Post 1800: What is the earliest possible development of the Maxim Gun?

When is the earliest possible development of the Maxim Gun?

  • 1800

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1820

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1840

    Votes: 5 20.8%
  • 1860

    Votes: 15 62.5%
  • 1880 (OTL)

    Votes: 4 16.7%

  • Total voters
    24
By 'Maxim Gun', I mean a gun that uses recoil in the reloading and firing mechanism, which was perfected IOTL by Hirim Maxim in 1883.

My question is, did Maxim produce his gun just as it became technologically feasible to o so, or did the prerequisite knowledge exist for decades beforehand, and that it was only until he came along that a concrete mechanism was pulled from the ether of science and engineering? If so, when was that date and how would an earlier development affect history (an example I could think of would be the Confederates having such a gun when the ACW is declared. Even if both sides have the weapon, its existence heavily favours the defender, which the CSA is able to be, the Union by comparison needing to attack to fulfill their wargoals)?
 
I can't really imagine the Maxim mechanism working without a rigid metal cartridge case; that looks to be the last great hurdle, the threshold of practicality, and it seems to have occurred between 1860 and 1880.

Maybe a few years earlier, but not much earlier, then, I reckon.
 
At first, I thought 1860, but after seeing the amount of detailed machined parts in that animation, i'd say 1880

Essential also is the ability to mass produce precisely machined parts, that are interchangeable.

I would agree with you on the second point, but it seams that mass-produced, breech-loading rifles using interchangeable parts started taking off in the 1830s/40s. While a machine gun would be much more complex, I don't think it would be outside the abilities of mid-century machine tools.
 
Some has to do with the quality (and quantity of) certain types of steel.

Precision Machining was getting better, but a crude maxim gun weighing ~ 100 lb is alot smaller (with thinner yet still strong parts) than a gatling gun which is massive (??? 500 lb)

Its likely that widespread railroad technology pushed the historic metal technology significantly (and possibly various mechanical ideas). You would have to find something equivalent to that to justify the existance of the required materials and machining for the more gracile gun mechanism.
 

TFSmith121

Banned
1870s, maybe...

1870s, maybe...

Precision machining of high grade but very small and thin metal parts that can (repeatedly) withstand heat and shock/vibration and reliable metallic cartridges, primers, powder, etc ...

Historically, the Agar was about state of the art in terms of deployable weapons in 1860, and the Gatling and mitrailleuse were so in 1870; something as (relatively) advanced as the Maxim might just be possible in 1870, but it would have taken a major, presumably government-sponsored research and development effort to get such a weapon into service and soldier-proofed a decade ahead of time.

If the Maxims had better ties with Springfield, it's possible; Hiram and Hudson were still able to work together until Hiram moved to the UK, from what I have read.

Best,
 
Gatling Gun

The Gatling Gun was devised in 1861. There is nothing technical (is there?) to prevent it's being invented fifteen years before.
I wonder what its effect would have been in the ACW. Could an improved GG have been developed and distributed early enough to have helped the French in 1870? (Contrarily, if the Paris Commune had many available...)
 

TFSmith121

Banned
Gatlings were mechanical; Maxims were not;

The Gatling Gun was devised in 1861. There is nothing technical (is there?) to prevent it's being invented fifteen years before. I wonder what its effect would have been in the ACW. Could an improved GG have been developed and distributed early enough to have helped the French in 1870? (Contrarily, if the Paris Commune had many available...)

Gatlings were mechanical (cranked by hand) and air-cooled, and it took several years to get them to the point where they could be used reliably in combat; the Frech had trouble even with mechanical weapons in the 1870-71 war; Maxims were not; they were (and are) driven by recoil, which are very different types of force/vibration/shock and operating temperatures, which is why they were water-cooled.

Best,
 
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