentina were used to decorate various officers’ clubs, donated to museums or sold to Argentine collectors. Of the 91 guns imported into the US, 8 were exported, 28 ended up in government custody for museums, storage or destruction, and the remaining 55 are now mostly owned by collectors.

U.S. Maxim Model 1904

The US Maxim Model 1904 was the first rifle caliber heavy machine gun approved for use as the standard service type by the United States Army in 1904. The army was interested in the new Maxim gun as early as 1887 and procured examples of the “World Standard” Maxim Model 1889 and Model 1900 for testing. After sporadic testing, the Chief of Ordnance finally gave approval for adoption in 1904. The first order for 50 guns and tripods were manufactured by Vickers, Sons & Maxim (VSM) in England in the US caliber .30-03.

The Ordnance Department wanted the Maxim to be made in the United States and enlisted the Colt’s Patent Fire Arms Company to manufacture the gun. Problems arose and it was several years before Colt’s could begin production. In the meantime, the Ordnance Department ordered another 40 guns from VSM. When Colt finally began production in 1908, they continued with the serial number sequence for the model type. The first Colt produced Maxim Model 1904 began with serial number 91. By 1908, the service cartridge had changed from the .30-03 to the .30-06. The 90 guns produced by VSM were all converted to the new service cartridge while all the Colt guns were manufactured in .30-06.

In all, there were a total of 287 Model 1904 Maxims produced. The first 90 guns (serial number 1-90) were made by VSM in England. The remaining 197 guns (serial number 91-287) were made by Colt.

Colt had no desire to produce tripods or wheeled mounts for the gun. All of the tripods were made by VSM in England and wheeled carriage mounts were produced by Rock Island Arsenal (RIA). The tripods and wheeled mounts were ordered separately from the guns, and though serial numbered, they were thus not numbered to a specific gun. VSM produced 176 tripods and RIA produced 111 wheeled carriages.

The US Model 1904 Maxim was issued to US infantry companies and to cavalry troops. Mules were the primary means of transport. The gun was well made and reliable but was not popular in the field. The Model 1904 Maxim had the distinction of being the heaviest Maxim ever produced weighing in at a total of 145 pounds (gun with water – 65 pounds, tripod 80 pounds). Besides the normal heavy brass and steel make-up of the gun, the Model 1904 Maxim had an oversized water jacket holding 9.5 pints of water instead of the normal 7 pints. Nevertheless, the gun was widely used and saw service in such distant outposts as the Philippines, Hawaii, Mexico, Central and South America. Yet, it never saw active combat service, being relegated to training purposes. The gun was not used overseas in World War I but remained in the United States as a training weapon where it was ultimately replaced with the Colt Vickers Model 1915 and the Browning Model 1917.

Few of these historic US machine guns have survived. They saw a brief service life, quickly being declared obsolete and scrapped for their metal and brass components. Of the 287 guns made, there are less than 10 Model 1904 Maxims being registered as transferable to private individuals with another 4 or 5 in museums. Additionally, there are even fewer original 1904 tripods that have survived, again, being scrapped to salvage their large brass content, making the tripod even rarer than the gun.

Swiss Maxim MG11

In the interest of maintaining their peaceful neutrality, Switzerland has a long history of fielding the finest equipment available and was quick to realize the advantages of rapid fire weapons. They acquired Gatling guns in 11mm in the 1870s and Gardner guns (in the then prototype Swiss 7.5x55mm cartridge) in the 1880s.

In 1887, Hiram Maxim arrived in Thun, Switzerland to compete in the long-range shooting trials with his “World Standard” Model of 1887 machine gun in 11mm. The Model of 1887 “World Standard” was a massive weapon chambered in the rimmed .45 caliber/11mm black powder cartridge. The Swiss were impressed and placed an order but they wanted the gun chambered in the new and experimental 7.5mm Swiss cartridge. Maxim thought he could just “tweak” his large gun to accept the smaller, rimless round but encountered major reliability problems with many malfunctions. Ultimately, rather than convert the 11mm Maxim, he redesigned the gun specifically to accept the 7.5mm rimless cartridge. This resulted in Maxim’s first “Reduced Caliber” (approx. .30 caliber) machine gun. This gun was tested in 1889 and the decision was made to adopt the Maxim into the Swiss army.

The Swiss began by purchasing 72 Maxims from Maxim Nordenfelt in England in 1894 and designated as the MG94. Then, with some improvements, another 40 guns of the improved model were purchased from Maxim’s new company Vickers, Sons & Maxim (VSM), as well as Duetsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken (DWM) in Germany in 1900 and designated them as the MG00. When DWM introduced their new Commercial Model in 1909, which was substantially lighter than the previous Maxims, the Swiss tested it and adopted it in 1911, designated it as the Maschinengewehr 11 (MG11) and ordered 167 guns.

When World War I interrupted their source of supply in 1914, they began to produce their own Maxims, under license, at Waffenfabrik Bern in Switzerland. Production began in 1915 and continued to 1946 with 10,269 Maxim MG11s being produced.

