An M2 machine gun surrounded by spent shell casings
M2
Type	Heavy machine gun
Nationality	US
Era	post WW1 onwards
History
Date of design	1921
Production period	1932 - present
Service duration	1932 - present
Operators	see text
War service
Specifications
Type
Calibre	.50 in (12.7 mm)
Barrel length	1.14 m
Ammunition	.50 BMG
Magazine	belt
Action	recoil
Rate of fire	550
Muzzle velocity
Weight	38 kg, inc tripod 58 kg
Length	1.65 m
Variants	M2HB, M2HBQCB
Number built

This article is about the .50 calibre M2 machine gun, for the .30-'06 M2 machine gun see Browning Model 1919 machine gun.

The M2 .50 machine gun, nicknamed Ma Deuce by troops, is a heavy machine gun designed just after World War I by John Browning. The M2 .50 was used extensively as a vehicle weapon and for aircraft armament by the US during WW2 and is still in use today. It was very similar in design to the smaller .30-06 and .303 inch Browning Model 1919 machine gun. Image File history File links An M2 machine gun, public domain photo from [1] File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The word caliber (American English) or calibre (British English) comes from the Italian calibro, itself from the Arabic quâlib, meaning mould. ... The . ... Browning Model 1919 Type Machine Gun Nationality U.S. Era World War II History Date of design 1919 Production period 1919 - 1945 Service duration 1919 - 1990s Operators U.S. and Allies War service WWII - Korea Specifications Type Calibre . ... The M2 machine gun with a tripod weighs 58 kg (128 lb). ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... 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 U.S. military for decades in the 20th century. ... .303 in. ... .303 cartridge The . ... Browning Model 1919 Type Machine Gun Nationality U.S. Era World War II History Date of design 1919 Production period 1919 - 1945 Service duration 1919 - 1990s Operators U.S. and Allies War service WWII - Korea Specifications Type Calibre . ...

History

Designed to be a aircraft machine gun (a role that it did fill later on) just after World War I, it was also selected for the ground role and adopted by the US as the Model 1921. The latter served during the 1920s as an anti-aircraft and anti-armor gun. In 1932, the design was updated and adopted as the M2, though carrying out the same functions. With the addition of a sturdier barrel it became the M2HB. Due to the long procedure for changing the barrel, an improved system has been developed called QCB (Quick barrel change). A lightweight version, weighing 11 kg less - a mere 27 kg - has also been developed. Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties. // Events and trends Technology John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as Tommy gun John Logie Baird invents the first working television system (1925) Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ... Anti-tank, or simply AT, refers to any method of combating military armored fighting vehicles, notably tanks. ... 1932 is a leap year starting on a Friday. ...

Design

It fires .50 BMG cartridges that were designed for this weapon, which today are also used in high powered sniper rifles and long range target rifles due to its excellent long range accuracy and external ballistics performance. 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 rearwards 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 semiautomatic or fully-automatic operation. 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. ... External ballistics is the part of ballistics that refers to the behavior of a bullet after it exits the barrel and before it hits the target. ... Engine cooling is the process of cooling an engine by using either air or liquid. ... A belt feeding into an M249 machine gun, from an Army training manual A belt feeding into a M1919A4 from a wooden ammo box A belt is an ammunition feeding device for a firearm. ... 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). ... A bolt-action firearm is one that is manually operated (i. ... The barrel of a gun or other firearm is the tube, usually metal, through which a controlled explosion is released in order to propel a projectile out of the end at great speed. ... A semi-automatic firearm automatically loads a round into the chamber after the weapon is fired, but still requires a trigger pull for each round that is fired. ...

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. In this case a pair one left handed and one right handed feed are used
• 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.

The GAU-16 light-weight version2 is used for helicopter door mounts. 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. ... F-86 Sabre at Oshkosh Airshow, 2003 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. The XP-86 prototype, which would become the F-86 Sabre, first flew on October 1, 1947. ... A helicopter is an aircraft which is lifted and propelled by one or more large horizontal rotors (propellers). ...

A water cooled version of the larger M2 was used as an emplaced or vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft weapon on a sturdy pedestal mount.

Naval twin mounting

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x842, 480 KB)050514-N-5526M-012 Gulf of Aden (May 14, 2005) - Fire Controlman Steven Baumgartner from Oelwein, Iowa, assigned to Combat Systems Department aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60), fires the twin . ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x842, 480 KB)050514-N-5526M-012 Gulf of Aden (May 14, 2005) - Fire Controlman Steven Baumgartner from Oelwein, Iowa, assigned to Combat Systems Department aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60), fires the twin . ...

