Tachanka tactics

[former user]

Yes indeed, I got that.
The comparison was about MG on the ground on bipod being stabler than on tripod (given the example with MG 42) as a principle.
So I quoted my own experience, and extrapolated to the Maxim, which I never fired myself (I'm not a hobby gunner, I was just in the Army).
Then returned to the topic question, Maxims mounted on Tachankas and stable firing platforms being essential for the tactics.  Which is a true point.

btw, if You follow the Youtube link there are also clips of firing MG 34 and 42, on the field mount (which actually has 3 legs, but is a little more complex then a simple tripod)
You can also very well see in another clip how the bipod Lewis gun kicks compared to the Maxim.

The interesting thing is that there apparantly were all kinds of machineguns on Tachankas, thus making @Ignatieffs argument about stability a very good question.

But here I cannot carry on, since I have no knowldege or experience of the many MG used and their mounts  - so @Mark Plant, where are You when we need You?? 
or whoever knows, cause I'm curious myself

[former user]

here, I found a clip from the 1934 movie "Chapaev"

 at about 3:00, you can see a Tachanka in action

it's only a movie though

and also a strange clip about machno's Black Army with authentic footage including cavalry charge with tachankas

[Bako]

Thank you for those videos! I've added them to my youtube favorites for further use.

[Ignatieff]

Great stuff all, especially the clips.  Thanks everyone.  I think the really interesting comparison is between the Maxim and the Vickers HMG.  You Tube clips show how stable the Vickers is when firing versus the Maxim, which really jumps all over the place (though as you say, not as much as the Lewis gun)

[Mark Plant]

You can't drag me into this former user, what I know about firing and mounting MGs is .... nothing.

I'm fascintated with that clip from Chapaev though. They are fighting Czechs? Did they really leave the bells on the horses of tachankas? Quite a few of the men appear to be wearing officer fur hats with a cross or coloured bands on their furazhkas (caps) too.

[former user]

 
then we'll have to rely on common sense and educated guesses
The Chapaev movie is propaganda - since it is from 1934, Tachanka depiction should be rather accurate, but I wouldn't give a damn for any costumes

if You check some other clips of the movie, there is a scene where Whites attack like on parade ground

I doubt these uniforms are correct
I haven't seen the bells, I only hear the sound when it moves - I guess it is dubbed in and stands for folklore...

As for the Machno clip, well all chaos, but whenever a Tachanka is closer, the MG does not bump around...

[Mark Plant]

I think that the label on the top of that clip former user says "Mentally unwell attack". There is no way on earth anyone would attack like that in 1919. I know I sometimes say that the RCW was a reversion back to 1914 or so, but that is ridiculous.

The Whites did dress like this in the South (not Chapaev's territory) and the uniform seems to be largely that of the Kornilovs (with white hats to show up on the b/w screen). So Russian viewers of the time would not necessarily see these uniforms as a howling mistake. In reality of course only some officers managed to look that swish - most rankers fought in normal khaki.