The MG11 was mounted on the DWM designed Commercial Model 1909 tripod which was also produced at the Waffenfabrik Bern factory. This tripod was more stable than any other tripod in use at the time and was considered the finest mount available.

There were a number of optical sights used with the MG11 for both direct and indirect fire. The more common early style direct fire sight used with the MG11 was made in Germany by Carl Zeiss of Jena. There was also a specialized long-range telescopic sight used in mountain fortresses.

The Maxim MG11 as made by the Swiss at Waffenfabrik Bern is rightly considered the finest Maxim ever made. The quality of workmanship, fit and finish surpasses any other Maxim made and is worthy of the dependability inherent in all Maxim guns. Because of its neutrality, Switzerland has a stringent policy concerning the export of its military weapons and thus Swiss maxims are exceptionally rare outside of Switzerland. There are only six Swiss MG11s in the United States making it one of the rarest types of its kind in US collections.

German Maxim MG08

In 1892, the Maxim Nordenfelt Co. of England entered into an agreement with Ludwig Loewe & Co. of Berlin granting them the rights to produce Maxim guns in Germany for Germany, the entire German Empire and her allies. Maxims were produced by Ludwig Loewe under that name for several years until, because of a growing anti-Semitic movement, Loewe changed the name of his company to Deutsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken (DWM) so that the name of Loewe would not be connected with it. DWM then became a public company owned by, but administratively separate from, the Loewe engineering firm.

The German army adopted the DWM Model 1901. After observations gained from the Russo-Japanese war, the German army suggested changes in the Maxim; particularly addressing the major problem of weight of the gun and mount. The government arsenal at Spandau, working alongside DWM, began to implement the suggested changes by redesigning the heavy parts of earlier guns with lightweight steel. Thus the water jacket, trunnion block, feed block, fusee spring cover and backplate assemblies became much thinner and lighter resulting in a 17 pound weight reduction from 57 pounds to 40 pounds. A bracket for mounting an optical sight was added to the receiver and the cocking handle knob was increased in diameter to provide a better grip. The sledmount was redesigned with lighter materials and the wheels were removed. This mount provided unequaled stability with resulting incredible accuracy, though it later proved difficult to set up on uneven terrain. The improvements were completed in 1908 and the new gun and mount became standardized and adopted by the German army as the Maschinengewehr 08 (MG08) and the Schlitten 08 (sled 08).

At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Germany had approximately 5,000 Maxims and was the only country that truly recognized the value and importance of the machine gun on the battlefield in terms of firepower and strategic advantage in both attack and defense. This resulted in an aggressive armament of machine gun companies within regiments and battalions. Tens of thousands of MG08s were eventually produced by the government arsenal at Spandau and DWM to equip the German army. Training in operation and tactics was crucial to the operational success of the MG08 and machine gunners were all hand picked, particularly personnel for the “marksman” units. Woefully, hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers were slaughtered in the fields of France and Belgium in the futile old-world massed assaults against the well dug-in German machine guns. The ultimate defense to this onslaught was the inevitable trench network to shield the foot soldier from the fusillade of bullets.

Warfare of the past five thousand years abruptly changed with the new weapons of war as developed during the industrial revolution of the late 19th and early 20th century. No longer were the massed attacks with foot infantry or swift assault with cavalry capable of overwhelming an enemy equipped with the modern tools of war. As with all advancements, the eventual downfall of the emplaced heavy machine gun came about with the advent of mobile warfare, most notably with the development and advancement of the tank and airplane. But the heavy machine guns of the early twentieth century epitomized the state-of-the-art martial development of firearm design and function.

German Maxim MG08/15

The British were able to gain a small tactical advantage over the emplaced German heavy machine gun by issuing large numbers of lightweight, air-cooled Lewis and Hotchkiss machine guns. Man-portable and prized as the ultimate front-line weapon, these light machine guns in rifle caliber proved extremely valuable on the battlefield. So highly were they valued that the Germans went to great lengths to capture and use them. They even printed a field manual on the Lewis gun for their troops.

In 1915, Germany established a large group of engineers to develop a light machine gun to counter the Lewis gun. With a relatively large number of designs to work with, they ultimately decided to stick with the Maxim action as it would be the least disruptive to current production facilities and training. The result was a hybrid “light” machine gun called the Maschinengewehr 08/15 (MG08/15). The MG08/15 went into production in late 1916 and was first issued generally to troops fighting in the Verdun sector in early 1917.

The MG08/15 was a lightened MG08 fitted with a bipod, shoulder stock and pistol grip. The reduction in weight was achieved by making the receiver walls thinner and reducing the size, and thus capacity, of the water jacket. Further weight-saving changes included a smaller feedblock, cutouts on the top of the rear and bottom front of the receiver sideplates to eliminate enclosed “dead” space, and eliminating the use of the cartridge ejection tube and spring in favor of a simple hole in the lower front of the stepped receiver. The recoiling parts of the gun – barrel, barrel extension, crosshead, connecting link and lock – were kept the same as the MG08 except a muzzle sleeve was screwed on to the already threaded muzzle end of the barrel. The only other interchangeable parts were the feed slide and belt holding pawls, roller and pin. All otherMG08/15 components were somewhat smaller and lighter than their MG08 counterparts. Additionally, since this was now a portable “light” machine gun, the MG08/15 receiver was fitted with a bracket to accommodate the affixing of a special spooled 100-round ammunition drum. Two of these drums were fitted in a wooden transit box and accompanied each gun.

