This is a very fine example of a early wartime Maxim heavy machine gun as manufactured by the DWM factory. This is probably one of the most influential weapons of the 20th century that certainly belongs in an advanced WWI era Military or German arms collection. This series of heavy MG was actually the very first self-sustaining, heavy MGs that was able to lay down a sustained automatic fire without any external means other than by just inserting the cartridge belt in the feed-mechanism, pulling the cocking handle twice and pulling the trigger. The complete functioning cycle of this weapon was accomplished simply by the energy generated from the force of firing a round. This machine gun design was actually developed by Hiram Maxim, in the 1883-1884 timeframe with the final design being finished in 1885. Maxim was a self taught engineer and inventor, who demonstrated his design throughout Europe with only the British army being the first to make any notable purchases of this weapon and the first country to actually use it in battle. Russia eventually adopted this machine gun in 1905 and used it in the 1905 Russo-Japanese war and it was officially adopted by Germany, in 1899, where it gained the most notoriety during the trench warfare battles in WWI. The true effectiveness and devastation that this weapon was capable of was only finally realized in WWI based on the large scale, open battle fields where it earned the nickname the "Devils Paintbrush", based on the fact that this weapon could and did literally mow down, hundreds of men while charging opposing forces. These static defensive positions, that were manned or equipped with these heavy MGs would literally change the face of land warfare forever. At the beginning of WWI only the Germans arsenal at Spandau produced these weapons, however with orders for over 50,000 more, eventually the DWM began producing these weapons as well. They have the distinctive large steel water jacket that surrounds the barrel which held seven quarts of water to cool the barrel which allowed it to have long sustained bursts of fire. These Maxims were capable of firing approximately 500 rounds of SUSTAINED fire before the water started to boil and up to 2000 rounds of SUSTAINED fire before the water would all boil off and the jacket had to be refilled. Interestingly enough on the left side of the receiver is a round selection mechanism where the machine gunner could actually set the number of rounds that the MG would shoot in a single bust. The settings range from single shot up to 70 rounds, (in increments of 1 round) per burst and in short burst of fire, of 20-50 rounds, it was probable that the water could last for an indefinite period of time. This is quite an astonishing feat for 1915, in comparison to the air-cooled MGs that are employed by the US Military today, where the soldier is taught to fire no more than 5-10 rounds per bursts at a time. This specific MG was produced by the DWM factory in 1918 and the large side cover is marked "DEUTSCHE WAFFEN-und MUNITIONSFABRIKEN" with "BERLIN 1916", in the middle, and the top cover is marked "48167/M.G.08/D.W.M./Berlin/1918". This is a very complete maxim in that it is fitted with a very robust flip-up tangent style rear sight that is calibrated from 400-2000 meters with a simple inverted "v" front sight along with the very rare original WWI optical sight correctly mounted to the top left side of the receiver. The sight is marked "Z.F.12/ No.10272/Emil Busch A.G. Rathenow). This is the same company that went on to produce sniper scope, binoculars and tank optics during WWII. It still retains the original large WWI Maxim steel water jacket with recoil boost /deflector plate mechanism on the front end, along with the correct water plugs on each end. Also accompanying this lot are a metal water can, nicely marked on the side, "Souvenior of the American Battle at MIHEIL 1918", and an original wooden storage box that houses an original ammunition belt loading machine and one of these original WWI large folding static mounts. These mounts or sleds were large, heavy, four-legged mounts that were capable of being set in multiple firing positions based on the terrain of the battle field, to coordinate interlocking fields of fire. They are fairly heavy and helped with the recoil generated by the firing of this MG. NOTE: This is a fully transferable NFA Class III Firearm currently on a Form 4. You are required to check your state and/or local laws as to whether or not you may own this. This weapon can be transferred to a Class III dealer at no charge. Buyer pays all other transfer fees and stamps.