Machine Guns | National Geographic

[Music]
deep in the woods of rural England
former special-forces machine gunner Bob
Podesta aims to find the truth about
Maxim’s story by trying it for himself
he will be assisted by Shawn Hindle also
an X machine gunner in the British Army
what do you reckon this looks like a
good one yeah it’s got plenty of tension
on it though huh why it’s hanging
now all they need is a machine gun
this is a 1916 Vickers gun a British
Army variation on Hiram Maxim’s design
built by his London business partners
it’s capable of firing 450 rounds per
minute but is that enough to top all the
mighty Scots pine
Podesta aims to maximize his chances
with a methodical approach based on
years of experience firing in short
bursts is the army approved machine gun
technique continuous fire could overheat
and distort the barrel affecting
accuracy but Podesta must be careful a
rotating wheel in the firing mechanism
could easily smash his knuckles he’s
already weakened the right-hand side of
the tree now can he take out the left
and center every round is striking home
the thumping recoil of the barrel is
clearly visible at the muzzle Podesta
ups the firing rate sensing victory
[Applause]
success and they fire just four hundred
and seventy bullets the potential effect
on any enemy is only too evident see
some of the bullets are still stuck in
the tree here yeah obviously what
they’ve done they’ve they’ve gone
through and they’ve tumbled tumbled as
they’ve hit the tree after they’ve hit
the tree yeah so you can imagine what
it’s like when it hits a mag