Browning M3 manufactured by Colt

[Karel]

Hello everyone. My local gunsmith just offered me a Browning M3 .50BMG, manufactrued by Colt in very good condition. Is it possible to find out, when this machine gun has been build?

Serial Number => 2.3XX.XXX

Information

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[fjruple]

Karel--

The .50 M3 Browning Aircraft was developed late in WWII by the Frigidaire as the T25E3. The M3 was adopted in April 1945 as a replacement to the AN/M2 Browning Aircraft Basic. The AN/M2 was determined to have too slow a rate of fire for hi-speed modern jet aircraft. Only a few thousand were produced during WWII by Frigidaire. After WWII the AN/M3 was the standard .50 caliber Browning Aircraft gun, the gun was used on all of the first line US fighter aircraft in the late 40's and 1950's. Due to gun's high rate of fire 1,200 rounds per minute there was frequent stoppages from the parts breakage. Frigidaire did not produce the M3 after WWII, several other manufacturers supplied the US and other air forces with the M3. You gun is probably one take off a US built fighters that was supplied to US European allies. The US Air Force phased out the M3 in late 1950's and went to the 20mm Vulcan gun as a replacement. The life of the M3 did not end there. In the 1970's and 80's, the problems with the M3 were revisited and upgraded with better materials to preclude the high rate of parts breakage. Today the US Marines and Air Force use the M3 in a helicopter mounted configuration. The M3 still can be found around the world in use. The last being in Libya in a ground mounted configuration. At 1,200 rounds per minute, they either burned out the barrels very quickly or ran out of ammunition. I hope you have a large bank account to feed that beast. LOL!!

Cheers

--fjruple

[browningautorifle]

There should be an actual date marked on the side of the gun if you look through the stampings far enough. I spent enough time staring at markings of those and the 1919A4s...it'll be there.

[Karel]

I've now discouvered a production date on the bold 4-54 A8 / 7265454 SA.

Can this belong to a Browning (Colt) M3 with Serial 2.3XX.XXX

[fjruple]

I believe Karl you mean "bolt." I gather that English is not your first language. That's OK us Yanks butcher the King's English as well. LOL!! Your bolt is dated April 1954, the A-8 is the heat treating lot number. The 7265454 is the US drawing number for the part. The SA is manufacturer which Springfield Armory in Springfield, Mass. I suspect the bolt is a replacement part as the lighten bolt in M3 had a tendency to fail.

Cheers

--fjruple

[browningautorifle]

Can this belong to a Browning (Colt) M3 with Serial 2.3XX.XXX

And also...yes it could belong correctly. Those M3 guns were used in the aircraft of the time, the new jets. They rode in Sabers and in the gun packs of later jets. When the guns were salvaged out for steel and went to Stelco for melting, they were in many cases new in grease. They had the bolt installed and a hardwood block installed inside to keep the bolt forward. These guns would have been assembled and shipped with the bolt made along side of them. Some of them were taken aside for deacitvation, which at the time wasn't too much effort and the original bolt was still inside... Odds are that's the original bolt...

[fjruple]

Karel--

Post WWII production include contracts to Colt for 10,000 guns, and Saco-Lowell, Saco, Maine, 10,000 guns and Wayne Pump, Ft. Wayne, IN, 10,000 guns, Savage also made replacement parts, no guns. Additionally Springfield Armory also converted 10,000 WWII M2s to M3s. Since Colt also manufactured M2 in WWII, your gun could be one of the WWII M2s. It would be easy to tell the difference, the WWII M2 markings would XXX out and M3 stamped with SA rebuilt marks. If your M3 is post-war there would no XXX out of the M2 it would be simply marked as M3. Further FN of Belgium also manufactured the M3 for allied air forces. I have no FN M3 production information on the numbers manufactured. A little additional information on the M3.

Cheers

--fjruple

[browningautorifle]

Pictures of the markings on your sideplate would help us greatly. What I can see from the one picture is the front sight area is blank, indicating it was originally made as an M3...

[Karel]

Thanks for all your replys. I will attach 2 more pictures next week when i'm back from holiday.

This Browning is marked M3 AC Basic and has no XXX. It's in perfect condition, NOT deactivated and my gunsmith asks 2300 euro (2500$).

[browningautorifle]

Love to see it next week, we'll be waiting.