In 1873, H. Maxim created the first model of automatic weapons – the machine gun "Maxim". 10 years was required for thinking, calculating and improving the design in the drawings. Maxim emigrated to the UK, where his development was seriously interested in the British banker Nathaniel Rothschild, who agreed to finance the production of the machine gun.
After the successful demonstration of his invention in Switzerland, Italy and Austria, H. Maxim arrived in Russia with an indicative example of a 45-caliber machine gun (11.43 mm). The weapons were tested at the test site. March 8, 1888 from a machine gun fired by the Emperor Alexander III.
In early 1899, for the supply of machine guns "Maxim" undertook the enterprise "Sons of Vickers and Maxim." Two years later, a machine gun in the English version of the wheeled gun was adopted by the Army. "Maxim" with a mass of 244 kg was planned to be used to defend fortresses, to fire massive attacks of enemy infantry from pre-equipped positions.
In March 1904, the mass production of Maxim machine guns began at the Tula Arms Factory. Tula gunsmiths made about 200 changes in the design of the machine gun and significantly reduced its weight. The English wheel carriage was replaced with a lightweight wheeled machine by A. Sokolov, and the armored shield of the British model - for an armored car of reduced size. In addition, A. Sokolov designed boxes for cartridges, a gig for their transportation, and sealed cylinders for boxes with cartridges. As a result, the "Maxim" model of 1910 with a machine weighed about 62 kg. Until August 1914, the tsarist army had about 4,000 machine guns in service.
The exposition of the Museum of Local Lore is represented by a 7.62 mm machine gun of the Maxim system of the 1910 model. The weapon is based on automation with the return of the barrel, which has a short stroke. As the gunpowder fires, the gunpowder sends the barrel back, propelling the recharge mechanism, which removes the cartridge from the tape and sends it to the breech (the back of the barrel where the bolt is located). After the shot, the operation is repeated. The machine gun had an average firing rate of 600 rounds per minute.
"Maxim" was not only the very first machine gun, but also the most used type of weapon (used in both world and in many local wars). The last fact of using a machine gun was fixed in 1969 during the Soviet-Chinese border conflict on the Damanskii Island.