Development (1883–1884) Maxim's first British patents relating to the development of the Maxim gun were granted in June and July 1883. The first prototype was demonstrated to invited guests in October 1884.
Use in colonial warfare (1886–1914) c. 1898 A prototype of the Maxim gun was given by Hiram Maxim to the
Emin Pasha Relief Expedition in 1886–1890, under the leadership of
Henry Morton Stanley. More a publicity stunt than a serious military contribution, in view of the main financier of the expedition,
William Mackinnon, "merely exhibiting" the gun was likely to "prove a great peace-preserver". The weapon was used on several occasions, especially during the expedition's retreat from central Africa, not because of its devastating effects, but as an effective means to scare off attackers. One of the first uses of the Maxim gun by British Forces was in the 1887
Yoni Expedition. The same prototype used by Stanley was brought back to central Africa by
Frederick Lugard, where it played an instrumental role in the establishment of the
Uganda Protectorate. The first unit in the world to receive the Maxim was the expeditionary force led by
Hermann Wissmann which was sent in 1888 by the
German Imperial government to
its colonies in
East Africa to suppress the
Abushiri revolt. Wissmann was issued one of the first Maxim guns which had reached Germany and used it successfully in his capture of
Pangani. The
Singapore Volunteer Corps received a Maxim gun in 1889, but it was never used. This was a civilian volunteer defence unit on the British colony. The Maxim gun was first used extensively in an African conflict during the
First Matabele War in
Rhodesia. During the
Battle of the Shangani on 25 October 1893, 700 soldiers fought off 5,000 Matabele warriors with just five Maxim guns. It played an important role in the "
Scramble for Africa" in the late 19th century. The extreme lethality was employed to devastating effect against obsolete charging tactics, when African opponents could be lured into
pitched battles in open terrain. As it was put by
Hilaire Belloc, in the words of the figure "Blood" in his poem "The Modern Traveller": However, the destructive power of the Maxim gun in colonial warfare has often been embellished by popular myth. Modern historical accounts suggest that, while it was effective in pitched battles, as in the Matabele wars or the
Battle of Omdurman, its significance owed much to its psychological impact. A larger-calibre version of the Maxim, firing a one-pound shell, was built by Maxim-Nordenfeldt. This was known in the
Second Boer War (in South Africa) as the
Pom-Pom from its sound. The Boers' "one-pounder" Maxim-Nordenfeldt was a large-caliber, belt-fed, water-cooled "auto cannon" that fired explosive rounds (smokeless ammunition) at 450 rounds per minute. The Maxim gun was also used in the
Anglo-Aro War (in present-day
Nigeria) of 1901–1902. National and military authorities were reluctant to adopt the weapon, and Maxim's company initially had some trouble convincing European governments of the weapon's efficiency. Soldiers generally held a great mistrust of machine guns due to their tendency to
jam. In the 1906 version of his book
Small Wars,
Charles Callwell says of machine guns: "The older forms are not suitable as a rule... they jammed at
Ulundi, they jammed at
Dogali, they jammed at
Abu Klea and
Tofrek, in some cases with unfortunate results." However, the Maxim was far more reliable than its contemporaries. A more immediate problem was that, initially, its position was easily given away by the clouds of smoke that the gun produced (although the same was true of artillery pieces and units of troops that the machine gun was intended to replace or supplement, so this wasn't viewed as a particular drawback by the early users). The advent of
smokeless powder (developed by, among others, Hiram's brother
Hudson Maxim), helped to change this. The weapon was adopted by the British Army under the guidance of
Sir Garnet Wolseley, who had been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in 1888. In October that year, he placed an order of 120 rifle-calibre Maxims using the same
.577/450 ammunition as the
Martini–Henry rifles. Wolseley had previously led military expeditions in Africa (the
Ashanti war and the
Gordon Relief Expedition in 1884–85) and had a reputation for being a strong subscriber to military innovation and reform, which he demonstrated in Africa. There he used machine guns, explored other unconventional ideas, and founded an Egyptian camel corps. The gun's design was also purchased and used by several other European countries, such as
Austria-Hungary,
Italy,
Switzerland, and
Russia. In January 1899, just before the outbreak of the
Philippine-American War, the
Philippines had forty-two Maxim guns. An English observer who had seen one of them described it as being "of the most improved type."
