The Birth of a Maxim.

Woodville Examiner, Volume XXII, Issue 3872, 11 May 1906, Page 4 (Supplement)

The Birth of a Maxim.

The deadly Maxim gun has many severe tests to undergo before it is finally passed as fit for active service. Outwardly, it is not of very formidable appearance; in action its capabilities are too well known to need comment. The number and Viariety of teste to which one of these weapons is put to ensure accuracy and reliability would, however, bo an eye-opener to the uniniated.

. The tests are divided into two classes: those undergone in the factory previous to the fitting together of the various parts, and the actual working tests. A Maxim has a single barrel similar to that of a rifle, surrounded by a circular water-jacket. The Standard Maxim gun is at Enfield. This weapon is unique, every item having been specially constructed with the utmost possible accuracy. Even judged by the standard that obtains in gun factories, where the thickness of a cigarette paper too much or too little in certain places would be esteemed not a mere inaccuracy, but a deplorable blunder, tins gun is acknowledged as a masterpiece. It was constructed and i.s use for reference only. Any question ol accuracy of any one of the numerous parts, if in dispute, is referred to this standard gnu, the silent decision of which is final. It is, so to speak, a gnage for the test guage.s that each and every competent prfrt of a,Maxim must pass before it can be placed among those passed by the factory authorities as .suitable to be assembled to form a complete weapon. The barrel must have several different Kb aped guages paused over the outside to ensure that the formation is uibsol-* utely correct. Through the bore a steel gauge is passed. This tiny rod must drop freely through, yet, at the same time, must fit so exactly to the size of the bore that if the thumb be placed over the bottom end. the air pressure will cause it to remain suspended at any point throughout. the length of the barrel. Each individual item of the mechanism is tested in an equally careful manner.

After the gun has been fitted and passed by the -manufacturing authorities at Enfield, it is handed over to an entirely separate department, which

carries out actual firing tests. Within the testing shed is a oone mounting of a similar construction to thcoe upon which these guns are mounted on board a ship, or in other permanent positions. The short sand-butt range is more especially n test of tho working capacity, a large number of rounds being fired. A curious effect of the rapid fire is to make a small funnel-shaped hole deep into the sand. The bullets are easily collected when the trials are over.

It occasionally happens tliat, in spite of all the care and time expended upon the various parts, when fitted together and actually at work some undetected irregularity assorts itself and requires adjustment, or possibly some item is found faulty, in which case the gun is returned to the factory, with a report attached.

If the working of the mechanism proves satisfactory, a practical test for accuracy follows. For this purpose the open six hundred yards range is used, the effect of the firing being watched through a telescope. The actual firing and testing at times reveals individual eccentricities and irregularities in a weapon that can be detected in no other way, so until expert inspectors have pronounced it accurate from a personal observation, it cannot ho passed for service. Every gun tested is numbered, and a report of its 'behaviour filed for future reference if necessary. Another duty of the testing department is to examine and report upon 'weapons that have been issued for service, and, as sometimes occurs, subsequently returned for adjustment or repair.

Maxims that have been on active service are returned and overhauled, reports being made of their condition. A most important item in the successful working of a Maxim is the cartridgebelt.

There is the same peculiar individuality about Maxim guns as is found in chips constructed from identically the same plan, or the even more familiar instance of railway engines of the same pattern. IXO two behave exactly alike. In each instance, it seems impossible to create an exact working duplicate. This in guns or rifles may possibly be accounted for by imperceptible irregularities in the metal itself, slight variations in the temper of the barrels, and so on. It is a curious- and inevitable trait found in all machinery.