Vickers Machine Gun

The Vickers machine gun is a British water-cooled, belt-fed heavy machine gun adopted by the British Army in 1912 and derived from Hiram Maxim's earlier toggle-lock design, remaining the standard British heavy machine gun through both World Wars and into the 1960s. Firing the standard .303 British rifle cartridge from a 250-round fabric belt at a sustained rate that could exceed 500 rounds per minute, the Vickers earned a reputation for extreme reliability, with crews in the First World War in some cases firing large volumes of ammunition through a single gun over a sustained action without a serious stoppage. Operated by a dedicated crew due to its weight and cooling-water requirements, the Vickers provided sustained defensive and barrage fire in First World War trench warfare and continued in British and Commonwealth service, gradually phased out after 1945 though official British withdrawal was not completed until 1968.