Vickers Maxim 37MM Automatic Gun

[Throwback]

Wouldn't this be a hoot to develop cast loads for? Obsolete almost as soon as it reached the naval vessels, this is a big brute - bore size 1.475 inches! The size is hard to gage in these photos but I was looking up at it. The pistol grip gives some impression. One wonders if there are many of these in private collections or if there are many people alive who have shot one.

The brass plates on top read, "VICKERS SONS & MAXIM L No 2250 37m/m AUT. GUN MARK II" and give patent dates from 1889 to 1895. I will have to research the specs for the ammo and would love to see a picture of the cartridge/shell.

This example resides in Farragut Park in Bridgton Maine. You don't run into these odd ducks often.

[Buckshot]

................Looks to be belt fed? How'd you like to be the lucky sailer whose job it was to hump those ammo boxes up through 2 scuttles from a magazine 2 decks below?

................Buckshot

[OBXPilgrim]

Yes & from the looks of how low that ammo box cradle is below the gun, I bet it's not a small box either.

[JW6108]

A true thumper, old-style.

http://www.specialistauctions.com/au...php?id=1146791

[StarMetal]

A true thumper, old-style.

http://www.specialistauctions.com/au...php?id=1146791

I have one of those in my cartridge collection.

Joe

[Throwback]

Pretty neat. I understand that these fed from a cloth belt and fell out of favor due to their comparatively low velocity. Colloquially these were known as "pom-pom guns" because of how they sounded when fired. There are some pics on the web of examples in museums and private collections, some of which seem to have more modern carriages. They would make a nice addition to any collection and they sure look fine with all that shiney brass!

I would love to shoot one!

[Mk42gunner]

That is actually a very small gun in serious need of a big can of neverdull...



Robert

[Pavogrande]

Bit of nostalgia -- In c1923 my dad served as a Marine private aboard the gunboat Ashville in China service . Think the movie "Sand Pebbles" . Anyroad , the marine contingent, about a small company, manned some of the deck guns and landing parties -- As I recall he said the ashville had two of these guns mounted mid ship, port and starboard - He sometimes served as a crew member on one. I believe there were four men in the crew -- Life aboard was not a joy -- Marines slept in slung hammocks under tarpalons on the after deck at night and lived out of sea bags kept in the lazarette --Not especially good winter duty -- Thanks for the memory --

[Throwback]

I love Sand Pebbles. The Shotgun News had a very good write up on the China gunboats a couple of years ago. I like a lot of stuff from that very transitional time period. I have a rather neat "Remember the Maine" whiskey glass from that era and of course my Krags. Would love to find a Lee straight pull also. Got to visit with old Bill Morrison a little over a year ago and saw one of his Colt potato-diggers among other things. These also have a certain aura and I swear they have a story to tell.

[MGD]

Saw one of these guns at the old Champlin Fighter Museum in Phoenix, AZ. It was spotless and on a form 4(could be owned by a civilian). Dont know who got it when Doug sold out.

[2Tite]

Pavogrande, I work fo rthe City of Asheville, NC. The city has an historic display of the Asheville along with a number of items from the ship. If I had your dad's name maybe I could see if he is on the roster.......Maybe send you a few pictures of the display. Although small it is interesting. Just thought I'd offer, no pressure.

[Pavogrande]

2tite -- thanks for your offer! -- pm sent with specifics -- thanks

[KCSO]

I found my book, here are the spec's

Caliber 37 MM
Weight of Gun only 410 pounds
Lenght of gun only 81 inches
Barrle length 34 inches
Range 3300 feet effective
Belt fed recoil operated water cooled
Rate of fire 200 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity 230 fps (13 seconds to impact at 1000 yards!)
Manufacture UK

230 fps you could almost throw them that fast. But in 1890 that was real fire power.

[captainkirk]

230 FPS? Seems like the difference in a "squib" and a real load would be inconsequential, perhaps leading to stuck projectiles...

Also, your 13 sec flight time would be for an average velocity over that distance, not a muzzle vel of 230...

[TAWILDCATT]

throwback: stratford hollow has two,one in a small park and the other at the railroad station north of the first one.there is another in franklin Mass on the common.and a 40 mm maxim in pW in wakefield mass.the 40s in the forestdale cemitery disapeared and no one knows where.
they were mounted on ships as anti torpedo boat weapons.and they were quad mounted on ships up to WW2 as anti aircraft guns.I think a number were used in WW1 as antiaircraft guns on the ground.

[Throwback]

That being the case, 230 fps doesn't seem right to me. Are we sure that's not 230 mps? If it was meters per second that would be about 900 fps - still slow but perhaps useable on torpedo boats and the slower aircraft of the era. They are neat old guns but even the M2 Browning was quite an upgrade - the Bofors, a revelation!

[JeffinNZ]

That being the case, 230 fps doesn't seem right to me. Are we sure that's not 230 mps? If it was meters per second that would be about 900 fps - still slow but perhaps useable on torpedo boats and the slower aircraft of the era. They are neat old guns but even the M2 Browning was quite an upgrade - the Bofors, a revelation!

I agree. 230 m/s seems appropriate. Proportionally the round is very pistol looking and pistol rounds of the error produced 900fps (ish). 230fps would not be effective to 3300 feet. It would to lucky to get that far.

[KCSO]

I checked again and it said FPS but since all othe rinfo is in metric and standard and this had only one figure i assume it to be a mistake and the 230 must be MPS. They also had a picture of one of these on the wheeled cart, I'll bet the recoil would hammer the cart back as you fired.

[Throwback]

These things are absolutely huge compared to a .303 maxim gun and they also have a glycol-filled recoil buffer. Some of the carriages appear to be sprung but even so it may soak up recoil pretty well. Wouldn't you love to find out!

[Echo]

Looking at the cartridges and the gun itself, the term 'expansion ratio' comes to mind. Those cartridges don't hold a lot of powder, compared to the size of the bullet. And there is a lot of barrel to fill with expanding gasses. I wouldn't be surprised but what the MV IS 230 FPS! Almost like lobbing a grenade, but farther - well, a little farther. Wish someone had solid data...

But do I wish I had one? You bet! What a gas to shoot!

On further research, it seems that this round had a MV of ~ 360MPS. Some good write-ups on the web... The Brits called them One-Pounders - the Hague Convention required explosive rounds to weigh at least one pound, hence the caliber and projectile weight.