Posted on 08/06/2007 5:37:38 PM PDT by Renfield
Advertised ROF is 550 rpm. Happened to have needed to know that at work in the past couple of months. But of course it varies from weapon to weapon, and between types and lots of ammunition. One source says 450-600 RPM.
Youch! Had a casing brush my cheek once. Saved on razor blades for quite a while.
Carlos passed a few years back but the Marines set up a shrine so people will never forget. My stint in the Army was all about trying to get into sniper school, but the need for corrective lenses nixed that despite outshooting everyone while wearing them. Nowadays a service person gets lasik surgery upon request. I'm glad for that...snipers make the difference when a commander utilizes them.
As heavy machine guns go, the 550 rpm of the M-2 is considered slow, half that would be glacial. Remember these things are often mounted on vehicles, to be used for suppressive fire, anti-material fire (against light skinned vehicles, like Jihadi car or truck bombs) and even in an anti-aircraft role. In the area suppression role, they are fired in a very short burst, traversed, fired again, and repeat as needed to cover the area of responsiblity.
They were once used as defensive armament for the B-17, B-24, B-29 and even the B-52, in a quad mount in the tail on all but the -H models. They also armed most US fighter aircraft up through the Korean war. The F-86, some models anyway, had 6 of 'em in the nose, to get a high enough rate of fire. (i.e. 3,300 rpm, still only about 1/2 that of the M-61 Vulcan which replaced the M-2 in both the -H model BUFF and many fighters, including today's F-22 and F-35. Although of course the M-2 doesn't throw explosive rounds.
Bless you for your service to our free republic, Sir.
I would gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
Does anyone know it there is a powered Gatling type weapon which fires the .50 BMG cartridge?
we tried to mount a momma deuce on a UH1H, developed cracks in the tail boom, offed it quick after that.
Prolly the m60 is what he was hit with. Still, six rounds of 7.62 gotta hurt.
It’s the spring.
Huh! My red lab will not only eat a macdonalds burger, she’ll eat the box and the sack it came in and the salt and catsup packets too. Maybe not the straw wrapper though. Although I’m not positive about that.
All but the current model B-52s were armed with a quad .50. Old Ma flies too. The current model original had an M-62 Vulcan in the same "tail stinger" location. They've taken it off. While MA just keeps on keeping on, the tail gun fire control system didn't fare so well, and was rarely used anyway.
Shortly before I went on active duty with the USAF, the loggies were trying to get rid of the thing, and then some sergeant shot down a Mig over Hanoi with it. SAC wasn't going to let it go after that. Years later I worked on a proposal, peripherally at least, for a replacement for the fire control radar. That went nowhere in the era of Mr. Peanut, it couldn't be done for the peanuts they had allocated to the program.
Finally just a few years ago, the finally took the guns off altogether, about the same time they sent the -G models to the bone yard to be converted into aluminum foil and to satisfy one of the SALT treaties with the old Soviet Union.
The earliest model BUFFs had manually controlled guns, with the gunner in the tail, which got to be a pretty lonely place on long missions or when things went into the toilet.
Just discovered they *are* buying new ones, and a bunch of new receivers and other parts. The new ones and recievers are from SACO Defense.:
July 27/07: A $26 million firm-fixed-price contract for M2 Machine Guns. Work will be performed in Saco, Maine, and is expected to be complete by Feb. 28, 2009. This was a sole source contract initiated on April 11, 2007 (W52H09-07-C-0125).
July 27/07: A $5.1 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for M2 Receiver Cartridges. Work will be performed in Saco, Maine, and is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2008. There were 2 bids solicited on March 23, 2006, and 2 bids were received (W52H09-06-C-0155).
Jan 18/07: GDATP announces a $6.9 million contract modification from U.S. Army TACOM in Rock Island, IL to produce M2HB Machine Guns. This option modifies a contract originally awarded in October 2006, bringing the total contract value to date to $27.5 million.
Why not? Ammo is kind of expensive I guess, since you have to pay the "Destructive Device" tax on each round. :)
We would have died for Reagan without question because we KNEW he was right about slaying the Soviet bear once and for all - a comfort our modern troops don't have thanks to the MSM and Bush's vagueness regarding radical Islam. Reagan and Casper Weinberger (Secretary of Defense) ditched many appointments to speak to us and it was duly noted and appreciated. These boys and girls asked to "fight terrorism" while being constrained from accomplishing anything tangible for the sake of appearances and political correctness...that's just wrong.
Turn them loose and let them win.
In 1917 Gen. Pershing told Army Ordinance that the Army needed a machine gun capable of penetrating the armored vehicles of the day. The Army went to Browning and gave him the specs for the new cartridge which was a little more powerful than Pershing had asked for.
Browning told them he would have the gun ready before they could get the ammo to him. True to his word, only a couple of months later, Browning had the gun ready. He had to wait to get ammo for it.
There is a picture of him firing the .50 cal. during 1917, in Colt’s Pasture in Hartford, Conn., in the book “John M. Browning, American Gunmaker”.
For whatever reason, the Army didn’t adopt it for maybe 10 or 15 years.
“...Hmmm....over 4 rounds a second is inadequate?
Seems to me like a good idea. If you arent hitting it with 4.3 rounds/second, you just arent hitting it. And if you are, wouldnt that be enough?...”
Probably is enough for stationary targets. M2 gets used in the anti-aircraft role occasionally, though, and anyone trying to shoot down a jet or helo wants all the rounds he can spit.
BUMP!
Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang
Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang
Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang
Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang
Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang
Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang
*ping*
Liberty,
You need to link those ammo belts together. You’ll get a lot more “Bangs” that way. LOL
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