African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 734 - 38: Model 1885 Heavy Machine Gun

"Rat-tat-tat..."

The Maxim machine gun, under the operation of the personnel, "smashed" the target perfectly with its powerful firepower and stable performance, making Constantine's eyes light up.

The Maxim machine gun replica from East Africa is officially named the 1885 heavy machine gun, essentially a copy of the Maxim machine gun, with some improvements in detail.

This is similar to when the Germans in the previous life replicated the Maxim machine gun to create the MG08 heavy machine gun, or the Russian M1910 heavy machine gun; they are all extensions of the Maxim machine gun.

"The shooting speed of our domestically produced 1885 heavy machine gun is between four hundred and four hundred fifty rounds per minute, basically on par with the British Maxim machine gun, although slightly lacking. This is mainly due to material and fine processing constraints, which is a disadvantage for East Africa as a latecomer nation. However, the metallurgy research institute is currently striving to develop new materials, and it is expected that these slight gaps can be filled within two to three years."

Constantine said, "Being able to produce the 1885 heavy machine gun almost simultaneously with the British is thanks to your efforts, indicating that our military manufacturing industry can at least keep pace with European military industry. The gap is not significant; technologically, our disadvantage lies not in the fact that we Germans are inferior to the British, but in that we East Africans are new on the world stage. Learning from advanced nations is not shameful; acknowledging our shortcomings allows us to better make up for them."

"His Majesty is absolutely right. Although there are elements of learning from others, breaking through such technology in a short time is due to the kingdom's massive investment. This investment is not only in money and resources but more importantly in talent," said the director of the Mbeya city armory.

"Before the Maxim machine gun was officially released, we in East Africa had been improving and researching machine guns for more than a decade. The Gatling gun appeared in 1861 and was tested in the Paraguayan War. Our factory had as many as seven or eight improved models of the Gatling gun. And this is just the Mbeya city armory; other units' research on machine guns should not be inferior either, such as the Dar es Salaam firearms research institute."

The Gatling Gun was the world's first practical machine gun. Actually, as early as 1851, France invented the Montigny Mitrailleuse, but its use was laborious, requiring a series of operations like opening the chamber, loading, chambering, relaxing, firing, and unloading, almost exhausting soldiers. It could only fire intermittently, weighing as much as a cannon, with range and power inferior to artillery.

Gatling also had serious issues, but before the appearance of the Maxim machine gun, it was the world's best-performing machine gun and had participated in multiple wars, testing in battle. East Africa used it in the war with Portugal. Although the actual combat performance was not outstanding, it did cause significant psychological harm to Portuguese Black auxiliary forces, often becoming a breakthrough point on the battlefield.

"In special areas, especially some narrow military passages, a single 1885 type heavy machine gun can completely suppress the enemy, achieving the military effect of one person guarding the pass, making ten thousand unable to open it. With hundreds of rounds per minute, it is a deterrent weapon second only to artillery," said the director of the Mbeya city armory.

"In open areas, it can also serve as excellent fire support, and with several machine guns forming a dense fire net, it could suppress the enemy. Gathering hundreds of them could even counter large-scale group attacks."

Constantine followed his thoughts and began to imagine what such a scene might look like on a European battlefield, especially during the Prussia and Austria wars or the Prussian War.

Of course, during the wars of East Africa against the Ndebele and Zulu, extremely backward African kingdoms, if there had been a few Maxim machine guns, one round could probably make the enemy formations disintegrate.

Constantine asked, "What are the outstanding advantages of the Maxim machine gun compared to the Gatling Gun?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Your Majesty, obviously, it is in ammunition loading. The Maxim uses the force of gunpowder gas to achieve automatic shooting without the need for external force throughout, while the Gatling Gun requires external force, using a crank for manual loading, and the shooting process is heavily subjective, influenced by emotions, strength, and other external factors, whereas the Maxim is much better."

"This is the most straightforward explanation. In detail, the advantages can be summarized as the Maxim machine gun's shooting speed is fast and stable, with a more refined mechanical structure, lower failure rate, and water-cooled barrel, theoretically preventing overheating. Since the barrel moves along the axis instead of a lateral motion, shooting accuracy has improved significantly. It uses a canvas belt, adding much to stability, portability, and versatility compared to gravity-fed Gatling."

Thus, compared to the Gatling, the Maxim is a groundbreaking product. Of course, the weaknesses of the Gatling aren't unchangeable, but under current conditions, the Maxim machine gun becomes more cost-effective.

Just like with technological advancements like electric motors in a past life, Gatling later got a new lease on life, but at present, East Africa definitely cannot provide a separate motor to drive the Gatling Gun.

Subsequently, Constantine visited a demonstration for rifle shooting. Mauser rifles are the main weapon of the East African army, also modified over the years, but with no substantial changes.

When the Mauser rifle was promoted in East Africa, it coincided with an economic crisis. At the time, East Africa introduced a lot of advanced equipment, so the performance of East African Mauser rifles is guaranteed.

However, the Mauser rifle in front of him showed significant changes, catching Constantine's attention.

"This Mauser rifle doesn't have the dense black smoke; is this new technology?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. In 1884, France invented smokeless powder to replace black powder, but its power tripled. What you see is our experimental rifle in East Africa, and I've heard the German M1888 rifle is already completed and about to go into mass production as well."

"What about our East African army?"

"Currently in small-scale experimental stages, as for mass production, it's not very likely because we and Germany face different circumstances. Germany faces the threat from the French and must rapidly advance, so the M1888 rifle is just a temporary development product for Germany. We imported samples from Europe, but they have too many issues, mainly because of rushed development."

"The M1888 rifle has a very poorly designed rifling, causing the barrel to wear quickly. The excessive chamber pressure from the new barrels leads to barrel rupture, and it can chamber a second round before the first is fired, causing chamber explosions. That's why East Africa is still in the research phase for this new rifle."

Between Germany and France, like two lions ready to tear each other apart, even if the hastily developed M1888 rifles were highly unstable with significant safety risks, Germany had to proceed with it, as France was also a top land army power in the world.

While East Africa, comfortable in the African region, does not have such pressure, it can continue to refine craftsmanship before launching and mass-equipping new rifles once the issues are fully resolved.

As for the war which could break out at any time in the South African region, the East African army's equipment is more than sufficient because even the British, the strongest in the "Triple Alliance," are actually on par with East Africa in terms of army weapons, or even inferior, and Portugal, with its already declining national power as a maritime nation, has appalling army equipment, and has long abandoned domestic production in favor of purchasing. Meanwhile, Transvaal has no defense industry to speak of.