Have you ever wondered just how long the M2 Browning .50 caliber Heavy Machinegun, affectionally known as “Ma Deuce”, has been hanging around the battlefield? Whenever the .50 caliber is mentioned, those talking about it do so in what would best be described as reverent, awe-inspired tones. Their eyes take on a far-away stare.
Let’s take a closer look at this most interesting weapon.
Way Back When
During WWI, General Pershing recognized the need for a Heavy Machine Gun (HMG) because of the use of armor and airplanes, so he requested that one be developed. Conventional rifle rounds were not having enough effect on armored aircraft, so the US needed something heavier to deal with them. The Army enlisted the help of none other than the legendary John Moses Browning (a good choice, in our opinion).
Browning scaled up his M1917 .30 caliber design to accept the .50 caliber round. Within a year, Browning, Colt, and Winchester had developed the new round and had a working prototype. Unfortunately, the .50 caliber just missed being used in WWI. By 1921, the Army had adopted a water-cooled version of the .50 caliber machine gun.
After Browning’s death, other designers made some adjustments to the design. In the 1930s, Colt took over the production of the M2. During WWII, the M2 was mounted on most US fighter planes and bombers. B-17 bombers mounted as many as 12 .50 caliber machine guns. Some fighters mounted up to eight forward-firing .50 calibers for a devastating amount of firepower.
The M45 “Quad .50” was invented, mounting four M2s in one mount. Mounted on vehicles such as the half-track, this setup served in the anti-aircraft role and also lent support to the infantry. The M2 .50 caliber machine gun has served in every war since WWII and shows no signs of slowing down in the future.
Enduring Design
Since its adoption, the basic design of the M2 .50 Caliber has not changed much. It is a short recoil-operated belt-fed machine gun that fires from a closed bolt. When it fires, the barrel recoils a short distance, which imparts force on the bolt and bolt carrier. Then the bolt unlocks, travels to the rear, ejects the spent casing downward, and strips a new round from the belt. The rate of fire is approximately 450-600 rounds per minute (RPM). Varieties that are mounted on aircraft can have a much higher rate of fire; up to 1,300 rounds per minute.
The gun is crew-served, weighing 84 pounds (without the tripod). With the tripod added, the weight comes up to 128 pounds. It can be set up to feed ammunition from either the left or right side of the gun. Ammunition is fed with a disintegrating link belt. The phrase, “The Whole Nine Yards” comes from the fact that .50 caliber ammunition, in WWII, came in nine-yard-long belts. If a fighter pilot expended all of his ammunition, he had given “the whole nine yards.” Hence the origin of the phrase.
WWII
The M2’s performance in World War II really seemed to cement its place in our arsenal. During the early 1940s, over one million M2 .50 caliber machine guns were produced for the US Military. A few of the manufacturers who produced the vaunted M2 included Frigidaire, AC Spark Plugs, and General Motors.
As well, ammunition was produced and used in unimaginable amounts. One plant in St. Louis produced 6.7 billion rounds of .30 and .50 caliber ammunition during the war. That’s just one plant!
The biggest user of .50 caliber ammo was likely the bomber squadrons of WWII, with each B-17 having twelve .50 caliber machine guns. Some formations in the Eighth Air Force flying over Germany had several hundred bombers each.
Look, Ma — I’m Famous!
The M2 can also fire in semi-automatic mode. Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, in 1967, mounted a 10x sniper scope to an M2 and made what was, at the time, the longest recorded sniper kill in history—2,500 yards. That record was only broken in 2002.
Gunny Hathcock wasn’t the only famous one to use the Ma Deuce in combat—Audie Murphy held off six panzers and 250 German soldiers in Eastern France as he fired the M2 from a burning tank destroyer. This feat earned him the Medal Of Honor.
Long Range Versatility
The effective range of the .50 is listed as 2,000 yards, but Gunny Hathcock has proven that is flexible. The range of the bullet is four miles. In fact, the round has been adapted to fire through dedicated sniper rifles and has filled that role for a number of years now.
Although it can be deployed by infantry, its heavy weight makes being mounted in vehicles more practical. And the M2 is mounted in every vehicle conceivable, from Humvees to tanks, boats, helicopters, planes…you name it, the .50 will be found there.
