Notice how successful VonIvan is playing with maxims still? Especially since the grenade range reduction and the changes to help reduce the death loop.
Maybe you need to change your approach or practice more.
Well, he maybe playing succesful with them now but again, I already used that example with 2 soldiers. You giving to 1 soldier normal combat rifle, well designed for killing, and other gets dildo, which is... less designed for killing but if you can "adapt" and use your creativity - still may be deadly. And when second asks "what a hell, how should I kill soldier with rifle with that?", he getting answer "theoreticaly, it's also maybe used for killing, it's not designed for that, but we don't care, they both can kill, they are balanced. More difficult to use it - adapt, L2P".
So - people, who using Maxims "good" and calling that "good HMG", are actually people with dildos instead of normal weapon, which adapted and learnt how to use it as weapon. More than that - they started to belive, that it is actually good weapon. While "rifle soldiers" don't need to adapt or learn or do something at all - just put teh button. Of course, it sign of their great skill and good gaming abilities, that they learnt how to use such shitty weapon good, but... does it make those 2 theoretical soldiers equial (balanced) with each other? No. They have different starting conditions, which balances after by skill of players, not by game mechanic itself.