The M2 Browning machine gun is a heavy machine gun that was designed near the end of World War I by John Moses Browning.
While similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, which was chambered for the .30-06 cartridge, the M2 uses Browning's larger and more powerful .50 BMG (12.7 mm) cartridge.
The M2 has been used extensively as a vehicle weapon and for aircraft armament by the United States since the 1930s.
It was heavily used during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Falklands War, the Soviet-Afghan War, the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the War in Afghanistan.
It is the primary heavy machine gun of NATO countries and has been used by many other countries as well.
U.S. forces have used the M2 longer than any other firearm except the .45 ACP M1911 pistol, which was also designed by John Browning.
The Browning M2 is an air-cooled, belt-fed machine gun. The M2 fires from a closed bolt, operated on the short recoil principle.
The M2 fires the .50 BMG cartridge, which offers long range, great accuracy, and immense stopping power.
The closed bolt firing cycle made the M2 usable as a synchronized machine gun on aircraft before and during World War II, as on the early versions of the Curtiss P-40 fighter.
The M2 has varying cyclic rates of fire, depending on the model. The M2HB air-cooled ground gun has a cyclical rate of 450-575 rounds per minute. The early M2 water-cooled AA guns had a cyclical rate of around 450-600 rpm. The AN/M2 aircraft gun has a cyclic rate of 750-850 rpm; this increases to 1,200 rpm for AN/M3 aircraft guns.
The M2 has an effective range of 1,830 metres (2,000 yd) and a maximum effective range of 2,000 metres (2,200 yd) when fired from the M3 tripod.
Current ammunition types include M33 Ball (706.7 grain) for personnel and light material targets, M17 tracer, M8 API (622.5 grain), M20 API-T (619 grain), and M962 SLAP-T.
The latter ammunition along with the M903 SLAP (Saboted Light Armor Penetrator) round can perforate 1.34 inches (34 mm) of FHA (face-hardened steel plate) at 500 metres (550 yd), 0.91 inches (23 mm) at 1,200 metres (1,300 yd), and 0.75 inches (19 mm) at 1,500 metres (1,600 yd).
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4 ноя 2023
