Forgotten Weapons
Maxim-Silverman .455 Caliber Behemoth of a Pistol
2021 • E68 Mar 10, 2021
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Hiram Maxim’s hired shop supervisor was a man named Louis Silverman. He was a skilled engineer, who was treated rather poorly by Maxim, and whose contributions were systematically understated. One of the most interesting projects Silverman partook in was the design of a self-loading pistol in 1896. A patent was taken out in the names of both he and Maxim, but the lack of discussion by in Maxim’s papers makes it clear that the idea was Silverman’s.
The pistol was simple and efficient; easy to make and quite forward-looking. However, it was crippled by the choice to use cartridges too powerful for its simple blowback operation. Today we are taking a look at the particular massive example made in .455 Webley. The other two regular Maxim-Silverman pistols are rather large, and this one is a true behemoth…
For more information, see my full article on the design, and my video on the surviving 7.65mm Borchardt example:
https://www.forgottenweapons.com/maxim-silverman-1896-pistol/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1ElpucXu6A
Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
6281 N. Oracle 36270
Tucson, AZ 85740
https://www.floatplane.com/channel/ForgottenWeapons/home
Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! http://shop.bbtv.com/collections/forgotten-weapons
Hiram Maxim’s hired shop supervisor was a man named Louis Silverman. He was a skilled engineer, who was treated rather poorly by Maxim, and whose contributions were systematically understated. One of the most interesting projects Silverman partook in was the design of a self-loading pistol in 1896. A patent was taken out in the names of both he and Maxim, but the lack of discussion by in Maxim’s papers makes it clear that the idea was Silverman’s.
The pistol was simple and efficient; easy to make and quite forward-looking. However, it was crippled by the choice to use cartridges too powerful for its simple blowback operation. Today we are taking a look at the particular massive example made in .455 Webley. The other two regular Maxim-Silverman pistols are rather large, and this one is a true behemoth…
For more information, see my full article on the design, and my video on the surviving 7.65mm Borchardt example:
https://www.forgottenweapons.com/maxim-silverman-1896-pistol/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1ElpucXu6A
Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
6281 N. Oracle 36270
Tucson, AZ 85740