M2 Browning American 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun

M2

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M2 Browning American 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun — M2_Browning,_Musée_de_l'Armée.jpgTRADOC ODIN WEG

Basic Information

Name

M2 Browning American 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun

Designation

Alternate Designation

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Equipment Type

—

Manufacturer

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Date of Introduction

1933

Description

The M2 Machine Gun or Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun is a heavy machine gun designed toward the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, which was chambered for the .30-06 cartridge. The M2 uses the much larger and much more powerful .50 BMG cartridge, which was developed alongside and takes its name from the gun itself (BMG stands for Browning Machine Gun). It has been referred to as "Ma Deuce", in reference to its M2 nomenclature. The design has had many specific designations; the official US military 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.

Ground Specifications

Main Weapon Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB, Flexible

Variants

M2 variants The basic M2 was deployed in U.S. service in a number of subvariants, all with separate complete designations as per the US Army system. The basic designation as mentioned in the introduction is Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, with others as described below. The development of the M1921 water-cooled machine gun which led to the M2, meant that the initial M2s were, in fact, water-cooled. These weapons were designated Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, Water-Cooled, Flexible. There was no fixed water-cooled version. Improved air-cooled heavy barrel versions came in three subtypes. The basic infantry model, Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB, Flexible, a fixed developed for use on the M6 Heavy Tank designated Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB, Fixed, and a "turret type" whereby "Flexible" M2s were modified slightly for use in tank turrets. The subvariant designation Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB, TT was only used for manufacturing, supply, and administration identification and separation from flexible M2s. A number of additional sub variants were developed after the end of World War II. The M2 Heavy Barrel, M48 Turret Type was developed for the commander's cupola on the M48 Patton tank. The cupola mount on the M48A2 and M48A3 was thoroughly disliked by most tankers, as it proved unreliable in service. An externally mounted M2 was later adopted for the commander's position on the M1 Abrams tanks. Three sub variants were also developed for use by the U.S. Navy on a variety of ships and watercraft including the soft mount and fixed type versions. The fixed types fire from a solenoid trigger and come in left or right hand feed variants for use on the Mk 56 Mod 0 dual mount and other mounts. Huaqing Machinery has made a clone of the M2HB known as the CS/LM6, which was released publicly in 2010 in foreign weapons expo conventions. It was made with a picatinny rail on the receiver in order to have quick installation of various optics. The original M2HB tripod and parts can be used on the CS/LM6.

M2A1 When the M2 was first being designed, John Browning faced two design challenges. With the machine tools available at that time, the dimensions that established the location of the bolt face and the depth of the chamber could not be held tightly enough to control the fit of the cartridge in the chamber. The round can be too tight in the chamber and the gun would not shoot, or be too loose in the chamber, resulting in a stoppage or ruptured cartridge. The other dimension that could not be held close enough was when the firing pin would fall. The solution to these problems was adjustable timing and headspace ("headspace" is the distance between the face of the bolt and the base of the cartridge case, fully seated in the chamber); the operator had to screw the barrel into the barrel extension, moving the barrel toward the bolt face to reach the proper headspace with simple gauges to allow the operator to adjust to the proper dimensions. By the late 20th century, the M2 was the only adjustable headspace weapon in the U.S. inventory. With rising reports of injuries from improperly headspaced weapons, the U.S. military held a competition for a quick change barrel conversion kit with fixed timing and headspace in 1997. Three companies offered kits and Saco Defense won the competition. However, funding was lost before the design could be fully evaluated and the program ended. In 2007, the military found money to start a new competition. Saco Defense had since been acquired by General Dynamics, which won the competition. On October 15, 2010, the M2A1 heavy machine gun was type classified by the U.S. Army. Formerly known as the M2E2, the M2A1 incorporates improvements to the design including a quick change barrel (QCB) with removable carrying handle, a new slotted flash suppressor that reduces muzzle flash by 95 percent, fixed headspace and timing, a modified bolt, and a manual trigger block safety. "Timing" is the adjustment of the gun so that firing takes place when the recoiling parts are in the correct position for firing. When a standard M2 had a barrel change, the headspace and timing had to be manually set. Improper adjustment could damage the weapon and cause serious injury to the user. Fixed headspace and timing reduces risk, and the carrying handle allows the barrel to be switched in seconds.

