Editing Maxim gun (section)

== Design ==
[[File:Maxim machine gun drawing - B86 483-1 (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|Illustration of the Maxim Gun in ''[[Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary]]'', 1905]]
The Maxim gun featured one of the earliest [[recoil]]-operated firing systems in history. Energy from recoil acting on the breech block is used to eject each spent cartridge and insert the next one. Maxim's earliest designs used a 360-degree rotating cam to reverse the movement of the block, but this was later simplified to a toggle lock. This made it vastly more efficient and less labor-intensive than previous manually-operated rapid-firing guns, such as the manually-cranked [[Mitrailleuse]] of 1851, the [[Gatling gun]] of 1861, the [[Gardner gun]] of 1874, or the [[Nordenfelt gun]] of 1873.

The Maxim gun was [[water cooling|water cooled]], allowing it to sustain its rate of fire far longer than air-cooled guns. The extra weight and complexity this added, however, made it heavier and less flexible in use.

Trials demonstrated that the Maxim could fire 600 rounds per minute.<ref>{{cite book |last= Stevenson |first= David |title= 1914–1918: The History of the First World War |year= 2004 |publisher= Penguin Books|isbn= 978-0-14-026817-1 |page= 8}}</ref>{{request quotation|date=September 2024}} Compared to modern machine guns, the Maxim was heavy, bulky, and awkward. A lone soldier could fire the weapon, but it was usually operated by a team of men, usually 4 to 6 in number. Apart from the gunner, other crew were needed to speed reload, spot targets, and carry and ready ammunition and water. Several men were needed to move or mount the heavy weapon.