Russian service (1887–1917) Hiram Maxim did an introduction tour of the Maxim gun in
Russia in 1887, despite the impressive spectacle, only 12 guns were ordered by the
Imperial Russian Navy. Many years later, in 1896, the Imperial Russian Navy was re-interested in the Maxim guns, leading to a large order of Maxim guns from
Maxim Nordenfelt. Maxim Nordenfelt delivered 179 guns in 1897, and by 1904, the number had increased to almost 300. The
Imperial Russian Army purchased 58 Maxim machine guns (chambered in
7.62×54mmR) from
DWM in 1899 and contracted with Vickers in 1902 to manufacture the design in Russia. Although some manufacturing started in 1905, mass production did not start until 1910. During the
Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, the Russian Army employed the Maxim in combat and placed a rush order for another 450 units from overseas suppliers, which were mostly delivered to front-line troops before the end of the war. In 1905,
Tula Arsenal started manufacturing the
Maxim M1905, based on the commercial
Vickers-Maxim Model 1901. In 1908, the Sokolov mount (named after its designer, Colonel Alexander A. Sokolov) was introduced, which was equipped with removable gun shield and allowed machine gun crews to pull the weapon and its mount. The Sokolov mount was lighter at around , compared to the large-wheeled mount weighing around . The
Maxim M1905 was still in use with the Russian military in World War I, but mainly equipped with non-frontline troop. There were plans of upgrading the
Maxim M1905 to
Maxim M1910 standard, but was dropped when war broke out, so only a small amount of guns were converted. When the Maxim machine guns first arrived in
Iran,
Reza Khan had just been appointed as a deputy commander. He was assigned the task of learning how to operate these machine guns under the supervision of Russian experts. It was after mastering this weapon that he earned the nickname “
Reza Maxim.”
Swiss service (1894–1910) Between 1891 and 1894 Switzerland procured 72 heavy machine guns, designated MG 94, from
Maxim and Nordenfelt in London. These weapons were issued to fortress troops and mountain troops and were operational until 1944 as spare arms with the Territorial Battalion. The MG 94 was mounted at the front end and at the rear on the knees of the gunner. Two leather padded rings on the left and on the right sides of the breech of the weapon rested on the knees of the machine gunner sitting behind it and permitted sweeping fire. The machine gun MG 94 was chambered for the 7.5x53.5 mm GP 90 cartridge and was later, along other minor technical modifications, adapted for firing the more powerful 7.5x55 mm GP 11 cartridge. Six MG 94s had their water-cooling mantles drilled and cut open, making these guns air-cooled and thus water-free and lighter for use as aircraft machine guns. These six MG 94 air-cooled guns were taken out of service in 1944. At least one MG 94 was converted to an air-cooled model for use on the
Häfeli DH-1 reconnaissance aircraft. designed by
Trevor Dawson and J. Ramsay of Vickers. The first 50 guns and tripods were made by
Vickers, Sons & Maxim in the U.K. chambered for
.30-03.
Colt was selected to produce it domestically, but challenges with schematics and specifications delayed its introduction. By the time Colt began production in 1908 (which was also the last year orders were placed for the guns), a total of 90 M1904s were made by Vickers. Colt made their machine guns for the new
.30-06 caliber, and the ones made by Vickers were re-chambered for the new round. A total of 287 M1904 Maxims were manufactured. The U.S. procured other machine guns after M1904 production ended, including the
M1909 Benét–Mercié, the
Colt–Vickers M1915, and the
Browning M1917. M1904 Maxims were issued to infantry companies and cavalry. Each company had four guns with associated tripods, ammunition, and 20
mules to transport the heavy guns. The M1904 was deployed in operations in the Philippines, Hawaii, Mexico, and Central and South America, but never saw much combat use. During World War I, it remained in the U.S. for training.
World War I (1914–1918) By
World War I, many armies had moved on to improved machine guns. The British
Vickers machine gun was an improved and redesigned Maxim, introduced into the British Army in 1912 and remaining in service until 1968. Production took place at Erith in Kent, and some models were fitted to early biplanes also fabricated there. The German Army's
Maschinengewehr 08 and the Russian
Pulemyot Maxim were both more or less direct copies of the Maxim. It also saw use during the
Russian Civil War, which followed the
Revolution in 1917. A picture of the period depicts a Maxim gun mounted on a
tachanka, a horse-drawn carriage, along with the gunner, firing backwards at a pursuing
White Army regiment.
Anarchists attribute this mobile setup to
Nestor Makhno.
Russo-Ukrainian War The Maxim, in the form of the
PM M1910 chambered in
7.62×54mmR, has been used by both sides of the
Russo-Ukrainian War of 2022. Many Maxim guns were
retrofitted to suit the nature of modern warfare, including its installation on
technicals and the mounting of
red dot sights. At least one documented Maxim gun used by the
Ukrainian Ground Forces in the
Battle of Bakhmut still had its original iron wheels with no visible modifications. A Ukrainian soldier told
BBC News in March 2023: "It only works when there is a massive attack going on... then it really works. So we use it every week". On September 7, 2025, over
Kyiv, a Maxim shot down a
Kh-69 missile, by a volunteer with the call sign "Hrek". == Extra Light Rifle Calibre Maxim ==