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Army Builds New Lightweight .50-Cal Machine Gun
Scout.com ^ | January 2, 2016 | Kris Osborne

Posted on 01/03/2017 11:12:22 AM PST by C19fan

The Army is creating a new, lightweight version of its iconic .50-cal machine gun designed to better enable Soldiers to destroy enemies, protect convoys, mount weapons on vehicles, attack targets on the move and transport between missions. The new weapon, engineered to be 20-to-30 percent lighter than the existing M2, will be made of durable, but lighter weight titanium, Army officials said.

(Excerpt) Read more at scout.com ...


TOPICS: History; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: army; banglist; guns
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To: doorgunner69

IIRC, the aircraft version of the M2 had a higher cyclic rate than the ground pounder version.


61 posted on 01/03/2017 2:23:28 PM PST by NorthMountain (Northmountain)
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To: NorthMountain
Oh yes, it did fire a lot faster. When one of us fired, there was no intercom possible on the aircraft.

Just dug out the Dec 2016 AR to read again what they had to say about the aerial version. They made it sound like it was more than just a barrel change. Had something about .30 cal guns like that as well.

62 posted on 01/03/2017 2:27:44 PM PST by doorgunner69
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To: Chainmail
The Army engineers are wonderful folks but most of them have zero military/operational experience.

I assume you mean the military contractors, not the Combat Engineers.

63 posted on 01/03/2017 3:03:55 PM PST by Jeff Chandler (Everywhere is freaks and hairies Dykes and fairies Tell me where is sanity?)
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To: Jeff Chandler

No, neither: the army engineers are the government civilians working at Picatinny Arsenal, Watervliet Arsenal, etc. as mechanical engineers.


64 posted on 01/03/2017 3:17:04 PM PST by Chainmail (A simple rule of life: if you can be blamed, you're responsible.)
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To: Chainmail
(R)educing the weight of the M2 won't reduce the recoil of the fired bullet one bit and what was a stable, accurate machine gun will bounce all over the place!

F = M x a

Since F does not change, . . .

Ouch!

65 posted on 01/03/2017 3:21:58 PM PST by imardmd1 (Fiat Lux)
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To: C19fan

I’d be interested to see the performance of titanium barrels versus steel. Titanium has better heat tolerance, which might translate into being able to fire longer before overheating.


66 posted on 01/03/2017 3:26:26 PM PST by PapaBear3625 (Big government is attractive to those who think that THEY will be in control of it.)
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To: ExSES

I never knew the M2 was considered a man-portable system.


67 posted on 01/03/2017 3:28:44 PM PST by PLMerite (Lord, let me die fighting lions. Amen.)
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To: imardmd1
Got that right - imagine how big A will be when M is reduced! Fun to carry but really difficult to hit anything with.

Unlike the movies - where they are firing blanks - the M2 HB is most effectively fired from the tripod, using the Traverse and Elevating mechanism and both feet planted on the rear legs of the tripod.

Dang thing will kill effectively a lot further than you can see and it used to scare the crap out of the Germans in WWII since it ate their light armor up like nothing else.

68 posted on 01/03/2017 3:37:07 PM PST by Chainmail (A simple rule of life: if you can be blamed, you're responsible.)
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To: C19fan

Nothing screams “overwhelming firepower” better than a 50 cal. SBR in close quarter combat! :-)


69 posted on 01/03/2017 3:40:05 PM PST by SgtHooper (If you remember the 60's, YOU WEREN'T THERE!)
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To: circlecity
"Sounds like it might be more effective to haul around a 30 caliber machine gun and a 50 caliber Barret sniper rifle for hard targets."

Uh, no. You weren't in the service, were you? For what the .50 was designed for, there is no substitute. If you've ever seen a .50 eat a wall apart or chew a light vehicle into pieces you'd know better.

It may sound tough for today's Snowflake Brigade but in earlier days we grew big enough to carry it where it needed to go.

70 posted on 01/03/2017 3:43:05 PM PST by Chainmail (A simple rule of life: if you can be blamed, you're responsible.)
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To: BroJoeK

Remember those three guys I mentioned in my earlier post?

One of them is carrying the ammunition, and the other two are pulling the little princess around on a rickshaw.


71 posted on 01/03/2017 3:57:07 PM PST by zeestephen
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To: mbynack

I agree with you.

My Comment was meant to be humorous.

The era when the biggest guy in the platoon had to carry the machine gun around the battlefield has been over for a long time.


72 posted on 01/03/2017 4:04:52 PM PST by zeestephen
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To: blueunicorn6

Bingo!


73 posted on 01/03/2017 4:24:05 PM PST by HARRY TUTTLE (Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less. R. E. Lee)
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To: PLMerite
"I never knew the M2 was considered a man-portable system."

Sure, for short distances: the gun breaks down into three components - barrel, receiver, and tripod/T&E. Roughly 40 pounds each.

I was tricked into carrying the barrel and receiver (84 pounds) as one piece up a hill when I was a very new PFC and my legs felt like rubber by the time I got it up the hill!

74 posted on 01/03/2017 4:54:29 PM PST by Chainmail (A simple rule of life: if you can be blamed, you're responsible.)
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To: Seruzawa
If you have actually fired one you’d understand why the weight is not such a bad thing.

I served on WWII submarines in the early '50s. One day while we were at sea, one of the gunners mates broke out the Big 50, mounted it on a deck stanchion and gave us a chance to light it off.

I stepped up and hit the spade with my thumb and the damn thing walked up and down for the 20 rounds I was allowed. Never could control that thing, and it gave me a better respect for those I later saw in the newsreels who fired away with no problem.

75 posted on 01/03/2017 7:21:32 PM PST by Oatka
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To: Chainmail
the army engineers are the government civilians working at Picatinny Arsenal, Watervliet Arsenal, etc. as mechanical engineers.

I learn something new every day on FreeRepublic.

76 posted on 01/03/2017 10:10:41 PM PST by Jeff Chandler (Everywhere is freaks and hairies Dykes and fairies Tell me where is sanity?)
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To: C19fan

Titanium costs what the Russians ask.


77 posted on 01/04/2017 2:07:05 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: PapaBear3625
>> Titanium has better heat tolerance <<

Isn't that what the skin of The Bird is made of?

78 posted on 01/04/2017 4:08:38 AM PST by imardmd1 (Fiat Lux)
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To: Pontiac

Titanium costs a lot more to machine.


79 posted on 01/04/2017 4:12:34 AM PST by Loud Mime (Liberalism: Intolerance masquerading as tolerance, Ignorance masquerading as Intelligence)
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To: Chainmail
imagine how big A will be when M is reduced!

Yeah. If M is 33% less, a will be 1/0.7 = 43% more . . .

80 posted on 01/04/2017 4:17:33 AM PST by imardmd1 (Fiat Lux)
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