Why the M2 Heavy Machine Gun Is Simply Unstoppable

hello everyone you're watching another episode of military tv today we want to discuss the m2 browning 50 caliber machine gun and why it is 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 maw deuce as it's reverently called by all who've witnessed its 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 u.s 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 the gun 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 spare barrel assembly by repositioning some of the component parts ammunition may be fed from either the right or left side a disintegrating metal 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 anti-aircraft mount and the m3 tripod mount the m250 cal flexible version is used as a ground gun on the m3 tripod mounts or various navel mounts the m250 cal m48 turret type fix type and soft mount are installed on mounts of several different types of combat vehicles and ships the weapon provides automatic weapon suppression 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 guns machine guns were heavily used in world war 1 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 1 the germans introduced a heavily armored airplane the junkers j.i the armor made aircraft machine guns using conventional rifle ammunition such as the thirty oth six ineffective consequently the american expeditionary forces commander general john j pershing asked for a larger caliber machine gun pershing asked the army ordinance department to develop a machine gun with a caliber of at least .5 inches and a muzzle velocity of at least 2 700 feet per second u.s colonel john henry parker commanding a machine gun school in france observed the effectiveness of a french 11 millimeter incendiary armor-piercing round while the 50 caliber was being developed some german tea gever 1918 anti-tank rifles and ammunition were seized the german rounds had a muzzle velocity of 2 700 feet per second and 800 gram bullet and could penetrate armor one inch thick at a range of 230 meters winchester improved the 50 caliber round to have similar performance ultimately the muzzle velocity was 2 750 feet per second 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 for 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 us by general dynamics ohio ordinance works and u.s ordinance 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 m250 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 pre-fired the weapon at identifiable targets and worked the data into range cards ensuring increased first-round accuracy the first battalion 5th infantry 25th infantry division constructed 20 to 30 foot high shooting platforms adding steel base plates and post 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 1000 meters 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 .875 inches of hardened steel armor plate at a distance of 91 meters and .75 inches at 500 meters 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 used it to defend ships and air bases the us 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 mod deuce could very well serve into the 22nd century did 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 comments below thank you for watching and don't forget to click other awesome videos you

Channel: Military TV

Views: 39,972

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Id: 29yXCrmyBzc

Length: 8min 1sec (481 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 03 2021