r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/HollywoodHypeBeast • 2d ago
The inventor of the automatic machine gun, Hiram Maxim, spent so much time test-firing his guns that he became profoundly deaf. His son Hiram Percy Maxim eventually invested the silencer, but too late to save his father's hearing. Image
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u/youbiquitous1 2d ago
βHey Hiram, have you HEARD about the new silencer that your son has invented?! β¦ oh waitβ¦β
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u/sagewynn 2d ago
You could say he didn't Hiram coming.
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u/prican74 2d ago
Pretty good but that's not how the name is pronounced
It's like high-rum
Source: it's my name
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u/IyellWhenImMad 2d ago
According to OP his son didn't invent the silencer, he invested it.
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u/Strict_Somewhere_148 2d ago
Hi sharks,
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u/SlashEssImplied 1d ago
... how many of you have wanted to play with your machine gun but it's just too darn loud? Well we have a solution for you....
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u/HonestAbe124 2d ago
More on Hiram Percyβ¦.
He created the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) in 1914 as a response to the lack of an organized group of "relay" stations to pass messages via amateur radio. Relaying messages allowed them to be sent farther than any single station's reach at the time. He originally had the amateur call signs SNY, 1WH, 1ZM, (after World War I) 1AW, and later W1AW, which is now the ARRL Headquarters club station call sign. His rotary spark-gap transmitter "Old Betsy" has a place of honor at the ARRL Headquarters. The ARRL presents an annual award named for Maxim to a radio amateur and ARRL member under the age of 21.[12]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_Percy_Maxim
Also any licensed radio amateur can operate under W1AW if you go to the ARRL HQ in Newington CT. I have twice and itβs a lot of fun.
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u/monotonousgangmember 2d ago
Nice, have a good field day?
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u/HonestAbe124 2d ago
It was a bit of a washout so not a huge turnout and propagation conditions were not ideal. I think one guy ended up going 24 hours straight.
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u/MichiganRedWing 2d ago
Dude looks like Lawrence Stroll.
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u/SpaceInMyBrain 2d ago edited 2d ago
A silencer would may not have saved Hiram's hearing. One would might wear out in a minute quickly at the rate a machine gun fires. Also, subsonic ammo has to be is usually used - part of a gun's noise is the bullet breaking the sound barrier. Subsonic ammo would severely reduce the range of a Maxim gun.
Please note that these are now called suppressors - they suppress the noise, they don't silence it. Almost all Most suppressors are on pistols, with some on submachine guns & carbines. On the latter they're meant to be used single shot.
Edit: Edited as you can see, I wrote too quickly, off the top of my head. See u/mad-scientist9 reply below for good info.
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u/mad-scientist9 2d ago
I make machine gun suppressors. That will not be hurt by running full auto. Even with supersonic ammo they will reduce hearing damage drastically. Even our titanium rifle suppressors can withstand intermittent full auto, (m4 suppressive fire) with no damage. Source: Me class7/sot, gunsmith
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u/SpaceInMyBrain 2d ago
I assumed Maxim the younger used the washer design which would wear out but just properly looked and it was designed for rifles and used a method of redirecting gases. I knew there were some M4 suppressors, etc, but didn't want to get deep into it in this general purpose sub. My bad. I'm tempted to delete my comment but then your info would be lost.
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u/Upstairs-Yak3658 2d ago
Yeah but youβre more right than him because his source is his present knowledge of suppressor technology. A hundred years ago the technology would have been in its infancy and wholly would have melted like fuck if on full auto and worn out. Not to knock on anyone but a source isnβt a source if youβre 100 years into the future talking about present technology that wasnβt available then. Could we really have sourced a machined integrated baffle titanium suppressor back then? No.
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u/mad-scientist9 2d ago
I was referring to the present. But the early suppressors were made of steel. They could take higher tempatures, at the cost of being much heavier than those of today. And Maxim made a few machine gun silencers. Up to 20mm if I remember right. Been a few years since I went down that rabbit hole. He made them for world War 2. After the gca of 1934 he couldn't sell to civilians anymore. They closed right after the war. I can not remember if it was Remington or another company producing them for him.
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u/MikhailxReign 19h ago
They were called a silencer on the original patent. That's good enough for me. Silence/suppressor is just semantics.
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u/mystonedalt 2d ago
What was profound about his deafness?
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u/Alien-Element 2d ago
The intensity/quality of it, which the word profound describes.
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u/ALUCARDHELLSINS 2d ago
He was extra deaf?
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u/Alien-Element 2d ago edited 2d ago
There are levels to deafness, just like blindness.
He was super deaf.
