Hello everyone you are watching another episode of Military TV. Today we want to discuss about
M2 Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun and why it still popular in military circles? today
The M2 machine gun is an incredible story of longevity.
Of all the weapons to come from the genius of John Moses Browning, the M2 Browning .50
Caliber Machine Gun may have been his crowning achievement. It certainly was one of his finest,
and one of the last to ever be born at the desk of this giant innovator of American guns.
Hands down, the “Ma Deuce,” as it’s reverently called by all who’ve witnessed it’s gracefully
destructive power, is the longest produced machine gun the world arms market has ever seen.
Browning’s design was finished in 1918, entered service with the US Armed Forces in 1921,
and the patent was filed in July 1923. It’s still manufactured and in use by militaries
around the world to this day. The M2 is an automatic, belt-fed, recoil-operated,
air-cooled, crew-operated machine gun. The M2 is crew transportable with limited amounts of
ammunition over short distances. This gun is has a back plate with spade grips, trigger,
and bolt latch release. The gun is also equipped with leaf-type rear sight, flash suppressor
and a spare barrel assembly. By repositioning some of the component parts, ammunition may be
fed from either the left or right side. A disintegrating metallic link-belt is used
to feed the ammunition into the weapon. The gun is capable of single-shot, as well as automatic fire.
In addition, the M2 may be mounted on ground mounts and most vehicles as an anti-personnel
and anti-aircraft weapon. Associated components are the M63 antiaircraft mount and the M3 tripod
mount. The M2 .50 Cal. flexible version is used as a ground gun on the M3 tripod mount or various
Naval mounts. The M2 .50 Cal., M48 turret type, fixed type, and soft mount are installed on mounts
of several different types of combat vehicles and ships. The weapon provides automatic weapon
suppressive fire for offensive and defensive purposes. This weapon can be used effectively
against personnel, light armored vehicles; low, slow-flying aircraft; and small boats.
Before we get to our main question, let’s first look at the origin of
M2 Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun. Machine guns were heavily used in World War I,
and weapons of larger than rifle caliber began appearing on both sides of the conflict.
The larger rounds were needed to defeat the armor that was being introduced to the battlefield,
both on the ground and in the air. During World War I, the Germans introduced a heavily armored
airplane, the Junkers J.I. The armor-made aircraft machine guns using conventional rifle ammunition
(such as the .30-06) ineffective. Consequently, the American Expeditionary
Force's commander General John J. Pershing asked for a larger caliber machine gun. Pershing asked
the Army Ordnance Department to develop a machine gun with a caliber of at least 0.50 inches and a
muzzle velocity of at least 2,700 feet per second. U.S. Col. John Henry Parker, commanding a machine
gun school in France, observed the effectiveness of a French 11 mm incendiary armor-piercing round.
While the .50 caliber was being developed, some German T Gewehr 1918 anti-tank rifles
and ammunition were seized. The German rounds had a muzzle velocity of 2,700 ft/s,
an 800 gr bullet, and could penetrate armor 1 in thick at a range of 230 m. Winchester improved the
.50 caliber round to have similar performance. Ultimately, the muzzle velocity was 2,750 ft/s.
Then in 1926, John M. Browning died . Between 1927 and 1932, S.H. Green studied the design
problems of the M1921 and the needs of the armed services. The result was a single receiver design
that could be turned into seven types of .50 caliber machine guns by using different jackets,
barrels, and other components. The new receiver allowed right or left side feed.
In 1933, Colt manufactured several prototype Browning machine guns. With support from the Navy,
Colt started manufacturing the M2 in 1933. The current M2HB is manufactured in the U.S.
by General Dynamics Ohio Ordnance Works, and U.S. Ordnance for use by the U.S. government,
and for allies via Foreign Military Sales, as well as by foreign manufacturers such as FN Herstal.
Now we will discuss what the M2 .50 Caliber has, thus made it still popular today.
The M2 machine gun on the M3 tripod provided a very stable firing platform.
Together with its slow rate of fire and its traversing and elevating mechanism,
the M2 was used to a very limited extent as a sniper weapon during the Vietnam war
at fixed installations such as firebases. Snipers prefired the weapons at identifiable
targets and worked the data into range cards insuring increased first-round accuracy.
The 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division constructed 20-30 foot high shooting
platforms, adding steel base plates and posts to further stabilize the M2 on the M3 tripod.
Together with the use of Starlight night vision scopes, the M2 severely limited enemy movement
within 1,000m of the perimeter of a firebase. For its ammunition part, there are several
different types of ammunition used in the M2HB and AN aircraft guns. From World War
II through the Vietnam War, the big Browning was used with the standard ball,
armor-piercing, armor-piercing incendiary, and armor-piercing incendiary tracer rounds.
All .50 ammunition designated "armor-piercing" was required to completely perforate
0.875 inches of hardened steel armor plate at a distance of 91 m and 0.75 inches at 500 m.
Today the M2 still serves with each of the armed services and the Coast Guard. In the Army it is
generally used by vehicle crews, including M1A2 Abrams tanks, while the Marines use
a tripod-mounted version and on vehicles. The Navy and Air Force use it to defend ships and
air bases. The U.S. Army is currently working on a lighter version it projects will weigh 20 to 30
percent less. Despite occasional improvements to the basic design however there is no replacement
for the M2 in sight and the “Ma Deuce” could very well serve until the 22nd century.
Do you know, this king of automatic weaponry has seen action in more than
24 official conflicts around the globe, so our guess is that you’ve probably heard about it.
For your information, the Browning .50 caliber machine gun has been used extensively as a
vehicle weapon and for aircraft armament by the United States from the 1930s to the present.
So, our enthusiastic and knowledgeable subscribers, what do you think about the gun?
tell us in the comment below!
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