[15] The Maxim gun has been called "the weapon most associated with imperial conquest" by historian Martin Gilbert,[16] and was heavily used by colonial powers during the "Scramble for Africa".

Maxim's earliest designs used a 360-degree rotating cam to reverse the movement of the block, but this was later simplified to a toggle lock.

[17][need quotation to verify] Compared to modern machine guns, the Maxim was heavy, bulky, and awkward.

Apart from the gunner, other crew were needed to speed reload, spot targets, and carry and ready ammunition and water.

[18] A blue plaque on the factory where Maxim invented and produced the gun is located in Hatton Garden at the junction with Clerkenwell Road in London.

More a publicity stunt than a serious military contribution, in view of the main financier of the expedition, William Mackinnon, "merely exhibiting" the gun was likely to "prove a great peace-preserver".

[23] The same prototype used by Stanley was brought back to central Africa by Frederick Lugard, where it played an instrumental role in the establishment of the Uganda Protectorate.

[24] The first unit in the world to receive the Maxim was the expeditionary force led by Hermann Wissmann which was sent in 1888 by the German Imperial government to its colonies in East Africa to suppress the Abushiri Revolt.

The extreme lethality was employed to devastating effect against obsolete charging tactics, when African opponents could be lured into pitched battles in open terrain.

As it was put by Hilaire Belloc, in the words of the figure "Blood" in his poem "The Modern Traveller": Whatever happens, we have got The Maxim gun, and they have not.

[citation needed] A larger-calibre version of the Maxim, firing a one-pound shell, was built by Maxim-Nordenfeldt.

In 1895, the Imperial Japanese Army purchased a number of Maxims and tested them during the 1895 invasion of Taiwan[35] but later decided to standardize on the Hotchkiss machine gun.

A picture of the period depicts a Maxim gun mounted on a tachanka, a horse-drawn carriage, along with the gunner, firing backwards at a pursuing White Army regiment.

Colt's Manufacturing Company was selected to produce it domestically, but challenges with schematics and specifications delayed its introduction.

By the time Colt began production in 1908 (which was also the last year orders were placed for the guns), a total of 90 M1904s were made by Vickers.

Many Maxim guns were retrofitted to suit the nature of modern warfare, including its installation on technicals and the mounting of red dot sights.

[41][42][43] At least one documented Maxim gun used by the Ukrainian Ground Forces in the Battle of Bakhmut still had its original iron wheels with no visible modifications.