Posted on 08/06/2007 5:37:38 PM PDT by Renfield
It would be hard to improve on the near perfect designs of Moses Browning.
I got to use the M-2 in theater, but this new monster is something I have yet to see.
The only thing that wasn't fun about the M-2 was carrying it. ;-)
I saw the test firing of the M2 on a cable show and that thing is steak and fire. I can only imagine what the new model will do once our guys accept it.
I sometimes wonder why the rush to scifi type weapon systems for infantry.
The more geewhizery applied to a weapon system, the more potential for disruption of function for that system.
If it’s to be carried on foot, then lighter is always good, but will that overly reduce its stability while firing?
If the current MG systems carried by foot infantry aren’t powerful enough then a lighter weight heavy gun system would be appropriate. But if this is to be a vehicle mounted system, then heavier might mean more tolerance to long sustained use.
A bad day and/or an inexperienced gunner can run a MG real hot, real fast. A heavy gun system that can stand up well to abuse and remain reliable would seem to be of more importance.
But, then again, I hated it when MRE replaced C-rats. The idea that I’d have to carry even more water, just to be able to eat chow, really seemed counter competent. I guess I was wrong then. Might be wrong now too.
One of the most dramatic “pucker factor” sounds in combat is the M-2. It is a morale booster on the firing end of it and a morale breaker on the other. Will the new 50 have that same distinctive tsook, tsook, tsook? And, in spite of what John Kerry says - you know he served in Vietnam - I never saw anyone “wounded” by a .50 cal.
Hmmm....over 4 rounds a second is inadequate?
Seems to me like a good idea. If you aren’t hitting it with 4.3 rounds/second, you just aren’t hitting it. And if you are, wouldn’t that be enough?
I have.... oh that's right. He was hit and wounded in the forearm..and his hip got blown out after the bullet went through his arm and out the other end...
You're right, he died. Nevermind.
The fire control system, especially the range finder, makes the XM312 much more accurate with first shot hits, than the M-2.bullsh!t... 
A father of a friend of mine was hit with six rounds and lived to tell the tale. He spent several months in VA hospitals learning to walk again, years of surgery, and then years more kicking the painkillers that allowed him to survive the above. .
He was a Marine hitching a ride on an Army Huey. One of his fellow passengers was a VC colonel being taken for interrogation. The prisoner, his hands still shackled, managed to seize the wait gun and turn it to the inside of the chopper.
The VC colonel wasn't ever interrogated. From what I hear, it wasn't the fall that killed him so much as the abrupt stop at the end of it.
Ah geez, I’m a 58 year old reservist and I fired the M2 in May at Ft McCoy WS for the first time in 15 years. WTF do they mean the “replacement” is slower than good ol’ Ma Deuce? She just chugs along at 400 rpm or so as it is.
But, I now like my cars and my heavy weapons the way I like my women:
Built for comfort, not speed.
;^)
Simple rule - it has to be better than its replacement. That’s setting the bar incredibly high, which is just where it ought to be.
That is, it has to be better than what it’s replacing. Sheesh.
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