The German Alternative to the 50 Cal

The M2 Browning 50 Cal Machine Gun was one of the most devastating weapons of the Second World War. The huge rounds it fired caused destruction wherever it went. But have you ever wondered why the German Forces didn't employ their own version of the 50 Cal? Its an interesting question and in this video we will look at the German alternative to the 50 Cal during World War Two.

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[PremierHistory]

Did you ever turn your mind to the lack of German 50 cals during the war? If they did create one how effective do you think it would have been?

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[jonmcgee]

Considering how many 20 mm guns they had and used. It's always been my assumption that they saw no need to make their own version of the .50 Cal.

[jokervienna]

As far as I understand it, the lack of a German version of 50 cal was due to that it was too small to have an explosive projectile (at the time). Their "small" machine guns where certainly good enough and a 20 mm cannon could fire explosive rounds. I might be wrong here, but that is what I remember from some other documentary.

[SilverShamrockNovelties]

The Germans had an infantry machine gun designated MG 18 chambered in 13mm they developed during World War I. It was massive, and it was primarily used against Allied tanks.

[-MATER.DEI-]

The 20mm scene in Saving Private Ryan was brutal

[notmenotme]

German tactics, especially in the first half of the war, were to have large light infantry squads that were centred around a dismounted machine gunner. They would fire and manoeuvre with the MG.
A .50 Cal would have been too heavy and bulky for the tactics they used. While they could run with a MG42.
I would say the MG42 is more similar to Bren gun, BAR or even the modern M249 Squad Automatic Weapon.

[brucevaughn]

Never gave it a lot of thought. 20mm is just way more gun.

[aurorathekitty]

American army was completely motorized so they could easily attach the 50 cal to alot of vehicles while the German army was only partially motorized so the lighter option is gonna win out for them. Both the Germans and Red Army used horses.

[petefluffy]

For a start Germany doesn't use inches to measure calibre. They did have a 13mm machine gun, the MG 131. Where does that leave your question ?

[stevetheduck]

The Germans used a large number of 12.7mm - 13mm MGs (almost exactly 1/2inch or .50calibre) as the primary armament of fighters from the Messerschmitt Bf109F and early Focke-Wulf Fw190 onwards.
Usually positioned over the nose, they replaced the 7.92mm MG s due to them being almost ineffective against improvements to armour on Allied fighters. The 20mm cannon in the wings or in gondolas under the wings came later.
Though some sub-variants of the Bf109 had 20mm cannon firing through the nose, they were usually in the centre, firing through the propellor hub.

These 12.7mm MGs were also sometimes used as turret weapons on larger bombers such as the Heinkel He177 and flying boats.

Whether near 1/2inch weapons were used on tanks or armoured cars, as the BESA and BESAL were on British tanks, I don't know.

[dylantheelephant]

Germany made a similar design to the M2 in world war one. The MG 18 TuF (tank und flieger). It used the 13.2mm cartridge used by the tank gewehr. I believe this cartridge actually served the basis for 50BMG.

[antoniostamndley]

20 mm was used where necessary, and provided better fire power... MG 42+ was and IS still used today , probably the best MG, ever made,

[jeremycox]

The closest thing that the US had in its arsenal to a 50 cal version of the MG 42 was the M3 50 caliber machine gun that we had on our bombers and fighters

[IDBTitanosaurus]

Because the MG42 was that badass. And if they needed something bigger, they had the 20 mm cannons.

[matthewzito]

I think the big advantage of a .50 caliber machine gun is that it offers a significant increase in range and power over a typical machine gun, while still being smaller, lighter and less expensive than a smallbore cannon like the German 20mm, which means an army can have a lot of them. You can also carry more ammo for a .50 caliber machine gun that you can for a 20mm, since .50 BMG ammo is smaller. Finally, you can mount a .50 caliber machine gun on a tripod or a Jeep, which wouldn't be practical with something larger.

[jenniferstewarts]

a .50 call would have just gummed up logistics.

US tanks operated 2 different kinds of machine guns. .50 cal on top, and .30 cal. germany only used the rifle round for their aircraft, tanks, and such. had they wanted to, they COULD have done an MG131 on a tank but there was simply no need.

The US wanted to put .50's on everything but for the most part in german cases... the 20mm worked better for air craft, air to ground then the .50... and the mg41 worked better for anti-personal

[alessiodecarolis]

There was also a different vision how to employ It, the US army was totally motorized, so it was easier to carry such an huge gun with them, don't forget that the.50 was intended, at least 'til the late '30s, as a double use HMG, against aircrafts and tanks, that were generally very light, so AT rifles weren't in use by the US army. On the contrary the Wermacht didn't had a lot of motorized units and generally they had dedicated AT & AA units, and for the normal fights the MG34/43 was reputed more than Ok.

[jeffjefferson]

The Germans had very effective 20mm guns. Also the high rate of fire of the mg42 makes it so that you can put down a lot of fire, also at extended ranges, and still have a high hit probability. Making up for its curved trajectory. It does mean you can put down fire behind the "military crest of a hill" at closer ranges, and that is a capability you would want to have.

Also the Germans had rounds that produced phosphorus upon impact due to the mixed TNT explosive and the "C2CL4" with paraffin. I dont have any records on the application of this type of munition, but I'm sure its more potent then regular explosive ammo for 20mm and up calibers.

Maybe that is why.

Greetings,


Jeff

[danielgreen]

They Nicknamed the 20mm the Mincer especially in the Quad version!

[jimallroggen]

Watch Saving Private Ryan their is a excellent use of a German 20mm gun sweeping off the Tiger tank