An M2 machine gun surrounded by spent shell casings The M2 .50 machine gun, nicknamed Ma Deuce by troops, is a weapon designed by John Browning just after WWI that is still in use today. It fires .50 BMG cartridges that were designed for this weapon but today find a new use in high powered sniper rifles. An M2 machine gun, public domain photo from usmc. ...
An M2 machine gun, public domain photo from usmc. ...
John Moses Browning (January 21, 1855–November 26, 1926), born in Ogden, Utah, was an American firearms designer who developed many varieties of weapons which were used in the US Military for decades in the 20th century. ...
Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ...
The . ...
A U.S. Army soldier peers through a scope mounted atop his M-21 rifle during operations in Iraq A sniper rifle is a type of rifle used for engaging in the act of sniping, most purely a rifle used for shooting with great accuracy over long distances. ...
The M2 is an air-cooled, belt-fed machine gun 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 forward relative to the barrel. This action opens the bolt, and pulls the belt of ammunition through the weapon, readying it to fire again, all at a cyclic rate of 550 rounds per minute. This is a rate of fire not generally achieved in use, as sustained fire at that rate will quickly 'shoot out' the barrel, necessitating replacement. In practice, the weapon is used to fire short bursts, and M2s used in the ground role are capable of either single-shot or fully-automatic operation. The short-recoil system of operation is that which uses the recoil of the firearm to function (that is, to lock/unlock the firearms breech, to extract and eject the cartridge case from the firearm, to feed a new cartridge into the chamber, and to ready the firing mechanism). ...
Designed to be a aircraft machine gun (a role it did fill later on) just after World War I but was also selected for the ground role and adopted by the as the Model 1921, and served in the 1920's as a anti-aircraft and anti-armor gun. In 1932 the design was updated and adopted as the M2, though doing the same jobs.
The M2 has a maximum range of almost 7 kilometers (4.2 miles), but its maximum effective range is roughly 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) when fired from a stable mount, such as a tripod or vehicle. In its ground-portable, crew-served role, the gun itself weighs in at a hefty 84 pounds (38 kg), and the assembled M3 tripod another 44 pounds (20 kg).
The M2 .50 Browning machine gun is used for various roles:
- A medium infantry support weapon.
- When doubled it is used as an anti-aircraft gun in some ships.
- Primary or secondary weapon on an armored fighting vehicle.
- Coaxial gun in some tanks.
- A primary armament in WWII-era US aircraft, and the Korean-era US F-86 Sabre.
American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ...
An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is a military vehicle, equipped with protection against hostile attacks and often mounted weapons. ...
coaxial cable In geometry, coaxial means that two or more forms share a common axis; it is the three-dimensional analog of concentric. Coaxial cable, for example, has a conducting wire in the center and a second conducting layer running all the way around the exterior circumference, under the insulation. ...
The first proposals for the North American Aviation F-86 Sabre were made in 1944, but construction was not begun until after World War II. Many elements of German jet design were implemented in the Sabre, after the American liberation troops captured a number of working Messerschmitt Me 262 experimental...
See also
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Mid 1945 produced US.M1911A1 US Army Colt by Remington Rand. ...
A rifle is any long gun which has a rifled barrel. ...
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M1 Garand battle rifle The M1 Garand (more formally the United States Rifle, .30 Caliber, M1) was the first semi-automatic rifle to be put in active military service. ...
The M1 Carbine (more formally the United States Carbine, Caliber . ...
The Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) was designed in 1917 by the weapons designer John Browning as a replacement for the French-made Chauchat Light Machine Gun, which was plagued by design flaws that made it ineffective. ...
A submachine gun is a firearm which combines the automatic fire of a machine gun with the ammunition of a pistol, and is usually between the two in weight and size. ...
The Thompson submachine gun, also known as the Tommy gun, was an American submachine gun (SMG) that became infamous during the Prohibition era. ...
M3A1 with stock extended image from Modern Firearms Submachine Gun, Cal. ...
This article refers to the weapon. ...
The Browning M1919 is a light infantry unit machine gun manufactured by the Browning Arms Company. ...
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Pistol: .38 Pistol M9 (Beretta 92 FS 9mm) M11 Pistol (SIG P228) M1911 M1917 Mk 23 Mod 0 Shotguns: Winchester M1897 Trench Gun Mossberg 590 Remington 870 Winchester 1200 Benelli Super 90 12 ga. ...
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