BACKPAGE
MAXIM’S SELF-FIRING MACHINE GUN
INVENTED by Sir Hiram Maxim, this
brutal weapon was the world’s first selfpowered
machine gun. ‘When loaded and
fired it continues the process of loading
and firing and feeding itself as long as a
supply of cartridges is presented to it,’
wrote The Engineer.
What set the gun apart from existing
machine guns, such as the Gatling, was
an innovative mechanism that used the
energy from the recoil force to eject the
spent cartridge and insert the next one.
In what may be one of the longest
sentences ever committed to the page of
a business magazine, The Engineer wrote that ‘on
firing, the barrel and breech bolt recoil firmly held
together by the locking hook for about 0.44in, then
the counter lever of the latter comes in contact with
74
THIS WEEK IN… 1884
the block, causing the
hook to rise and
release the breech bolt
which, at the same
time, receives a sudden
impetus from the lever
whose counter lever is
brought in contact with
the point of resistance
on the piece causing
the lever to… drive
back the breech bolt
and its attachments…
thus the momentum of
the barrel is suddenly
transferred to the breech bolt and its attachments,
which fly back with sufficient force to complete a
revolution of the crank and connecting rod,
bringing the breech block back to the barrel and
PRIZE CROSSWORD For The Engineer Brainteaser subscribe to our email newsletter at www.theengineer.co.uk
When completed rearrange the highlighted squares to spell out a free-standing
structure near a main building The first correct answer received will win a
£20 Amazon voucher. Email your answer to jon.excell@centaur.co.uk
Across
1 Instrument that provides a flashing light (6)
4 Metal fastener similar to a staple (5, 3)
10 Structure used to contain an area (9)
11 Compound formed in the reaction of an acid and an alcohol (5)
12 Storehouse for goods (5)
13 Old name for sulphur (9)
14 Whole amounts such as 1, 2, 3 etc. (7, 7)
18 Home appliance for cleaning clothes (7, 7)
20 Excess of revenues over outlays (3, 6)
22 Enclose with a barrier (5)
24 Reddish brown dye (5)
25 Flows from a leaking tanker (3, 6)
26 Trial in realistic working conditions (4, 4)
27 In addition (2, 4)
Down
1 Pouring out in drops (8)
2 Summarise briefly (5)
3 Burner used in welding (9)
5 Valuable substances like gold and silver (8, 6)
6 Creative thoughts (5)
7 Collection containing a variety of sorts of things (9)
8 Given special treatment (6)
9 Motion in which the velocity at any point varies erratically (9, 5)
15 Aerial for receiving broadcasts (2-7)
16 Replenishes with excavated material (9)
17 Turning in an opposite direction (8)
19 Fix firmly and stably (6)
21 Undergo a chemical change (5)
23 Small concavity (5)
Last issue’s solution
Across: 1 Camshaft, 6 Pipe, 8
Calorie, 9 Azimuth, 11 Railway
engineer, 12 Onus, 13 Measured
up, 17 Phenomenon, 18 Cone, 20
Public relations, 23 Rigging, 24
Get wind, 25 Tyre, 26 Detached.
forcing both home into the firing position.’
The report continued: ‘In the meantime, the
extractor is made to eject the empty case of the fired
cartridge. The transferer at the same time draws a
filled cartridge back from the feed wheel, which is
carrying round the full belt of cartridges and
leaves it in the feeder. The feeder is made to
revolve, bringing a filled cartridge round in place of
the empty one in time to be carried forward by the
advance of the breech bolt.’
The article added that an arrangement of levers
that could be adjusted to vary the speed of the
weapon up to 600 rounds per minute was perhaps
‘the neatest part of the design’.
The gun was first used in anger by British colonial
forces fighting in the Matabele War (1893-1894)
and evolved into the Vickers machine gun, which was
a staple of the British army from 1912 until 1968.
Jon Excell
The solution to the Prize Crossword will appear in the next
issue of The Engineer. Last issue’s winner is Michael Halifax,
who wins a £20 Amazon voucher
Down: 2 At leisure, 3 Scrawl, 4
Acetylene, 5 Train, 6 Poitiers,
7 Plume, 8 Carbon paper,
10 Hard-pressed, 14 Spotlight,
15 Deodorise, 16 Mobilise,
19 Static, 21 Buggy, 22 Rigid.
Highlighted solution: BALUSTER.
the EnGIneeR 13–26 OCTOBER 2008
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.