Original German WWI Maxim MG 08 Display Gun with Original Sled Mount – Dated 1918 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. MG08 Machine guns on original sled mounts are nearly impossible to find on the market. This genuine German WW1 MG 08 water-cooled Maxim machine gun was “The Grim Reaper” of the First World War.

This fine example is totally inert having been rebuilt with a newly manufactured dummy right side plate to BATF specifications to make it a totally legal non-firing display gun. The overall condition of the gun is very good, it was primed and painted black to preserve it from any further rust or decay. Thankfully this Maxim survived because it did not see much service in WWI as it was manufactured in the final year of the conflict.

The top is nicely marked:

48018
M.G.08.
D.W.M.
Berlin
1918.

The sled mount it all original but shows signs of previous rust and some decay. Thankfully, it was stripped, primed and painted making it perfectly persevered to survive another 100+ years. It folds and extends as it should and is totally sturdy to support the gun. The top mount cross bar is a replacement part taken from an original anti-aircraft maxim mount.

2018 marks the 100th anniversary  of the conclusion of WWI. A terrible conflict that lasted 4 tortuous years and destroyed the manhood of Europe. It only concluded after the entry of the United States in 1917 to tip the scales to the Allies favor ending at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.

History of the MG 08-

The Maschinengewehr 08, or MG 08, was the German Army’s standard machine gun in World War I and is an adaption of Hiram S. Maxim’s original 1884 Maxim gun. It was produced in a number of variants during the war. The MG 08 served during World War II as a heavy machine gun in many German infantry divisions, although by the end of the war it had mostly been relegated to second-rate fortress units.

The Maschinengewehr 08 (or MG 08)- so-named after 1908, its year of adoption – was a development of the license made Maschinengewehr 01. It could reach a firing rate of up to 400 rounds per minute using 250-round fabric belts of 7.92x57mm ammunition, although sustained firing would lead to overheating; it was water-cooled using a jacket around the barrel that held approximately one gallon of water. Using a separate attachment sight with range calculator for indirect fire, the MG 08 could be operated from cover. Additional telescopic sights were also developed and used in quantity during the war.

The MG 08, like the Maxim gun, operated on the basis of short barrel recoil and a toggle lock; once cocked and fired the MG 08 would continue firing rounds until the trigger was released (or until all available ammunition was expended). Its practical range was estimated at some 2,000 metres (2,200 yd) up to an extreme range of 3,600 metres (3,900 yd). The MG 08 was mounted on a sled mount (German: Schlittenlafette) that was ferried between locations either on carts or else carried above men’s shoulders in the manner of a stretcher.

Pre-war production was by Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM) in Berlin and the government arsenal at Spandau (so that the gun was often referred to as a Spandau MG 08).