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Title:	GUN, MACHINE -  GERMAN MACHINE GUN MG08/18 MAXIM 7.92MM SN# 687
Maker/Manufacturer:	MAXIM, HIRAM
Date of Manufacture:	1918
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 799
Measurements:	OL:130.1CM 51 1/4" BL:

Object Description:

GERMAN MACHINE GUN MG08/18 MAXIM 7.92MM SN# 687
Manufactured by Erfurt Arsenal, Erfurt, Germany in 1918 - Standard German WWI air-cooled machine gun. Last variant of MG08. Has perforated barrel jacket with handle. No provision for a bipod, indicating possible aircraft use. Wooden butt.

Markings:
Receiver: 687.
Receiver cover: 687/ MG 08/18/GWF/ERFURT/1918.
Belt feed housing: Proof/687.
Cocking handle: Crown/O. 687/C.G.H.

Notes: "Despite the fact that by the end of the war Germany had many more MG08/15s than any other machine gun, the weight of the 08/15 was really much too great for it to be considered the match of the Lewis gun in the light machine gun role, and Erfurt was again set to work to develop something lighter out of the MG08/15. The result of this branch of the study led to the MG08/18, which was simply an 08/15 with its barrel air-cooled within a slim, perforated jacket.
The MG08/18 programme was pursued through to production of more or less a thousand guns, none of which apparently saw service during World War I. The available guns were probably retained by the Germans for their postwar Army and used up during World War II, despite the inherent impracticality of sustained fire due to overheating of the thin barrel, designed to be cool by water. Use of a heavier barrel, while defeating the purpose as far as weight and interchangeability were concerned, had in any case been found impossible without further extensive changes, as the 08/15 booster design used on the MG08/18 was not strong enough to provide the required muzzle boost." - Goldsmith

"...The MG 08/18 was distributed to the cavalry and to the mountain and bicycle troops. Had the war continued, it probably would have been given to the infantry as well.
The perforated barrel jacket of the MG08/18 had an exterior diameter of 37mm (about 1 1/2 inches). This necessitated a rather high front sight. A carrying handle was fixed on the top of the jacket a short distance ahead of the receiver. Most of the other details were identical to those of the MG 08/15.
While the MG 08/18 could rapidly fire several hundred rounds, it would then require time to cool. Like all typical Maxim machineguns, it did not have a quick-barrel-change capability. To remove the barrel, the stock and some interior parts first had to be removed, not a convenient arrangement at all." - Musgrave

DISPOSITION OF GERMAN MG08/18 MAXIM MG THAT WAS IN MUSEUM COLLECTION:
Army #7728 - GERMAN MG08/18 MAXIM MG SN# 748 - Weapon transferred to Watervliet on 18 May 1972.

References:
Bruce, Anthony. AN ILLUSTRATED COMPANION TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR. Penguin Group. London, England. 1998.
Goldsmith, Dolf. THE DEVIL'S PAINTBRUSH: SIR HIRAM MAXIM'S GUN. Collector Grade Publications. Toronto, Canada. 1993.
Hogg, Ian & John Weeks. MILITARY SMALL ARMS OF THE 20TH CENTURY. 6th Ed. DBI Books Inc. Northbrook, Il.
Musgrave, Daniel D. GERMAN MACHINE GUNS. Ironside International Publishers, Inc. Alexandra, Va. 1992.