Loading a New Belt onto a Belt-Fed MG

[Flying10uk]

How many belt-fed machine guns are like the Browning 50 cal. mg in that the cocking handle has to be pulled back twice after loading a new belt of ammo? I wouldn't have thought that it just the Browning 50 cal. that had this procedure and, likewise, I wouldn't have thought that all or most belt-fed mg's required this?

I thought up this "geekish question" after watching a 1940's made wartime film yesterday which showed a number of new ammo belts being loaded onto Browning 50 cal. MG's and then the cocking handle being pulled back twice before the weapon was ready to fire.

I was/am under the impression that the MG42 only required the cocking handle to be pulled back once after loading a new ammo belt?

[CINDERS]

Maybe it was to get rid of the 1st link after the round had been stripped from the linked belt to stop a possible jam of the pawl, just my illogical thought never had anything to do with a 50 BMG.

[Eaglelord17]

Most modern MG designs are similar to the MG-42 for the feed system and only require the cocking handle to be pulled back once (as that puts the bolt in the 'open' position which is ready to fire). I know this applies to the FN-Minimi and FN-MAG variants.

[browningautorifle]

the cocking handle has to be pulled back twice

That's only if you load the gun from a closed cover. We didn't do that with the 1919A4s or .50, we opened the cover and placed the first round against the cartridge stops and the link stripper...closed the cover, and then one cock of the handle loaded the chamber.

As stated, the new guns are loaded from an open cover as well and strip a round directly into the chamber and fire it like the MG34/42 and the M60.

[Daan Kemp]

IIRC the first one was to pull the belt tight and get the pawl/extractor thingy to get hold of the first cartridge, the second was to chamber said cartridge while pawl/extractor thingy grabbed hold of the next cartridge. Or words to that effect.

"Loading was accomplished by inserting the pull tab on the ammunition belt from the left side of the gun - either metal links or metal tab on cloth belts - until the feeding pawl at the entrance of the feed way engaged the first round in the belt and held it in place. The cocking handle was then pulled back with the right hand, palm facing up (to protect the thumb from injury if the weapon fired unexpectedly, which could happen if the barrel was very hot), and then released. This advanced the first round of the belt in front of the bolt for the extractor/ejector on the bolt to grab the first cartridge. The cocking handle was then pulled and released a second time. This caused the extractor to remove the first cartridge from the belt and chamber it (load it into the barrel ready to fire). As the bolt slid forward into battery, the extractor engaged the next round on the now-advanced belt resting in the feedway, preparing to draw it from the belt in the next firing cycle. ..." Wikipedia M1919 Browning machine gun

[browningautorifle]

IIRC the first one was to pull the belt tight and get the pawl/extractor thingy to get hold of the first cartridge, the second was to chamber said cartridge while pawl/extractor thingy grabbed hold of the next cartridge. Or words to that effect.

That is correct...the original belts used a pull tab. We used the disintegrating belts after about 1970.

[Flying10uk]

.the original belts used a pull tab.

Yes, the 1940's film did show this when loading a new belt.

Do disintegrating belts not normally have starter tabs?

[browningautorifle]

Do disintegrating belts not normally have starter tabs?

No, our newer ones have a chrome link to find the first one in that dark mass but before they were all just same parkerized double/singles. No starters...

[muffett.2008]

Jim, our belts had a metal leadin, just push it in and pull from the other side, a nice healthy click lets you know the first round is under the extractor.
Opening breech covers was not so easy in a crowded turret.

[browningautorifle]

our belts had a metal leadin

Interesting, did you folk make them? Ours were IVI produced and the US issue dropped the lead tab too. Agreed about the turret deal, even after our Grizzly turret decreased in size to the Cadillac-Gage model we were still doing open cover loads with both .50 and 1919A4 (C-5). I don't remember seeing them when I was there in Australia in '77 either and we had a few M113s with the double turrets...but they were .30 cal guns, weren't they? The lead tabs were dropped by us when we changed from .30 cal to 7.62. That was about 1970.