Army Builds New Lightweight .50-Cal Machine Gun

Scout.com ^ | January 2, 2016 | Kris Osborne

[NorthMountain]

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

[doorgunner69]

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.

[Jeff Chandler]

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.

[Chainmail]

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

[imardmd1]

(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!

[PapaBear3625]

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.

[PLMerite]

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

[Chainmail]

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.

[SgtHooper]

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

[Chainmail]

"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.

[zeestephen]

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.

[zeestephen]

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.

[HARRY TUTTLE]

Bingo!

[Chainmail]

"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!

[Oatka]

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.

[Jeff Chandler]

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.

[PIF]

Titanium costs what the Russians ask.

[imardmd1]

>> Titanium has better heat tolerance <<

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

[Loud Mime]

Titanium costs a lot more to machine.

[imardmd1]

imagine how big A will be when M is reduced!

Yeah. If M is 33% less, a will be ¹/_0.7 = 43% more . . .