FN Browning M.1939 An important derivative of the M2 Browning is the Mitrailleuse d´Avion Browning - F.N. Calibre 13,2 mm, more commonly known as the FN Browning M.1939. The FN Browning M.1939 was a heavily modified M2 Browning for aircraft use designed by FN Herstal for export. Their aim was to make a light, reliable heavy machine gun with the same damage output as a 20 mm autocannon. To achieve this they raised the firing rate to 1080 rpm and gave it a more powerful cartridge in form of the 13.2x99 mm Hotchkiss. This cartridge was basically a .50 BMG but with a 13.2 mm bullet (.52 in) and more explosive propellant. Besides the new cartridge they designed a new bullet exclusively for this gun. The bullet was of a high explosive type and was designed to take down a small aircraft with a single hit. Tests showed that it was very effective against both cloth and aluminum skinned aircraft. Due to the aforementioned improvements the gun received interest from numerous nations when it entered the export market in 1939. Due to the start of World War 2 and the invasion of Belgium it was exported to only Romania and Sweden. Sweden was able to buy the majority of the weapons along with the blueprints to produce the weapon on their own without paying for a license. In Sweden the weapon received the designation Automatkanon m/39, short Akan m/39, meaning Autocannon m/39 and was later produced by Ericsson as the Akan m/39A. Sweden also gave the blueprints to Finland so they could produce the weapon. Since Finland was already producing 12.7 mm ammunition, the Finnish variant was rechambered to 12.7 mm (.50 bmg). The Finnish variant was designated VKT 12,70 LKk/42 and was produced by the state of Finland

System

M2 Browning 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun

Name M2 Browning 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun

Type Heavy Machine Gun

Caliber 12.7 mm

Length 1,654 mm

Barrel Length 1,143 mm

Weight, Gun 38.1 kg

Weight, Gun with Tripod and T&E 58.1 kg

Action Short recoil-operated

Rate of Fire 450-600 rds/min

Muzzle Velocity 890 m/s

Effective Firing Range 1,800 m

Maximum Effective Firing Range 7,400 m

Feed System Belt-fed (M2 or M9 links)

Ammunition

Type Rifle

Caliber 12.7 mm

Cartridge 12.7×99mm NATO

Image Sources

Notes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M2_Browning;

Details

Country of Origin United States

Category Machine Guns

Land > Infantry Weapons > Machine Guns

Classification

Domain

Ground

Equipment Status

Active

Operators (110)

Russia

United States

France

Germany

United Kingdom

Israel

Italy

Japan

Poland

Sweden

Turkey

India

Iran

Pakistan

Brazil

South Africa

Czech Republic

Serbia

Spain

Argentina

Australia

Austria

Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Belgium

Benin

Bolivia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Canada

Central African Republic

Chad

Chile

Colombia

Congo, Republic of the

Côte d'Ivoire

Croatia

Cyprus

Denmark

Djibouti

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Estonia

Ethiopia

Finland

Gabon

Gambia

Ghana

Greece

Guatemala

Honduras

Hungary

Indonesia

Iraq

Ireland

Jamaica

Jordan

Kuwait

Latvia

Lebanon

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Madagascar

Malaysia

Mauritania

Mexico

Morocco

Myanmar

Namibia

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nicaragua

Niger

Nigeria

Norway

Oman

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Portugal

Qatar

Romania

Rwanda

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Singapore

Somalia

Switzerland

Taiwan

Thailand

Togo

Tonga

Tunisia

Turkmenistan

United Arab Emirates

Uruguay

Venezuela

Vietnam

Yemen

Zimbabwe

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