[Ian]

Ho ho ho! Now I have a machine gun too! :evil:

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=154318&stc=1&d=1323307781

I think I know what I'll be doing this weekend now...

[rjrivero]

Enjoy. Water cooled guns are fun. They eat a lot, but they're fun!!

[Saakee]

That's cool, does it destroy the ammo belt as it fires or is it reusable?

[CoRoMo]

It does not disintegrate the belt, it will be reusable.

[AlexanderA]

As a sidelight, the Vickers mount is also usable for a U.S. 1917, 1919, etc. Browning machine gun. In fact, the U.S. used Vickers mounts as substitute-standard for Browning guns in WWI. It's a little known fact that the mounting pin diameter and spacing is interchangable among all Maxim, Vickers, and Browning rifle-caliber guns, regardless of country of origin. Thus you can put a Browning or Vickers on a Sokolov wheeled mount (or Maxim sled mount) with no problem.

[Ian]

Yep - I have an MG3 tripod adapted for a Browning that will probably be my primary mount for shooting the Vickers. The original tripod is much nicer for display, though.

Next thing to do is make up a mount for the rollbar of my Jeep. :evil:

The other great thing about the Vickers (and other beltfeds too) is the ease of changing calibers. Using a new caliber requires a barrel, feed block, and extractor (all of which can be removed from the gun in 5 minutes with a screwdriver). Standard caliber for the gun is .303 British, but I also have setups for 8x57 Mauser and 7.62x54R, which are both much cheaper than .303. The 8mm uses Maxim belts (aluminum Turkish ones and Steel Swiss ones, actually designed for 7.5 Swiss). The 54R setup uses Russian Maxim/Goryunov/PK belts, which are also cheap and available.

I have a sight mounting bracket for the gun as well, so I need to find a good optic to mount on it. And a range where I can play around with indirect fire. It's my first machine gun, and I want to make the most of it. :)

[medalguy]

Sweet. When are we going shooting? PICS REQUIRED!!

[Ian]

Shooting is planned for this weekend. I'm loading belts tonight. :)

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=154403&d=1323406742

[788Ham]

If only Vic Morrow was alive to drive your jeep for you! You do remember the TV program "Combat" don't you?

[Robert]

Ian that is so cool. I always wanted a Lewis Gun.

[Ian]

Well, the bad news is that I wasn't able to shoot the Vickers this weekend. But that was because I spent the whole range trip shooting a C96 Mauser carbine, Mauser 712 Schnellfeuer, and British Farquhar-Hill rifle instead. Compared to those, I can find a Vickers on any street corner...