Argentine Brass Maxim: A Machine Gun of the Steampunk Age

The Maxim Gun was the first successful true machine gun, and it became extremely popular worldwide. Maxim sent his first two working models to Enfield for testing in 1887, and by 1889 he had what he termed the "World Standard" model. No two contracts were quite identical, as the gun was constantly being tweaked and improved, but the 200 guns sold to Argentina in 1895 (50), 1898 (130) and 1902 (20) are a great time capsule into the configuration of the early Maxim guns in military service.

The Argentine Maxims had gorgeous brass jackets, along with ball grips, triggers, feed blocks, and fusee spring covers. The have the early 1889 pattern lock, complete with a walnut roller to assist belt feeding into the action. These guns were in Argentine military service until 1929 (which included a retrofit at DWM in 1909 to use the new Spitzer 7.65mm Mauser cartridge). They then passed into police use until 1956, and 91 were sold to Sam Cummings of InterArms in 1960. Of those, 8 were exported out of the US, 28 went to government agencies and museums, and the remaining 55 were sold onto the US collector market. They are the single largest group of early Maxims in the country today, and make fantastic collectors' pieces.

Argentine Weapons: Fittipaldi Machine Gun

Fittipaldi Machine Gun

The Fittipaldi machine gun was produced by the Argentine gunsmith Rafael Fittipaldi (registered under patent 1099 of 06/09/1914), assembled with an Argentine model 1891 Mauser rifle barrel and its bolt transformed into a straight line. The machine gun was jacketed with water for cooling, in a way that covered the entire barrel (making its external appearance similar to the air-cooled Lewis). It was fed by non-disintegrating belts and was based on a traditional tripod. There are no more data on its effectiveness or reasons for its non-adoption by the Argentine Army. This prototype is on display in Room XVI "Paseo de la Libertad" of the Museo de Armas de la Nación (Museum of Weapons of the Nation) (Buenos Aires, Argentina).

Model: Argentine prototype 1912
Caliber: 7.65 X 53 mm. Mauser.
Country of origin: Argentina.
Feeding: Non-disintegrating belts
Operation: Gas-Operated









On Display in the MAN