M2 Browning: The WWII Machine Gun we Still Use Today

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[splintersparten]

You should definitely make a biographic's video on John Moses browning. He is by far the most prolific weapons designer in history.

[Norbrookc]

R. Lee Ermey on one of his shows talked about the M2, and he said "The only thing that can replace the Ma Deuce is another Ma Deuce." The axiom of "If it's not broke, don't fix it" applies to it, although it has several tweaks over the years to make it better.

[justinkashtock]

The M2 was one of my all-time favorite firearms to shoot while I was in the Army. All but the most firearm illiterate people know about bullet velocity, leading a target, etc. due to the fact that bullets take time to reach a target, but there's a big difference between knowing that information mentally and seeing it first-hand: the bullet fired by the M2 is large enough that on a clear day firing at a distant target, you can watch the bullet travel all the way to the target. When I first fired it, what amazed me the most was realizing how slow bullets actually fly compared to what you imagine in your head; I could see the bullet at it appeared to somewhat slowly float towards the target in the distance before making contact and unleashing its devastating power. You could see the vapor trail of a bullet fired from an M16, but it was still a completely different experience to watching the .50 caliber bullet glide through the air on the way to the target.
It was a very surreal experience that I've never experienced with any other firearm. Anyone who has the opportunity to fire an M2 on a long distance target range should absolutely give it a try, because it's a surreal experience that will broaden your cognition of ballistic principles.
10/10 - highly recommended!

[jacobklunder]

“Imagine WWIII breaks out…”
Well, that’s gonna be easy right now.

[bo]

Simon: Imagine for a moment World War 3 erupts
*looks at the news today*
....timing is impeccable

[tacticalrepair]

Simon, I'm a gunsmith at an Army depot and I come across very early production M2s often. I ran across serial #1390 just the other day.
You might also be surprised to see some of the extremely early M16s we still have in inventory as well.

[Pile_of_carbon]

The M2 Browning is literally the definition of "If it's not broken, don't fix it."
I can easily see this gun still being in use in another hundred years, with very few updates made.

[keatoncampbell]

M2, the standard of reliable and effective design. Blows my mind that there are m2s from the original production batch still in service

[christiphorballestero]

I was an Armorer in the US Army and I saw one that was manufactured by the Singer Sewing Machine Co during WWII. Damn thing still drummed out rounds like clockwork.

[admiraltiberius]

A joke in the Warhammer 40k community is that you'd likely find a M2 50 cal in a few Space Marine armories, they'd treat them as honored relic weapons.

[devikwolf]

A little extra info: Simon mentions "three zero zero six" but it would be pronounced "thirty ought six" as in 30 caliber, version of 1906, and written as 30-06. This was an improvement on the earlier 30-03 round, redesigned as a response to Germany's 7.92 round being capped with a new style bullet.

[bartfoster]

Ma Deuce, the iconic heavy machine gun. I have carried one of these and they certainly aren't light but sure are powerful. The cloud of dust kicked up as the pressure wave spreads from the blast separates this from your normal rifle. With a 666 grain bullet you can reach out and turn someone into mist.

[Nipplator]

It's "Ma", as in mother not "My", she'll care for and protect you like you are her child as long as you show her the respect she deserves. I had the honor of using the AN models From Blackhawks, and I certainly never want to be on the business end of her.

[rayraudebaugh]

The genius of John M. Browning. I loved shooting the M2 HB but the Model 1919 was no slouch. The ones we had were from the 1950's and I can't remember ever having a malfunction with one. The M-60s we had would consistently go down after only a few hundred rounds.

[chesspiece]

The 1911 .45 ACP is such a legendary pistol.

[MrWizeazz]

It’s hard not to feel like a bad ass when you’re manning one of these during a firefight! Luckily the M2 never went down like our Mark 19 constantly did.

[Sergiblacklist]

Browning's weapons really stood the test of time.

[andersjjensen]

Having had a long term relationship with one of these: It's impossibly good. There are way too many parts in it. It should not work this well. It's everything engineering tells you not to do. All theory says that it should be either unreliable or maintenance heavy... but it is neither.

I don't know how many thousand rounds I've put through one of these. Of all of those I've had exactly one malfunction: a failure to extract. I can't blame that on the gun though. It did extract the bottom section of the casing alright. But since the case had ruptured most of the front end was still stuck in the chamber. It's kinda hard to extract two pieces as if they were one...

[patrickdurham]

The Ma Deuce I ran in the early 80's was Korean war vintage but she was a sweetie. The USMC got crappy equipment but our armorers were the best.

[KillaAkuma]

In Army it was nicknamed the hammer of god. I spent many years behind one of these. We had ones that were still wrapped in storage grease and paper with serial numbers from WWII original ones were you had to head space and timing gauge.