Maxim Gun ... 2950 yard range?

[sawchain]

I was just watching the machine gun episode of Gunny's Lock N' Load. He was introducing the Maxim Gun and said it had a max range of 2,950 yards. Considering this gun fires a .303 British, a 7.7x56mm cartridge, I seriously doubt the Maxim Gun is capable of that distance. I think the Gunny made an error and meant to say 2,950 feet. What say you?



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[SixPointEight]

Area fire, most likely. I bet a .303 brit would go through you at that distance, if they could put a round on you

[appagohm]

Maybe dangerous up to?

[xibunkrlilkidsx]

would be 985 yds... if the meant that number in feet. seems much more reasonable.

[50BMGBOB]

Actually, if fired at about 40-45 degree angle it will lob them that far, not accurately. Remember, a 22LR will go over a mile. Hitting something at that distance is another story.

[xibunkrlilkidsx]

Actually, if fired at about 40-45 degree angle it will lob them that far, not accurately. Remember, a 22LR will go over a mile. Hitting something at that distance is another story.

but at that range its accuracy is about the gurantee of the air force..
all rounds(bombs for the airforce) will hit the ground. unless it is a large group it would be almost pointless apart from the crossing fingers and hoping you get lucky and hit someone.

and would it have enough energy to be able to cause real physical harm..not just the oww it hit me but the OMFG im shot and dying.

[sawchain]

Actually, if fired at about 40-45 degree angle it will lob them that far, not accurately. Remember, a 22LR will go over a mile. Hitting something at that distance is another story.

It's a machine gun, not an artillery piece.

[paul0660]

It will go that far and leave a mark.

[Junkie]

The same episode goes on to claim that the M1917 has a range of 2500 yards. I assume the two have similar ranges, so that makes some sense...

[Peter.Steele]

It's completely reasonable and believable, as an area effect weapon.

Remember: the contemporary Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield rifles of the time were equipped with volley sights for massed long-range area effect fire. Depending on the variant of the rifle, these sights were calibrated for up to 3,500 yards.

[Funbaby]

Along time ago , in a support weapons company far far away, I remember being shown how to set up a 7.62mm GMPG in the SF role with a mortar sight to indirectly lob rounds into a area up to a couple of miles away with a surprising degree of accuracy. A .303 round would go even further.

[sawchain]

Ballistic FTE tells me a .303 British has 89 ft-lbs at 2950 yards.

After some searching I found this.

Absolute maximum effective range: This the "this round is not considered lethal after crossing this threshold" distance. Neither of the other two common "maximum range" values will be greater than this. Purportedly, NATO defines this as the point at which the projectile's kinetic energy dips below 85 joules (62.7 foot-pounds). This is typically claimed when recounting that the P90's effective range is 400 meters on unarmored targets, as classified by NATO.

And...

It is worth noting that relatively low foot-pound or joules ratings are listed as lethal. This is best thought of with the analogy of a jovial back-slap. Assume that you're giving a friendly slap on the back to a friend, with an open hand. It will be noticed, but probably won't inflict serious pain or leave a mark. However, if you used the exact same force, but were clutching an icepick (very small surface area, instead of a wide surface area) and directing it perpendicularly to your friend's back, chances are that your icepick would wind up embedded to the hilt and you'd have some serious explaining to do. The same is true for bullets - a bullet (relatively small cross-sectional area) with what sounds like a small amount of kinetic energy behind it, can deliver considerable energy per square inch when making contact. I have however found numerous discussions on the internet where 85J is cited as NATO's cutoff (most of which center around the P90 rifle), but nothing to contradict or confirm it - and hence it is listed only as a NATO's purported minimum lethal kinetic energy.

[CSACANNONEER]

I gotta agree with Bob, the fact that the bullets can travel that far and cause some sort of damage is what is probably being refered to. It's the same idea as a 50BMG being capable of damage at over 8 miles. In all reallity, a 50BMG goes subsonic at less than 2 miles and all accuracy goes out the window. (I'm not even going to get into the fact that most people can't shoot extreme long distances even if they have a gun/ammo combo which is capable of it.) But, it is still capable of travelling 6-8 miles.

As far as the maxim goes, like any MG, accuracy is supposed to be 2moa-6moa at best. The idea is to produce a beaten zone not a precision group.

[wilit]

Along time ago , in a support weapons company far far away, I remember being shown how to set up a 7.62mm GMPG in the SF role with a mortar sight to indirectly lob rounds into a area up to a couple of miles away with a surprising degree of accuracy. A .303 round would go even further.

I believe the British used to refer to this type of indirect rifle fire as volley fire. I believe early Enfields came with special sights for volley fire.

Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia about the P14 Enfield.

The P14 featured a superbly designed aperture rear sight adjustable to 1600 yards and a 300yd battle setting protected by integral and prominent 'ears' on the receiver bridge. There were also volley-fire sights similar to those on the SMLE fitted to the left side of the weapon for use up to 2600 yards, though these were of little use and were usually deleted when the weapon was refurbished.

[ubet]

but at that range its accuracy is about the gurantee of the air force..
.

Thats not true. Their are people who are routinely making hits and shooting moa or less at 3k yards. Most of them are shooting a 408cheytac, 375/408 or 416barret.

add, I see that you are talking about the 303british round, not in general