"Fifty cal" and ".50 cal" redirect here. For cartridges in this caliber, see 12 mm caliber.
Browning machine gun, cal. .50, M2, HB
M2E2 with a quick change barrel and tripod
Type
Heavy machine gun
Place of origin
United States
Service history
In service
1933–present
Used by
See Users
Wars
World War II Indonesian National Revolution Korean War First Indochina War Suez Crisis Vietnam War Colombian Armed Conflict Dominican Civil War[1] Cambodian–Vietnamese War Sino-Vietnamese War Falklands War Operation Urgent Fury Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present) Operation Just Cause Persian Gulf War Rwandan Civil War[2] Somali Civil War Yugoslav Wars Operation Uphold Democracy War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)[3] Iraq War Syrian Civil War (2011–present) War in Iraq (2013–2017)[4] Yemeni Civil War (2014–present) Russo-Ukrainian War[5]
Production history
Designer
John M. Browning
Designed
1918
Manufacturer
Active
Fabrique Nationale
General Dynamics
Ohio Ordnance Works Inc.
U.S. Ordnance
Former
Manroy Engineering
Sabre Defence Industries
Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company
High Standard Firearms
Savage Arms Corporation
Buffalo Arms Corporation
General Motors Corporation
Frigidaire
AC Spark Plug
Saginaw Steering Gear Division
Brown-Lipe-Chappin Divisions
Kelsey Hayes Wheel Company
Springfield Armory
Wayne Pump Company
ERMCO
Ramo Manufacturing
Rock Island Arsenal
Produced
1921–present (M2HB/M2A1)
No. built
3 million[6]
Specifications
Mass
38 kg (84 lb) 28 kg (62 lb) (AN/M2)
58 kg (128 lb) with tripod and traverse and elevation mechanism (T&E)
Length
1,654 mm (65.1 in) 1,429 mm (56.3 in) (AN/M2)
Barrel length
1,143 mm (45.0 in) 910 mm (35.8 in) (AN/M2)
Cartridge
.50 BMG (12.7×99mm NATO)
Action
Short recoil-operated
Rate of fire
450–600 rounds/min (M2HB)[7][8]
750–850 rounds/min (AN/M2)
1,200–1,300 rounds/min (AN/M3)[9]
Muzzle velocity
2,910 ft/s (890 m/s) for M33 ball
Effective firing range
1,800 m (2,000 yd)[7]
Maximum firing range
7,400 m (8,100 yd)
Feed system
Belt-fed (M2 or M9 links)
The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce"[10][11]) is a heavy machine gun that was designed near the end of World War I by John Browning. While similar to Browning's M1919 Browning machine gun, which was chambered for the .30-06 cartridge, the M2 uses Browning's larger and more powerful .50 BMG (12.7 mm) cartridge. The design has had many designations; the official U.S. military designation for the infantry type is Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB, Flexible. It has been used against infantry, light armored vehicles, watercraft, light fortifications, and low-flying aircraft.
The gun has been used extensively as a vehicle weapon and for aircraft armament by the United States since the 1930s. It was heavily used during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Falklands War, the Soviet–Afghan War, the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the War in Afghanistan. It is the primary heavy machine gun of NATO countries and has been used by many other countries as well. U.S. forces have used the M2 longer than any other firearm except the .45 ACP M1911 pistol, which was also designed by John Browning.
The M2HB (heavy barrel) is manufactured in the U.S. by General Dynamics,[12] Ohio Ordnance Works,[13] U.S. Ordnance,[14] and FN Herstal for sale to the U.S. government and other nations via Foreign Military Sales.
^Yates, Lawrence A. (July 1988). Power Pack: U.S. Intervention in the Dominican Republic, 1965-1966(PDF). Leavenworth Papers, Number 15. United States Army Command and General Staff College. p. 123.
^"A Rwandan government soldier fires on June 12, 1994 to Rwandan".
^FUNKER530 - Veteran Community & Combat Footage (June 21, 2013). "50 Cal. Gunner Engages Taliban Positions During Ambush". YouTube. Archived from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved June 4, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^"Iraqi Capture of Saqlawiyah Northwest of Fallujah From Da'esh". YouTube. Archived from the original on June 2, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
^"Ukraine has received Browning .50 caliber heavy machine gun". Bulgarian Military. March 22, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
^"Report: Profiling the Small Arms Industry". World Policy Institute. November 2000. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
^ ab"FN M2HB-QCB". FN Herstal. Archived from the original on December 25, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
^Dunlap 1948, pp. 310–311.
^Chinn 1951, III pp. 315, 323–334. In 1939, H. Arnold sought a cyclic rate greater that 1000 rounds/minute. The T25E3 gun was standardized as M3, and 2,400 had been made by September 1945. "The standardized basic machine gun fired at the rate of 1,200 rounds per minute."
^"24th MEU ACE 'lock and load' Ma Deuce: photo essay". 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
^Rottman, Gordon (2008). The US Army in the Vietnam War 1965–73. Reading, UK: Osprey Publishing. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-84603-239-4.
^"Contracts for Friday, September 3, 2010". Defense.gov. Archived from the original on May 29, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
^".50 M2HB QCB (M2A1)". Ohio Ordnance Military. October 28, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
^"Contracts for Wednesday, July 15, 2009". Defense.gov. Archived from the original on May 29, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
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