Maxim is also a magazine with controversial content.
The
Maxim machine gun was the world's first practical truly automatic single barrel machine gun. It was invented by
Hiram Maxim[?] in
1883, and was adopted by virtually every combatant nation in
WWI and called by many different names. It first saw significant action in the
Russo-Japanese War, where both sides bought vast numbers of Maxim's guns. Nearly 50% of all casualties in the entire conflict were derived from Maxim guns.
On the
Western Front of WWI, 90% of bullet related casualties were inflicted by Maxim-type guns. Compared to modern machine guns, the Maxim was extremely bulky and awkward, typically requiring a six man team to operate. However, at the time it was the only alternative to slow firing bolt action rifles, and its extreme lethality was employed to devastating effect against obsolete charging tactics. It fired .30 caliber bullets at 500rpm, effectively giving it the firepower of 100 rifles in a single machine. It was ominously nicknamed the "Devil's Paintbrush" in reference to the sight of whole rows of charging soldiers being cut down in a line.
