Heavy machine guns play an indispensable and important role in wartime, with their long range and strong fire continuity, becoming the pillar of firepower on the battlefield. However, heavy machine guns did not emerge overnight, as early as the end of the 19th century, the first modern heavy machine gun was born, it was "Maxim". In 1893-1894, 50 soldiers of the British army carried 4 Maximin heavy machine guns, successfully resisted the multiple attacks of 5,000 enemy troops, causing more than 3,000 casualties, and the actual combat fully proved the importance of heavy machine guns.
During World War II, heavy machine guns reappeared, and although the pure Maximin heavy machine gun no longer existed, the machine gun with it as a blueprint and basic design came into being. Here we will review 12 well-known heavy machine guns from the Second World War, including:
First, Browning M2 heavy machine gun (United States): based on the M1917 heavy machine gun improved, the caliber is enlarged to 12.7x99mm, mainly used for air-service machine guns, against light armor and hard targets.
2. Deshka Heavy Machine Gun (former Soviet Union): Firing 12.7x108mm ammunition, with excellent performance, capable of continuous fire, widely used in different terrains.
III. Browning M1919A4 Heavy Machine Gun (USA): Fire 7.62x63mm rifle ammunition, using 100-round chains, suitable for infantry.
SG-43 Heavy Machine Gun (former Soviet Union): Uses 7.62x54mm rifle ammunition with excellent heat dissipation performance and can be used for ground and air defense missions.
V. Breda M1937 Heavy Machine Gun (Italy): Italy's first air-cooled heavy machine gun with a freestyle bolt design and a refrigeration system.
ZB53 heavy machine gun (Czech Republic): uses 7.92x57mm Mauser rifle ammunition, which has superior performance and is easy to maintain and use.
VII. Browning M1917A1 Heavy machine gun (USA): water-cooled heat dissipation, effective range up to 1000 meters, maximum range up to 5000 meters.
VIII. Vickers Mark I Heavy Machine Gun (UK): The Vickers series of heavy machine guns showed their skills in World War I and adopted a water-cooled heat dissipation structure.
9. Maxim M1910 heavy machine gun (former Soviet Union): two-wheeled and integrated gun mount, portable, using 7.62x54mm rifle ammunition.
10. Type 24 heavy machine gun (domestic): copied from MG08, firing 7.92mm ammunition, superior performance.
11. Hatch Kaisse M1914 heavy machine gun (France): The world's first air-cooled heavy machine gun, using 8mm ammunition, can be equipped with an optical sight.
XII. Taisho Type 92 Heavy Machine Gun (Japan): Uses 7.7mm ammunition and shoots accurately at a distance of 800 meters, known as the "pheasant neck".
These heavy machine guns had their own characteristics and provided strong support for the suppression of fire in World War II. However, each has its own unique history and purpose, offering a variety of options for a variety of missions on the battlefield.