Wanting to quickly supply the German Army with light machine guns, seven factories produced about 130,000 MG08/15s – making it the most common German machine gun of World War I. Manufacturers included: Gewehrfabrik Erfurt; Rheinische Maschinen & Metallwaren Fabrik, Sommerda; Maschinen Fabrik Augsburg-Nurnberg (M.A.N.) Nurnberg; Siemens & Halske (S&H) Berlin; J.P. Sauer & Sohn, Suhl; Gewehrfabrik Spandau; and Deutsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken (D.W.&M.F.) Berlin.

The MG08/15, like its big brother the MG08, was extremely reliable and fired at about the same rate of 500 rounds per minute. It is interesting to note that the steel used in both guns was very hard and designed to withstand denting from shell fragments and other small low velocity projectiles. Only a well placed rifle bullet or direct shell fragment to the receiver could be sure of putting it out of action. British snipers were instructed to shoot at the receiver casing of the gun, rather than at the gunner, as the theory being that the gun was harder to replace than the man behind it.

While the MG08/15 was a reliable weapon, it had the distinction of being the heaviest “light” machine gun ever made. It was big, bulky and not easily controllable on its small bipod; it was designed to be a “trench broom” by a walking operator equipped with a large leather sling for support. Fully loaded with water and the 100-round drum, the gun weighed 49 pounds. Not an easy load to carry “over the top” under fire and in the muddy fields of no-mans land.

Russian Maxim M1910

Since 1865, Russia purchased and used a large number of Colt Gatling guns; even later manufacturing their own version called the “Gorloff.” With his success with sales to Italy, Switzerland and Austria, Hiram Maxim traveled to Russia in 1889 to demonstrate his new invention in St. Petersburg. The Russians had no concept of what an automatic gun was and thought the crank handle on the side of the Maxim gun was manually operated. This “little” gun could never replace the Gatling. Maxim fired an entire belt in half a minute and the Russian officers were, indeed, truly impressed. The Russian army and navy began purchasing Maxims from Maxim Nordenfelt in 1889. In 1899, Russia purchased more Model 1899 Maxims from DWM in Germany.

The Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905) was the first major conflict in which both sides used machine guns. The Japanese used the French designed Hotchkiss and the Russians used their heavy brass Maxims. Though relegated defensively to the rear along with artillery firing over the heads of their advancing troops, the Russian Maxims performed exceptionally well; most notably at the battle of Mukden repelling seven strong Japanese attacks.

The heavy brass Maxims were mounted on high, wheeled artillery-type carriages exposing the gunners to concentrated fire. With exceptionally high loses sustained by Russian machine gun batteries at the Yalu River battle, Russian Maxims were then mounted on heavy tripods with armor shields.

The Model 1905 was the first Maxim actually manufactured in Russia and was produced at the Tula Arsenal. This was the basic Model 1899 that still had the heavy brass water jacket, feed block, trunnion block, etc., but incorporated a few of the improvements found it the “new pattern” 1901 commercial Vickers-Maxim that included the “S”-shaped crank handle and easily-stripped lock.

By 1908, VSM (Vickers, Sons & Maxim) and DWM were producing guns that were lighter in weight, replacing the brass parts with steel. The Russians acquired some samples of VSM’s “new light” Model 1906 with the steel fluted water jacket and adopted it as the Model 1910. The Model 1910, as produced in Russia, now weighed in at just 44 pounds, producing a weight savings of 16 pounds over the Model 1905.

Wheeled transport was popular due to the weight of the gun but a new distinctive low wheeled mount with a small armor shield was developed by Colonel Sokolov soon after the adoption of the Model 1910. It featured a cradle designed to slide forward and back on curved rails allowing large adjustments in elevation and depression. The early mounts were quite heavy at about 100 pounds and included two folding legs that could be swung down to form a tripod raising the wheels off the ground. Sine the entire platform was so robust, the legs were later eliminated.

Production of the Model 1910 continued through the World War I years until 1917 when production dropped of considerably due to the disruptive Russian Revolution in 1917. Production picked up again in late 1918 and all through the interwar years. During World War II, production went into high gear and it remained the standard heavy Russian machine gun. An interesting modification was made in 1943 by the addition of a large, distinctive “snow cap” incorporated to the top of the water jacket to allow the insertion of snow (water) into the water jacket. The Russians actually copied this feature from the Finns who used such a contrivance on their own Maxims during the Russo-Finnish War of 1941-1944.

The Russian Maxim soldiered on for over four decades and more Maxims were built in Russia than all the other countries in the world combined. Production estimates indicate that over 600,000 guns were produced, including those given to the North Koreans, Chinese and others who received assistance from Russian armament programs after World War II.