M2 .50 Caliber [12.7mm] Machine Gun
"Ma Duce"
The Browning M2 .50 caliber (12.7mm) Machine Gun, is a World War II era 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 has a back plate with spade grips, trigger, and bolt latch release. The gun is 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 (ground M2), as well as automatic fire.
John Moses Browning (1855-1926) of Ogden, Utah, is considered by many to be the greatest firearms designer ever to live. He invented many innovative and popular sporting and military weapons produced by his own company, as well as Winchester, Colt, and other domestic and foreign manufacturers. His military arms are credited-even by the enemy-with giving the United States and its allies weapons superiority in every conflict of the 20th century. Of the .50-caliber machine gun, German Field Marshal Herman Göring said, "If the German Air Force had had the Browning .50-caliber, the Battle of Britain would have turned out differently."
Browning began work on the .50-caliber machine gun in July 1917 and it was introduced in 1918. It was a belt-fed, automatic weapon that came in both air-cooled and water-cooled versions. The belt feed mechanism used disintegrating metal links and, by repositioning a few parts, could be fed from either the right or left side. The gun was capable of single-shot or fully automatic fire. It was so versatile that the U.S. Army, Army Air Forces, and Navy all adopted it immediately. Variants have been used on a wide variety of ground vehicles, aircraft, and ships over the years, and are still widely used around the world.
This gun 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.
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 900 yards (800m) of the perimeter of a firebase.
Builder: Saco Defense
Numerous manufacturers originally produced the M2 Heavy Machine Gun.
Length: 61.42 inches (156 centimeters)
Weight:
Gun: 84 pounds (38 kilograms)
M3 Tripod (Complete): 44 pounds (19.98 kilograms)
Total: 128 pounds (58 kilograms)
Bore diameter: .50 inches (12.7mm)
Maximum effective range: 2000 meters with tripod mount
Maximum range: 4.22 miles (6.8 kilometers)
Maximum effective range: is 1,830 meters
Cyclic rate of fire: 550 rounds per minute
Unit Replacement Cost: $14,002
