Mg08/15
- Thread starter MG1918
- Start date
They also developed metallic belts for these guns, both disintegrating and non-disintegrating. The guns really beat up the cloth belts badly; Vickers was much the same. The belt pawl in the feed-block was the culprit, but at least it FED reliably.
Around here somewhere I have the tab end of a Maxim belt, given to me by the man who took it out of the Maxim that was shooting at him, along with the round from the breechblock. He figured he was safe as long as he had that one. Seems to have worked; he was well into his 80s when he gave it to me, still in good health.
Still, we might grin a bit when looking at a Maxim or a Vickers..... but can anyone show me ANY other automatic gun which can be fired literally for HOURS? These were. Note carefully that Russia and Switzerland still have large stores of these "antiques". They have NOT all been sold off.
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Around here somewhere I have the tab end of a Maxim belt, given to me by the man who took it out of the Maxim that was shooting at him, along with the round from the breechblock. He figured he was safe as long as he had that one. Seems to have worked; he was well into his 80s when he gave it to me, still in good health.
Still, we might grin a bit when looking at a Maxim or a Vickers..... but can anyone show me ANY other automatic gun which can be fired literally for HOURS? These were. Note carefully that Russia and Switzerland still have large stores of these "antiques". They have NOT all been sold off.
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WW I Linen belts just disintegrated over the years and it was not uncommon for some of the Maxims to look like an old thrashing machine when firing. The only recent belts for the Maxim around are WW II Russian belts and WW II German belts and even they are 70 years old plus as well. You can use the Swiss aluminum belts but it does beat them up a bit...
- Location
- South of your border
I wish I had one. Also what do the Swiss Aluminium belts look like?
Those first two photos, I'd call them "before" and "after".
Gunners are wearing breastplates in the first photo.
Canadian gunners were trained to use German MGs, but since they're also carrying the German crew's Gew98s, we know these are captured guns being brought back.
Gunners are wearing breastplates in the first photo.
Canadian gunners were trained to use German MGs, but since they're also carrying the German crew's Gew98s, we know these are captured guns being brought back.
