Shot up and left for dead. It just wouldn't die.

[Daniel Murphy]

Possibly, its position was overrun and forgotten in the rush. It's crew either dead or prisoners, the gun was forgotten. At some point it was found and pulled from a sure death by oxidation and sent to the US as captured war materials. Then given away to a VFW post where it sat and gave mute testimony to the bravery of these now old men. Eventually it was just stuck in the storeroom gathering dust when purchased in the 60's by a collector and Korean War veteran. It sat unloved in his personal museum until it came to live with me in 1991. When I got it, it was painted black all over and when I tried to remove the paint, I found red body filler hiding the pitting. After a lot of elbow grease, I uncovered the pitting and a lot of original blue! It is no longer unwanted or unloved. Now "Lola" has a new lease on life and shows her scars proudly. True it is only firing blanks most of the time and teaching about the Great War, but she does it magnificently. Instead of a death machine, she now plays with children at living history events and hopes they will remember and preserve the history of past owners.

Dan

Edited October 12, 2006 by Daniel Murphy

[Daniel Murphy]

Left receiver side.

[Daniel Murphy]

Right side.

[Daniel Murphy]

Maker marks on the top cover (serial # covered).

[Daniel Murphy]

Opened up. Inside it is in excellent condition.

[Daniel Murphy]

Top view of the gun (No, the dog has not done anything wrong).

[Daniel Murphy]

Close up of the ZF 12 2.5 power optical sight. slightly different from the one Chris has.

[Daniel Murphy]

Close up of the front armour plate for the water jacket and the booster. The booster was used to increase the cyclic rate of the gun, especially when dirty.

[Daniel Murphy]

Now for the sled mount. Here you see the cartidge tongs on their holder and below should be a dog-legged shaped chanber cleaning tool. Just under the elevating mechanism are two screw-top containers for kerosene and oil. The oil lid has a brush attached for applying the oil. To the left we then have a small part container normally used for the barrel gland and to the right there is a spare barrel.

[Daniel Murphy]

On each side of the sled there is a box fike this that holds one spare lock and a ruptured case extractor.

[Daniel Murphy]

Very often the thin steel inserts on the side show battle damage. The other parts of the sled are much too thick and hard to show marks like this.

[Daniel Murphy]

From the inside.

[Daniel Murphy]

On the other side there is an undamaged makers logo. The sled mount was made by Durkopp in 1917. This company also made bayonets and this logo is on the langet.

[Daniel Murphy]

One shell splinter broke a large piece off of the traverse mechanism. The part that locks the gun to this cannot now be used.

[Daniel Murphy]

One last shot, a view through the optical sight. The reticle is pyramidal in shape with the aiming point at the top. The sight adjusts from 400m to 2000m. Yes, I had to do this without the neighbors home, but they don't bother me very often.

[buellmeister]

Daniel,

A fantastic piece of History in your posession. There is a small VFW near where I live that has an a old Maxim on the front lawn collecting rust. I should make an offer on it seeing it is being neglected and underappreciated as to being part of a period of History no one should ever forget.

Regards,

Joel

[Daniel Murphy]

Before you do anything, you have to realize that this is probably incomplete, but may be still considered a live gun by the BATF. The next thing to contemplate is that the papers (if there ever were any ) are probably long lost. So under these circumstances (if you get it) your only choice is to remove the right sideplate and torch cut it in three pieces, leaving you with a dummy gun. You can then get a dummy sideplate fitted that does not allow room for the firing mechanism be inserted and to work. If you get it and don't cut it the penalty if caught is $10,000 and ten years in prison.

IF, and it is a very big if, they have the original registration papers and are willing to sell it. You need to find and contact a MG dealer in your state. Only a MG dealer can do the transfer and they can help you with a lot of the red tape. A lot of red tape. Good luck.

Dan

[Chris Boonzaier]

NHice, nice nice... I now know I need to get some Tongs. Missing from mine is the box, bottom right, for the bottom of the spare barrel.

On my sled there is the stamp

A VS

928

on the one side, and

13 on the other

The A VS are stamped on 3 times, all in all, always a seperate A and VS together.

Will come back to this thread for tips as I get ma things up and running....

[David Gregory]

Dan,

It is nice to see that an old warhorse has found a good home.

The manufacturing date is interesting, as I had always assumed that production of the MG 08 had been wound down or ceased after the introduction of the MG 08/15. Since they were designed for different roles, it does of course make sense that the MG 08 was still made until the end of the war.

One of these is still high on my "Wanted" list, but they just do not seem to show up in Germany very often. Deactivated Russian Maxims and WW2 British Vickers are not too expensive, but just not quite the same as an MG 08. One day perhaps ....

David

[buellmeister]

Daniel,

I thank you for the information you have provided me. I probably know the answer already if they were interested in selling it or not. None the less, I'll at least ask and see if it would be possible. Nothing ventured nothing gained. I believe, if my memory serves me well that this one was made in 1916. If I make over that way again I'll be certain to post pictures of course if the permit me to do so. Thank you again.

Regards,

Joel

[Tom Morgan]

Daniel - could you explain how the cartridge tongs were used?

Tom

[Gerd Becker]

What a great gun, Dan. If it just could talk...

[Daniel Murphy]

Tom,

On the lock face there is a spring loaded piece that holds the cartridge in place as it is withdrawn from the belt/ feedblock and moved downward to the barrel. It also does the same when the empty case is withdrawn from the barrel and moved dowward to the ejection hole. If this spring is weak a live cartridge or case (or a number of them) can slide down the lock face and fall into the bottom of the receiver. When this happens it may cause no problem since there is ample unused room down there. However, if it gets in the way of the sear or trigger bar (which lies on the bottom of the receiver) it can cause a failure to fire. If the enemy is attacking and this happens, it could be a serious problem. Since the receiver is too deep for someone to reach in and get the offending case, tongs are needed to retrieve the case and get the gun back into action. The tong jaws are milled with a rounded inside edge so that the case can be securely gripped and removed quickly. I have fired thousands of rounds through this gun and used locks with 60-80+ year old springs, but have not had to use the tongs but a few times. The biggest problem I ever had was a broken lock. I was firing and it jammed. When I opened it the pivoting arms of the lock were attached to the recoil mechanism, but the rest was lying in the bottom of the receiver. I guess that is what happens when you have optical companies (C.P Goerz)making MG parts. I was still able to salvage the other parts from it.

Dan

[Tom Morgan]

Many thanks, Dan, for such a complete answer to my question. the reason I asked is that a friend of mine in Belgium has a Maxim, very much in relic condition, dug up from the fields after his plough hit it. They only have the gun, not the mount. They also found a pair of tongs but didn't know what they were for. They are of course exactly like the ones in your picture. Knowing what they are and exactly what they were used for is very welcome information.

Tom