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An early machine gun...
An early machine gun...
Item # 669268
February 16, 1889
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, New York, February 16, 1889
* The 1888 Maxim Mitrailleuse invention
* Hiram Maxin military machine gunnery
The front page shows: "The Nicaragua Ship Canal" and has 3 illustrations and a map.
Inside has: "Elastic Suspension of Machines" "Abbott's Fire Escape" "Maxim Mitrailleuse in Action" (machine gun); and more illustrations, articles and advertisements.
Sixteen pages, library stamp on the front page and inside, generally good condition.
background: The 1888 Maxim Mitrailleuse stands as the definitive transition from mechanical volley guns to the era of true automatic fire, marking the year the British Army officially adopted the design as the "Maxim Maxim-Nordenfelt." Developed by Hiram Maxim, this model utilized a sophisticated short-recoil, toggle-lock mechanism where the rearward energy of a fired cartridge was harnessed to cycle the action, eject the spent casing, and chamber a new round from a canvas belt. To prevent the barrel from melting under its high rate of fire—roughly 600 rounds per minute—Maxim encased it in a distinctive steel water jacket, a cooling system that allowed for the sustained suppression of entire infantry lines. This 1888 iteration was particularly significant because it was refined to handle the newly invented smokeless powders, ensuring that the gunner’s field of vision remained clear during prolonged engagements, effectively rendering the hand-cranked Gatling and French Reffye mitrailleuses obsolete and setting the lethal standard for 20th-century industrial warfare.
Category: Post-Civil War
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