.50 Caliber M2 Machine Gun

Overview:

The M2 Machine Gun, Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun, or "Ma Deuce" is a heavy machine gun designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. It was nicknamed Ma Deuce by U.S. Military personnel or simply called "fifty-cal." in reference to its caliber. The design has had many specific designations; the official designation for the current infantry type is Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB, Flexible. It is effective against infantry, unarmored or lightly-armored vehicles and boats, light fortifications, and low-flying aircraft. The Browning .50 caliber machine gun has been used extensively as a vehicle weapon and for aircraft armament by the United States from the 1920s to the present day. It was heavily used during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, as well as during operations in Iraq in the 1990s and 2000s. It is the primary heavy machine gun of NATO countries, and has been used by many other countries as well. It is still in use today, with only a few modern improvements. The M2 has been in use longer than any other small arm in U.S. inventory. It was very similar in design to the smaller Browning Model 1919 machine gun. The M2 is currently manufactured by General Dynamics and FNH for the United States government. FNH has been the manufacturer since John Browning worked for them in the 1910s and '20s to develop the machine gun. The M2 is a scaled-up version of John Browning's M1917 .30 caliber machine gun (even using the same timing gauges), fires the .50 BMG cartridge, which today is also used in high-powered sniper rifles and long range target rifles due to its long range accuracy, external ballistics performance, stopping power, and lethality. The M2 is an air-cooled, belt-fed, machine gun that fires from a closed bolt, operated on the short recoil principle. In this action, the bolt and barrel are initially locked together, and recoil upon firing. After a short distance, the bolt and barrel unlock, and the bolt continues to move rearwards relative to the barrel. This action opens the bolt, and pulls the belt of ammunition through the weapon, readying it to fire again. The M2 has varying cyclic rates of fire, depending upon the model. The M2HB (heavy barrel) air-cooled ground gun has a cyclic rate of 450-575 rounds per minute. The early M2 water-cooled AA guns had a cyclic rate of around 450-600 rpm. The AN/M2 aircraft gun has a cyclic rate of 750-850 rpm; this increases to 1,200 rpm or more for AN/M3 aircraft guns fitted with electric or mechanical feed boost mechanisms. These maximum rates of fire are generally not achieved in use, as sustained fire at that rate will wear out the bore within a few thousand rounds, necessitating replacement. The M2HB's sustained rate of fire is considered to be anything less than 400 rounds per minute. The M2 has a maximum range of 7.4 kilometers (4.55 miles), with a maximum effective range of 1.8 kilometers (1.2 miles) when fired from the M3 tripod. In its ground-portable, crew-served role as the M2HB, the gun itself weighs in at a hefty 84 pounds (38 kg), and the assembled M3 tripod another 44 pounds (20 kg). In this configuration, the V-shaped "butterfly" trigger is located at the very rear of the weapon, with a "spade handle" hand-grip on either side of it and the bolt release the center. The spade handles are gripped and the butterfly trigger is depressed with one or both thumbs. Recently new rear buffer assemblies have used squeeze triggers mounted to the hand grips, doing away with the butterfly triggers.

Specifications:

Type

• Heavy machine gun.

Place of Origin

• United States.

Weight

• 38 kg (83.78 lb).
• 58 kg (127.87 lb) with tripod and T&E.

Length

• 1,650 mm (65 in).

Barrel Length

• 1,143 mm (45.0 in).

Cartridge

• .50 BMG.

Action

• Short recoil-operated.

Rate of Fire

• 450-575 rounds/min (M2HB).
• 750–850 rounds/min (AN/M2).
• 1,200 rounds/min (AN/M3).

Muzzle Velocity

• 2,910 feet per second (M33 Ball) (887.1 m/s).

Feed System

• Belt-fed (M2 or M9 links).