The Pulyemyot Maksima PM1910 was originally developed by the British Hiram Maxim in 1885. After a test by Emperor Alexander III, 12 machine guns were ordered with 10,67 mm Berdan rifle ammunition. Vickers, Sons and Maxim started shipping the machine guns to Russia for further testing. After trials the ammunition caliber was changed to 7,62 mm supplied in cartridges. In 1901 the first English Maxim machine guns entered service in the Imperial Russian Army. The first 291 machine guns were to defend fortresses and repel infantry attacks.
With its carriage and wheels it weighs 244 kilograms. From 1909 the gun was modified and modernized by the Russian Tula Arms Plant and in August 1910 the 7.62 mm Maxim gun was adopted in the Russian army. The heavy carriage and wheels were replaced by a light weighted version reducing the weight, including the cooling liquid, to 67,6 kilograms. The Maxim heavy machine gun was used in the First World War by the Imperial Russian Army, in the Second World War by the Soviet Red Army. Next to the infantry machine gun on a cart and two wheels there are naval and anti-air variants.
The PM 1910 had a weight of 62,7 kilograms without cooling liquid. It fired 600 rounds of 7,62 mm cartridges per minute. It was just over a meter long, 1,067 m, and it was belt fed with 250 rounds. Production in Russia stopped in 1945 with at least 176000 guns manufactured. Even today armies use the heavy Maxim machine gun, which was seen in action during the Russian – Ukrainian war in 2022.
