The Badass Browning M2,Designed and invented by the legendary John Browning, the Browning M2 was dev

The Badass Browning M2,Designed and invented by the legendary John Browning, the Browning M2 was developed from Browning’s earlier machine gun design, the M1919 Browning.  The M2 utilized the same principles of the M1919, only it was chambered in the powerful .50 BMG round, which was specifically invented by Browning for the weapon.  During World War I machine guns were among the deadliest weapons of the war.  American Gen. John Pershing requested the development of a larger caliber machine gun after seeing the effectiveness of various anti-tank guns during the war.  John Browning obliged by developing the M2 and the .50 BMG cartridge.  A design of unparalleled badassery, the M2 is perhaps the most popular heavy machine gun in the world.  Browning completed the design in the form of the M1921.  However the M1921 had some flaws that needed worked out.  Unfortunately Browning died in 1926, so another designer named Dr. S.H. Green took up the program, improving upon the Browning design between 1927 and 1933.  The final product, the Browning M2 heavy machine gun, was adopted by the US military in 1933. Utilizing belt ammunition, the M2 could fire at rates of 450-650 rounds per minute.  The powerful .50BMG round achieved a velocity near 3,000 feet per second, with an optimum range of around 1,800 meters.  It could fire a number of different rounds, including regular ball, armor piercing, incendiary, explosive, and tracer rounds.The heyday of the M2 came throughout World War II, where it was used in a wide variety of roles.  When mounted on a tripod, jeep, tank, armored car, or other vehicle, they became a formidable anti-infantry weapon.  Whereas the fast firing of the German MG-42 was known to terrify American GI’s, the hard thumping of the M2 was a sheer terror for Germany infantry.  When combined on a quad mount, they made formidable anti aircraft weapons.  They could also be mounted on boats, ships, and aircraft.  In fact, during World War II and Korea, they become the most common guns for fighter aircraft and bombers.  Heck, the M2 was so versatile, during the Vietnam War the famous sniper Carlos Hathcock used an M2 mounted with a scope as a long range sniper rifle.After World War II, the M2 continued its service with the US military, seeing combat in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.  Today, the venerable M2 is still the most common heavy machine gun of US armed forces, making it the second oldest design in use next to the Colt 1911 (another Browning design).  Furthermore, the M2 is not only an American weapon, but commonly used by most NATO countries as well.  As a result, the M2 has been used on numerous battlefields across the globe throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.   -- source link
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