Cool photo of Maxim Nordenfelt

[ron_brock]

On the way home from a trip last week I took a pit stop in Coldwater and found a great little memorial park. Here is a pic of two Maxim Nordenfeldts they had on display. Kind of sad to see them out in the weather, but they've been out for quite some time based on the looks of things.

 

I thought these would be perfect to christen the new page.

 

- Ron

[RoscoeTurner]

Thanks for helping getting things started in the folder.

This is a one inch Maxim I found while passing through Newbury, NH two years ago while on vacation.

 

http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv121/roscoeturner/Maxim/Mark%206%20Maxim_zps9evzep06.jpg

[gunhistorian]

Interesting that the plaque shows a 1998 date. Wonder if these guns were displayed somewhere else (like in front of an American Legion or VFW post). Note that sometimes these vet organizations have some fairly nifty guns as displays "guarding" front doors. Sometimes I think I'd like to borrow one, strip it of paint and see what the serial number, etc. is and determine how it was deactivated. A lot of Vickers guns were offered in the 1930s, deactivated by a hole torched through the bottom plate and into the chamber. Many of these were subsequently reactivated and sold to foreign purchasers involved in what would become World War II. The Vickers .50 (11-mm) was reactivated and sold to the Dutch as the equivalent of the cal. .50 Browning! Lots of shady dealers then!

[RoscoeTurner]

Interesting that the plaque shows a 1998 date. Wonder if these guns were displayed somewhere else (like in front of an American Legion or VFW post). Note that sometimes these vet organizations have some fairly nifty guns as displays "guarding" front doors. Sometimes I think I'd like to borrow one, strip it of paint and see what the serial number, etc. is and determine how it was deactivated. A lot of Vickers guns were offered in the 1930s, deactivated by a hole torched through the bottom plate and into the chamber. Many of these were subsequently reactivated and sold to foreign purchasers involved in what would become World War II. The Vickers .50 (11-mm) was reactivated and sold to the Dutch as the equivalent of the cal. .50 Browning! Lots of shady dealers then!

Years ago I used to drive through a little town on HWY45 near Winona, MS that had a 1917 Browning sitting out front. Never could find out what happened to it after the highway was turned into a four lane.

[1921A]

Not water cooled gun but same era. There is a nice 1895 Colt Automatic gun (potato digger) and mount on display in South Milford Indiana. The gun is located in the center of town on the former site of an old American Legion Hall on U.S. HWY 3 a few miles north of Kendallvile Indiana. The gun is outside but in a glass sided enclosure and preserved better than you would expect. Its been there as far back as I can remember - early 1960's. The thing wouldn't last 5 minutes in Orlando. You can actually see it in "street view" on Google earth. Type in the town/state and then zoom in on north HWY 3 at the railroad overpass. The memorial is on the NE side of the overpass in the center of town. Go to "Street View" to see the gun.

Edited May 26, 2015 by 1921A

[ron_brock]

These two look like they've been outside since the war. I don't know where they were before this memorial, possibly sitting on the deck of the ship. The wood is nearly gone and it looks like rust has decommissioned them. I peeked underneath and it looks like most of the guts were there but I have to admit I did not really know what I was looking at.

 

Ron

[gunhistorian]

Don't know whether they are still there, but the Mt. Joy American Legion (or maybe VFW) post had two Vickers flanking the doorway. These were mounted on tripods, painted silver (if I recall). I was curious about them, but never followed up by examining the guns: probably .30 (Colt's Pat. Firearms). Back in the early '30s or late '20s, these guns -- new in crates -- were being sold for $150, converted to fire blanks. (Ah! The good ol' days!) Later,aircraft versions were sold by Fiala for about $8 to $10 (demilled). According to Dolf G., these guns were dented (on purpose) -- not through the demil process but to fit on aircraft. Just a bit more trivia to add to the lure of these guns. Oh! One more little tidbit. A number of 11-mm Vickers were sold by the U.S. government as scrap, were refurbished and sold (probably) to the Netherlands Purchasing Commission as the equivalent of the cal. .50 Browning for something like $695 each. . .they were purchased for pennies apiece. I don't think they were ever shipped, as apparently only a couple were refurbished and those didn't function very well. Caused the U.S. government to seize tons of these demilled guns -- including Hotchkiss guns, Marlins, etc. in November 1942.