See also

• List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces
• List of crew served weapons of the US Armed Forces

Pistol: In active service M9 (Beretta 92FS; Semiautomatic sidearm, 9x19mm Parabellum) M11 Pistol (SIG/Sauer P226; Semiautomatic sidearm, 9x19mm Parabellum) Mk 23 Mod 0 (Heckler und Koch Mark 23; Semiautomatic sidearm, .45 ACP) M1911 (Colt Model 1911; Semiautomatic sidearm, .45 ACP)(Currently in use with some Special Forces groups) Obsolete... Rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and machine guns FIM-92 Stinger FOTT Javelin M2 machine gun M242 Bushmaster Chain gun M19 (Mk19) Grenade launcher M37 M47 Dragon M60 machine gun M73 M85 M219 M220 TOW M240 M1919 OCSW Mortars M29 81 mm mortar M30 107 mm mortar M120 120 mm mortar... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb. ... The Korean War (Korean: 한국전쟁/韓國戰爭), from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953, was a conflict between North Korea and South Korea. ... Mid 1945 produced US.M1911A1 US Army Colt by Remington Rand. ... A rifle is any long gun which has a rifled barrel. ... A carbine is a firearm similar to, but shorter or weaker than, an ordinary rifle or musket of a given period. ... M1903 M1903A1 M1903A3 M1903A4 with M84 sight The Springfield 1903 rifle (designation United States Rifle, Caliber . ... M1 Garand Nationality United States Type Semi-automatic rifle Inventor John Garand Date of design 1924 Service duration 1936 - 1957 Cartridge . ... M1 Carbine Type service rifle Nationality US Era WW2 History Date of design 1938-1941 Production period September 1941 - Service duration US: July 1942 to 1960s Operators US, Israel, Bavaria War service US: WW2, Korea, Vietnam Specifications Type semi-automatic rifle (M1) Calibre 0. ... Johnson M1941 Nationality USA Type Semi-automatic rifle Inventor Melvin Johnson Date of design 1939 Service duration 1941 - 1945 Cartridge . ... Browning Automatic Rifle Type automatic rifle Nationality US Era post-World War I History Date of design 1918 Production period 1918 to 1940s Service duration 1918 to 1950s Operators US War service WW1, WW2, Korea Specifications Type select-fire Calibre . ... MP5KA4 9 x 19 mm with 3-round burst trigger group A submachine gun is a firearm that combines the automatic fire of a machine gun with the ammunition of a pistol, and is usually between the two in weight and size. ... Thompson M1928 The Thompson submachine gun, also known as the Tommy gun, was an American submachine gun (SMG) that became infamous during the Prohibition era. ... M3 Greasegun Type sub-machine gun Nationality US Era WW2 History Date of design 1942 Production period 1942 - Service duration 1942 - 1990 Operators US War service WW2, Korea Specifications Type Calibre . ... Jędrusie Polish underground group firing a machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ... The Browning Model 1917A1 water cooled heavy machine gun Browning Model 1917 Machine Gunis a heavy machine gun used by the United States armed forces in World War I, World War II, Korea, and to a limited amount in Vietnam;it was also used by some other countries too. ... Browning Model 1919 Type Machine Gun Nationality U.S. Era World War II History Date of design 1919 Production period 1919 - 1945 Service duration 1919 - 1990s Operators U.S. and Allies War service WWII - Korea Specifications Type Calibre . ... Johnson M1941 LMG Type automatic rifle Nationality USA Era WW2 History Date of design 1940 Production period 1940 to 1945 Service duration 1940 to 1961 Operators USA War service WW2, Bay of Pigs Specifications Type Light_machine_gun Calibre . ... The bazooka weapon was one of the first anti-tank weapons based on the HEAT shell to enter service, used by the United States Armed Forces in World War II. It was nicknamed bazooka from a vague resemblance to the musical instrument of the same name (see: bazooka (instrument)). // Development... A soldier from the U.S. 33rd Infantry Division uses an M2 flamethrower M2A1-7 is a flamethrower used by the American troops during World War II. It has four controls:- - Back of the rear grip: firing safety catch. ...

External links

• M2 .50 Caliber Machine Gun at Federation of American Scientists
• Browning M2HB & M2HQCB (USA)