Cut-away Browning 50 cal?

[fjruple]

We couldn't get our Canadian 7.62mm .30 Browninf to ruin successfully and neither could Canadian WO G C who was in the UK on other duties. He came over to help us get it sorted. Nope......... We just reverted to the more expensive option and used the .30's for a demo.

Peter-- I had the opportunity to speak to the designer of the US Navy MK21 Mod 0, The gentleman was in his late 80's and had been retired for 30 years from the US Naval Ordnance. During the Vietnam the US Navy experienced a shortage of 7.62mm NATO MGs as all of the M60s were going to the Army and Marines for ground combat. This left the other Naval forces with nothing but a shortage. But the navy still a large supply of .30 M1919A4s on hand from WWII and Korea. The US navy was looking for quick fix to supply a MG that fed 7.62mm NATO ammunition with the M13 metallic link. The US Navy evaluated the Canadian C1 7.62mm NATO Browning and found the gun to be "unsafe" since the redesign of the Browning permitted the last round to remain in the barrel if the gun was cleared by using the charging handle. This last round had to be physically removed with a screwdriver by pushing on the cartridge located in the T-slot of the breech bolt. The US Navy designed used the 7.62mm NATO with M13 links but the ammunition belt had to be inverted with the top of the links down to function in the gun. The US Navy rebuilt about 200 guns to the MK21 Mod 0 spec and most were deploy the US Naval Riverine forces in Vietnam. These guns were also found to be unsatisfactory as the ammunition belt had to be removed the cans and placed back in the can in a reverse fashion. The MK21 Mod 0 dies a quick death. Most were transfer to South Vietnam navy and those that remained in storage at Crane Naval Ordnance Depot were destroyed. They were declared obsolete when the M60s became more available. I am not aware any of these guns surviving. The Australian MoD may still have two MK21 Mod0's which they used for evaluation. The C1/C5A1 lasted into the 1990's while the MK21 Mod0 was out the US system by 1972.

Cheers

--fjruple

[browningautorifle]

The C1/C5A1 lasted into the 1990's

We phased it out when the C6/MAG finally graced us with the SARP of 1986/7/8. That was no mistake, finally a weapon that would work right out of the box.

I was in the Battle School and we were among the very last to change. (I received rifle # 85AA00105, made first, last out.)

[Peter Laidler]

Was at The Armourers Dinner last night and mentioned the L3 type rear-sear Brownings we had. Lots of groans.......

One of the other big problems later in their life was that the gun fired when the new cam extension at the top of the re-designed sear was tripped by the forward edge of the cocking lever slot.......... you know the one, underside of the top plate, visible when you take the cover latch off......... The hardened cam part of the sear would just wear away at the corresponding part of the slot until it wouldn't fire. You can't weld it up unless you strip the top plate off the gun which is a total major almost factory rebuild. So gun was ZF!

[browningautorifle]

So gun was ZF!

Obviously the design was by someone that didn't have to participate.

[Sentryduty]

The US Navy evaluated the Canadian C1 7.62mm NATO Browning and found the gun to be "unsafe" since the redesign of the Browning permitted the last round to remain in the barrel if the gun was cleared by using the charging handle. This last round had to be physically removed with a screwdriver by pushing on the cartridge located in the T-slot of the breech bolt.

In all fairness, when clearing certain machine guns the drill describes : "A round may or may not be fired" upon pulling the trigger. Certain interruptions in the feed can cause guns like the C6 (MAG58/M240B etc.) to spit out that last round upon being cleared, which is the real reason why it is vitally important to clear guns in a safe direction. I understand a round remaining in the chamber by design when clearing a gun by hand is undesirable, however a live gun that has been fired at least once, may do the exact same thing.

In my experience it only happened a couple of times, usually a fail to fire due to a mis-feed. The cartridge might be partially fed into the chamber and hung up stopping the gun, cock the action to the rear, open the feed cover, sweep the tray, slap the cover shut, sight down range and pull the trigger. Usually a single crack of a shot would follow. There have been circumstances when a stoppage has coincided with a cease fire, and gone unnoticed by the gunner, when the gun is cleared (as above) a round is fired.

[browningautorifle]

And although the range officer would come looking for a head after, considering he'd just stated "Stop"...I'd always remind him the drill was for exactly that. And it would go away.

[Sentryduty]

And although the range officer would come looking for a head after,

Precisely the case, the loudest noise is a bang when you expect a click, (or clack in an MG) it's always a great Officer to Gun Crew conversation starter on the firing line. Never an issue once the misunderstanding is cleared up...

[Brit plumber]

Just seen on a UK dealer site that there is a Interarms converted M2 for sale which has a QCB barrel fitted. It has a standard HB barrel support rather than the QCB support.

Looks like it started life as a AC Sparkplug gun before being converted.