loading Swiss belts

[bbigbore]

Whats the trick to loading the steel swiss belts? The rounds are held tight buy the bullet, but I can get the band over the neck of the case. Is there any practical way to do this without a mechanical belt loader?

[bbigbore]

belt in question

[jmann]

Thats a finn belt for the 1910 maxim. It is made for 54r. I have heard of people using them with 8mm with some sucess after stretching the loops out. My 08 doesnt like anything but cloth tabbed maxim or vickers belts so before modding a bunch make sure your gun will digest them. I personally dont like to use steel belts in any feedblock worth what a 08 feedblock is worth. I do use steel pk belts in my vickers but after some rounds it has worn it pretty good. Vickers blocks are less though so I dont worry about it so much.
BTW, neat gun in the above post. Congrats and you will enjoy it.

[bbigbore]

Thats a finn belt for the 1910 maxim. It is made for 54r.

Are you sure? I got the belt from Bob Landies and he said it was an 8mm Swiss belt. Either way, any idea how to load it without prying the loops out?

[jmann]

Yep I am sure. Swiss maxim belt is an entirely different animal.
You can load your belt by hand very easily if you use the caliber the belt was made for. But it is 54r, not 8mm. Even if you could force 8mm into it without opening the loops up it is doubtful the gun could pull the rounds from the belt. I have heard of folks driving a punch through each link to open them up to take 8mm, but I have not tried it.

[amafrank]

The belt you pictured is indeed a Finnish maxim belt. I've seen a number of them that were modified to handle 8mm but they do need to be opened up to do that. The swiss belts are completely different being made of 2 half shells that lock together. They were never made in 8mm either, they were actually made for 7.5mm Swiss. Some of the swiss belts won't hold 8mm very well as they can be a little loose. In any case, some guns will run great with the Finn belts. If it won't work well then the Russian Maxim/PKM type belts will. You can open them up to hold 8mm rounds as well. I'll get some pictures of the Swiss belts and post them later.

Frank

[MarkFinneran]

I have 3 superb condition WWI British vickers cloth ammo belts, with the brass spacers and starting tabs which are perfect for MG08 use, so I am willing to part with them for you lucky live firers. That is the good news. The bad news is I am seeking original 100 rd German WWI trommel ammo belts in exchange?
Email me pse if interested. Incidentally having come back from Afghanistan again I did manage to see one of the tradtional Kabul 'home-made' wpns ''industries''. Obviously no longer operating but crikey their ingnuity should not be underestimated in what they can replicate!!! No photos sadly.
Mark

[amafrank]

Here is a picture of a Swiss belt. . .you can see its substantially different than the belt you pictured. . .

Frank

[bbigbore]

Here is a picture of a Swiss belt. . .you can see its substantially different than the belt you pictured. . .

Frank

Sonofa...
last one on the first page.
http://www.ohioordnanceworks.com/Parts/ ... oaders.cat

[amafrank]

It looks like the last one on the first page is 1919 links. The last one on the second page is the 1910 belts modified for 8mm. I've seen those belts and loaded a few with 8mm though I've not used them in an 08, just in vickers guns. They don't have them listed as Swiss but as 08 Maxim. If the belt won't load call up Jake at the shop and tell him. Its possible they shipped a belt that wasn't properly expanded or maybe not expanded at all. Sometimes things get mixed up and there is no easy way to tell if the belt loops have been opened up. In any case Jake can help you out and straighten the matter up.

Frank

[dwmmg08]

Frank's right, (bet he loves to hear that) The belt is a Finnish Maxim belt, made for the 1910 Maxim and the Finnish Maxims in 7.62x54, but Ohio drives a punch through them to open them up for 8mm. I've got one too, but I didn't like loading it, even though it's "Hand Loadable". I don't think I've ever used it, now that I think about it.

The Finnish Maxim belts are excellent belts, they run great in my gun in 7.62. They're very stiff and do not slop around front to back, and don't need a starter tab due to that: just push them in from the feed side until it clicks.

Yours may not have been opened up right, just call Ohio and tell them, I'm sure they'll help. These are really stiff belts to load though, especially new, even in 7.62.

[dwmmg08]

Some pictures of loading the Finnish belts with the Finnish loader, I apologize for the quality of the pics, but thought someone might like them!

[bbigbore]

It looks like the last one on the first page is 1919 links. The last one on the second page is the 1910 belts modified for 8mm.
Frank

Thats what I meant. I was told in an emial they were swiss. I'll drop Jacob an emial. I've worked with him before, I know hes a good go to guy.