This is an very fine example of a WWI German Model 1908/15 Maxim heavy machine gun manufactured at the Erfurt Arsenal in 1917. The top cover is marked "3094/a/M.G.08/15/Gwf./Erfurt/1917". It has a blued metal finish with a light medium gray painted water jacket. It has the original flip-up tangent style rear sight graduated from 400-2,000 meters, a simple inverted "v" front sight with the large water jacket around the barrel. This desirable weapon has mostly matching numbers except that its missing the entire breech bolt (lock assembly). This Maxim machine gun was originally developed by Hiram Maxim in 1883-1884 and was one of the most influential weapons of the 20th century. It was the first self-sustaining heavy MG used in any sizeable numbers on any battlefield, due to its sustained suppressive fire, and it became the standard German heavy machine gun in 1899. It was used by Imperial German forces throughout WWI as a ground mounted version in trench warfare. During WWI, it earned the nickname the "Devils Paintbrush" due to the fact that during the large scale assaults form the trenches, it could literally mow down hundreds of men in a single engagement. The large distinctive steel water jacket could hold seven quarts of water to cool the barrel which allowed it to have long sustained bursts of fire. It was capable of firing approximately 500 rounds of sustained fire before the water started to boil and up to 2,000 rounds of sustained fire before the water would all boil off and the jacket had to be refilled. This was quite an astonishing feat in 1915. It was also adopted by the British in 1887 and Russia and many other countries prior to WWI. It comes with its sheet metal bipod, two leather carrying/assault sling, a repainted water can, several sections of rubber hoses and an assault type side mounted ammunition can with chute.

Very good condition with 50% of the faded blue on the receiver and top cover overall with thinning on the side plates and cover, with 90% of the repainted gray colored water jacket. The jacket does shows several dents in the sides, but they have not perforated the casing. The accessories are all in very fine condition. NOTE: This item is restricted as a National Firearms Act (NFA), fully transferable Class 3, which is registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, (BATFE) that is classified as a "Curios or Relic" as defined in 27 CFR, 478.11. These weapons are still subject to the provisions of 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44 and 27 CFR part 478.