THE MACHINE GUN OF THE FUTURE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 3287, 10 April 1885, Page 3

THE MACHINE GUN OF THE FUTURE.

A Near Approach to Pertetuali Motion. A representative of the Pall Mall Gazette recently interviewed the inventor of- the Maxim gun, which has created a great sensation at Homo, and has been inspected by nearly everybody interested m gunnery from the Field-Marshal Com-mander-in-Chief downwards. " There," said Mr Maxim, complacently, "is the machine gun of the future — an instrument : which renders obsolete every machine gun m Her Majesty's navy." Tojoutward appearance there is nothing very complicated about this wonderful gun, the muzzle of which —covered 'by a brass water jacket — waa projecting through the wall into a chamber specially arranged to carry off the products of combustion. ' Mr Maxim, who is of pure New England stock, descanted for some time, m his own : quaint way, upon the excellence of the "weapon which bears his name, and said many interesting things about the i people who had been to see his invention, and their surprise at finding that it would ; not only keep on firing by itself, but that . it would load itself, lock itself, cock itself, 1 turn out the empty cartridge, and go on firing as long as there were cartridges m the magazine. " The English Govern--1 ment," said Mr Maxim, " has the first ' offer of my patent rights, and meanwhile I cannot part with a single gun." ' Ab he spoke, he was arranging the belt of cartridges which, when once worked into the interior of the machine by a hand action, an operation taking about a i quarter of a minute, makes the gun r ready for firing. "Now? 1 said Mr , Maxim, "we can fire tnU at any

rate you like up to 600 a minute. Adjust the indicator to any rate of speed you like, from one shot per minute up to the maximum of 6UO. You set her a-going by firing the first shot yourself," and— suiting the action to the word — he fired a regulation cartridge, which was immediately thrown out below the gun by the automatic action of the chamber. He then stopped firing, and explained tho way m which the internal mechanism operated. The details need not be entered into here. Suffice it to say that they are exceedingly simple, the parts being few and easy to be understood by the most unmechauical of men, of whom, no doubt, Tommy Atkins is one of the chief. When each cartridge is fired, the recoil, instead of kicking the guv over, withdraws the empty cartridge, cocks the gun, .places, the new cartridge m the chamber, drives it home, and fires it off, the whole of the series of operations being executed by the momentum of the recoil. That force is either immediately used, or stored up to be utilised at any degree of speed that the gunner deems necessary. Shutting down tho lid Mr Maxim set the machine going tit a greater rate of speed than at first, and then asked our representative to fire off the rest. He complied by adjusting the indicator to the highest possible speed, and the remaining twenty-one shots rattled off continuously m 2^sec. The empty cartridges rolled out upon the floor, apparently all m a heap. " How long will it keep going like that, Mr Maxim!" "Ah long as you will find anybody ready to pay for cartridges," he replied. " I will provide the gun if any one will provide the cartridges, which are wound into the gun by the force liberated by each explosion. When you come to the 333 rd you simply hook another belt on to that which is finishing into the interior of the gun, and go on ad hifinitum. As long as you go on hooking belts of cartridges^ the gun will go on firing. It will never get too hot, nor will it get out of gear by firing any number of cartridges at the maximum speed. This gun has tired some 20,000 cartridges already, and it is as good as ever, showing no sign of wear. It is the nearest approach to perpetual motion that is to be found m the armoury of civilisation. Give it an endless supply of cartridges, and it will go on for ever. " " Now for its manipulation." Mr Maxim then withdrew the gun into the room, and explained the exceeding simplicity with which the gnu could be traiued m auy direction. The gunner, by simply grasping a handle at the breech, can make the gun turn right round on the swivel, so as to cover all the points of the compass, and at the same time raise or depress it at will without any appreciable exertion of manual labor. It is quite possible for an unskilled laborer to take the gun and cut out his name on a board m capital letters twenty feet deep simply by directing the incessant stream of bullets pouring from the mouth of the gun m the required direction. To give a simpler experiment, any one can write his name as with a fret saw on a plauk by the same agency, so constant is the stream of bullets, and so absolute is the control which the operator has over the machine. The contrast between this and the Gatling and other machine guns, which, when worked at their highest speed, involve a great expenditure of manual labor, necessitate a heavy platform, and are incompatible with accuracy of aim, is very great. The " Maxim" automatic cartridges at Hattongarden weighs only Go lb without its tripod ; but Mr Maxim is certain that he can make a good machine gun of the same pattern to weigh no more than 25.1 b, so that it can easily be carried on horseback wherever it may be required. The relative weight compared .with other machine guns is about one to four. It was extraordinary to see the ease with which the gun could be manipulated, and its leaden spray turned m every direction with the ease of a water-jet from an ordinary garden hose-pipe. " When I waa on tho Sultan," said Mr Maxim, "during the - luchkeith experiments, I found it needed three men a minute to work your machine guns at their highest speed. The labor is so great that twenty seconds at the crank is as much as a strong man can get through without, slackening speed, I avoid all that by utilising the recoil. Once start my machine and a child can manipulate it, or, for the matter of that, it will operate itself, without anybody attending to it except to replenish itß cartridge-box. I think it is quite possible by means of electricity and a very small, mechanical arrangement to plant your machine gun far out m front of an exposed position, and control it from a aafe place out of range, and turn it wherever you please, tiring it fast or slow as the enemy appears. Against such enemies as you have to deal with m the Soudan it would be simply invaluable. Nor is there any danger of its getting blocked or jammed, no matter how sudden the attack of the enemy, because no physical strength is required to work it, and consequently the whole of the wits of the gunner can be employed m keeping his aim straight and unerring. Another enormous advantage which it possesses over the machine guns now m use is that if by any means a cartridge misses fire, or, more dangerous still, hangs fire, the cartridge is simply thrown out without damaging the machineor blocking the gun, an advantage which all who have had to do with the actual working of Gatlings, Gardners, or Nordenfolts will know how to appreciate. " The essence of this gun is that the cartridge-caae is only extracted by the recoil of its own explosion, if it hangs fire, it waits till the powder ignites. If it misses fire altogether, the gunner can instantly throw it out, by a movement of a lever, and all danger of jamming, m the technical sense, is avoided. If one of these guns had been m. General Stewart's square when the Arabs came on, not one man would have reached the British line, the square would have been left intact, and Colonel Burnaby among other officers would still be alive."