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u/EatTheMcDucks 2d ago
Kinda deaf sounds like this while profound deafness βββ ββββ ββββ ββββ ββββ ββββ ββββ ββββ ββββ ββββ ββββ ββββ ββββ ββββ ββββ ββββ β
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u/Capt_Toasty 2d ago
This feels like a potential sketch for a comedy show.
"Father! I've invented something to make guns quieter!"
"What?"
"I said... look!"
*Demonstrates machine firing quieter*
"Son why have you put this ugly extension on the barrel?"
"It makes it quieter! Can't you hear ... oh."
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u/Willing-Sprinkles-17 2d ago
Interesting, but even with a suppressor, you'll still probably want to wear ear protection, especially if it's an automatic weapon.
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u/Boromirin 2d ago
You could argue that the first machine gun was the puckle gun, though it was more of a repeating rifle. Never knew his son invented the suppressor though.
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u/SpecialNeedsBurrito 2d ago
You would think firearms have been around long enough before then that people understood they would damage your hearing. Maybe he just didn't want to hear all the haters
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u/droppedurpockett 2d ago
He secretly had a fear of the sound of gunshots. He took away his own fear. That's why they call him Four.
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u/MikhailxReign 19h ago
Before then you didn't shoot more then once in a minute.
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u/SpecialNeedsBurrito 15h ago
Not at all true learn history
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u/MikhailxReign 15h ago
Ooh sorry. You might get 4 shots off in a mad minute. Definately comparable to 600 rounds a minute. /s
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u/SpecialNeedsBurrito 14h ago
They had gatling guns and bolt action rifles. Maxim is credited with developing the first fully automatic machine gun. They still had hand crank machine guns before that. And you can shoot at minimum one round per second if you are competent with a bolt action rifle
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u/MikhailxReign 14h ago
Oh yeah I forgot how common crank guns were at the time! Everyone would had encountered one!
And even if you blistering rate of one round a second (press X to doubt) that's still an entire order of magnitude lower then 600 a minute.
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u/ccknboltrtre01 2d ago
How is it we created so much of this amazing technology but never thought to stick some cotton in our ears to stop loud noises from happening
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u/Work_In_ProgressX 2d ago
Crazy tho think that some of these are being used in the Russo-Ukranian war as of now.
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u/schoonasaurus 2d ago
"too late to save his father's' hearing"... or you know, just wear ear muffs??
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u/Phantum3oh9 2d ago
Suppressor. No where near as silent as in the movies, like Hollywood/government wants you to think.
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u/griffball2k18 2d ago
They don't silence the gunshot, but HP Maxim did call it a "Silencer" on his patent
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u/GooniestMcGoon 2d ago
silencer, suppressor, your face, my ass, itβs all the same
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u/Male-Wood-duck 2d ago
The term is suppressor, not silencer.
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u/GooniestMcGoon 2d ago
not according to the original patent itβs not
do you actually own one or are you just being a pedant for fun?
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u/Open-Oil-144 2d ago
Bro had to make it sound like a conspiracy lol
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u/Phantum3oh9 2d ago
Lol no conspiracy. They just want the public to believe suppressors are dangerous by making them think you can go around taking people like your in a video game lol. Then they get to extort an extra $200 from you just because you want to protect your hearing. Same thing with short barrel rifles. Fear is the most effective form of control.
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u/wackocoal 2d ago
here we go again....
it does not really matter, the early days it was named "silencer".
Here, let me give you another example: Fender's Stratocaster names its innovative moving bridge as "tremolo bridge".
But, formally trained musicians knows that "tremolo" implies a change in volume; what the moving bridge does is changing pitch; so the correct term should be "vibrato";
But, we still called that bridge design "tremolo" or "trem" bridge to this day because that's what Fender calls it, and players understand what the bridge looks and function when someone asks for a "tremolo bridge".
So, stop it with the "acutally, it ish a suppressor", and let people call it silencer.
or what i prefer, muzzle moderator.1
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u/lespaulstrat2 2d ago
What is 'profoundly deaf'?
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u/thatsnotideal1 2d ago
It means complete hearing loss, unable to hear at all. Many people have varying levels of hearing impairment but can still detect some (or many) sounds
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u/lespaulstrat2 2d ago
Never heard it put that way, I always heard it as total hearing loss TIL.
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u/ParadoxicalEnigma92 2d ago
Same for blindness. Itβs rare for a person to be 100% blind. Most still can see light and blobs/silhouettes but will still be classified as legally blind.
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/BitchTitsRecords 2d ago
Yeah, the person who invented it didn't know the name of his own invention.
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u/Prestigious-Toe8622 2d ago
I would say itβs a pity but given the uses the Maxim gun was put to, deafness feels like too small a price when cancer was an option
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u/EllaVatorHumor 2d ago
His other inventions? A mousetrap, a curling iron, and a steam pump. Clearly, he was the original βJack of all trades, master of firepower.β π