Browning .50 M2 receives an upgrade; sounds superb

[Louis of PA]

from strategypage.com

Makeover For Ma Deuce

August 10, 2009: Since 1921, the .50 caliber Browning M2 heavy machine-gun has served the U.S. military essentially unchanged right up to the present day. A testament to its designer’s genius, numerous attempts at a replacement have fallen short, especially in recent years.

However, the weapon is not without its shortcomings. One of the most annoying and time consuming fixes occurs when changing out the barrel. Upon fitting, the operator must adjust the headspace and timing in order to ensure proper function. This is a sometimes fatal flaw, as when engaged in battle, soldier is exposed to enemy fire for several minutes.

Enter the M2-E2. This latest upgrade significantly increases the effectiveness of the standard .50 caliber design without altering the operating system. Most importantly, changing barrels has been reduced from several minutes to mere seconds.

The Army’s Maneuver Battle Lab recently conducted testing at Fort Benning, Georgia allowing soldiers to conduct live fire exercises with both the standard weapon and the enhanced version. Times were taken to judge the barrel change feature and feedback recorded from troops.

Other aspects of the M2-E2 are a four pronged flash hider, a common barrel thread that simplifies logistics and allows conversion of existing M2 barrels to the Quick Change feature, a removable barrel handle, patented J-slot retention system for aligning barrels, closed bolt with manual trigger safety, and a picatinney rail on the receiver for optics.

Testing in hot and cold environments is underway with a fielding date yet to be determined. -- Mike Perry

Information

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[jsaviano]

Easy; screw the barrel in all the way, back it out 2 clicks & your prewtty certain that it's good to go; providing nobody screwed around with the timing. Did it thousands of time. It even works with old, worn guns & barrels.

[Vern Humphrey]

Amen. I was a mech company commander my second tour. Each M113 APC with ACAV modification had 2 M60s (usually mounted in antenna mounts) and the M2. We would commandeer one of the asbestos gloves for the M60s for the M2 when we ground-mounted them at night. Changing barrels was simple -- screw it in, back off two clicks.

Another trick was to double load the gun (the action has to be racked twice to fire) and to safety it by jamming a cartridge case between the butterfly triggers and the recoil buffer.

[John Sukey (Deceased)]

Actualy that quick change barrel is a Belgian thing and has been around for years. Nice to see our military finaly got around to it.

[Vern Humphrey]

Also useful on the M1919 .30 cal, if we had kept that weapon in service.

[jsaviano]

Of course if you don't have a set of headspace/timing gages you could use a nickle & a dime to double check headspace & timing.

[Terry N.]

Most of the units here in Korea do not have enough H&T gages for all of their weapons, and the ones they do have, have never been calibrated (an annual requirement). Those battalion commanders get quite upset when I tell them that a missing (or uncalibrated) H&T gage deadlines the M1A1 tank that it mounts on!

They're beginning to get the picture now, but it's been an uphill battle all the way!

[Former Cav]

>>>
Easy; screw the barrel in all the way, back it out 2 clicks & your prewtty certain that it's good to go; providing nobody screwed around with the timing. Did it thousands of time. It even works with old, worn guns & barrels.
<<<

I seem to remember you had to count the total number of clicks, then divide by 2, then count that number of clicks coming out, then use the go/no go gages.
Did I forget. That was on the M-2 (Not the M-85 with 2 rates of fire)
Bob

[jsaviano]

Don't know about counting anything, but just screwing in the barrel until it's tight then backing it out 2 or 3 clicks (your option) will get the M2 to function. It's a field expedient measure not to be used all the time. Setting headspace is really simple to do when one is not under any of (enemy) pressure.

[gabrielfrombelgium]

We are using it for several years on our Belgian issue M2... We call it the .50 QCB (Quick Change Barrel) and as far I know, every M2 are now converted, including the navy ones.