It is effective against lightly armored vehicles, personnel, ships/boats, buildings, vegetation…pretty much anything that can hold or conceal the enemy can be chopped to pieces using an M2 Browning.
Upgrades
The M2A1 features a quick-change barrel. It also features a fixed headspace and timing so that crews do not have to engage in that process any longer. There is a removable carry handle as well. A flash hider has been added, which greatly reduces the muzzle flash, making the gun more concealable at night.
The .50 Caliber Round
Initially, as the .50 caliber (12.7x99mm) was being developed, it was influenced by the German 13mm anti-tank round. The .50 caliber rounds that we know today were not the initial ones invented; they went through a series of changes. Those first cartridges did not have the desired muzzle velocity, so subsequent loadings were developed in a series up until the required velocity was achieved.
Through 1937, various improvements in propellant were tested, resulting in velocities up to 2,700 feet per second (which, at the time, was considered to be the minimum desired velocity). In the 1940s, the weight of the projectile was reduced from 750 to 710 grains, which raised velocities to 2,810 feet per second. The chamber pressure was 55,000 PSI. This round could penetrate a 3/4-inch armor plate at 600 yards. This became the new M2 round, which replaced the M1 round, and was used in WWII.
Currently, .50 caliber ammunition is being produced in over 30 countries. The cartridge is rimless with a bottleneck and mostly made of brass. Some are Boxer-primed, while others are Berdan-primed.
The US Military has over 25 variations of the round. Such a versatile weapon deserves an expansive variety of ammo to digest.
The following are some (not all) of the rounds developed for the .50 caliber:
- M8 Ball Armor Piercing Incendiary (API): It was designed to replace the M1 Incendiary and the M2 armor-piercing cartridge. The round is 5.45 inches long and has an aluminum-colored bullet tip. The muzzle velocity is 2,910 FPS. The approximate range is 7,117 yards.
- M20 Armor Piercing Incendiary Tracer (APIT): Similar to the M8 API round except that a tracer element is added. The round is 5.45 inches long and has a red and aluminum bullet tip for identification. The trace begins at 100 to 250 yards and goes to about 1,750 yards. It will penetrate 7/8 inches of armor plate at 100 yards.
- M33 Ball: This cartridge replaced the standard M2 Ball and is used where Armor Piercing or Tracer rounds are not needed, such as unarmored targets or personnel.
- M858 Plastic Practice Ball: It is intended for scaled-range training. It weighs 460 grains and has a velocity of 2,790 FPS, with a maximum range of 750 meters. It is identified by a blue bullet and case.
- M860 Plastic Practice Tracer: Similar to the M858 Plastic Practice Ball, except that it has a trace element added. The case is blue plastic and has a red bullet tip. It is intended as a low-cost training round.
- M903 Saboted Light Armor Penetrator (SLAP): Designed to penetrate lightly armored targets. The projectile is reduced to .30 caliber and weighs 355 grains, being constructed of Tungsten and wrapped in a plastic sabot. Muzzle velocity is 4,000 FPS and it can penetrate 3/4-inches of hard armor.
- M962 Saboted Light Armor Penetrator Tracer: To be used with the M903 SLAP rounds. It has a red sabot for identification. Very similar to the M903 SLAP round, except it has a trace element so the trajectory of the round can be observed.
- MK211 Armor Piercing Incendiary (API): The round exhibits increased penetration against personnel and vehicles. A brass jacket surrounds a steel body and a Tungsten core with incendiary and a high explosive charge. It has a green tip for identification.
- M1A1 Blank: Identified by the absence of a bullet, this round is used for training.
These are just a few of the many rounds available. There seems to be a round for every conceivable job that the .50 might do.
Summary
The M2 Browning .50 caliber Heavy Machine Gun has been serving for many decades and will continue to soldier on for the future. It has earned the respect and praise of those who have used it and trained with it. It’s amazing that a design has endured since 1919 and is still going strong. The fact that it has been used, non-stop, for every conflict our country has seen since it was developed speaks volumes.
Do your readers have any experience with the M2 Browning? We’d love to hear about it!
