The American military has tried for decades to replace their M2 Browning 50 caliber machine gun, which was actually designed for World War I.

However, after they spent tens of millions of dollars on failed project after failed project, they finally realized that they ain’t going to get anything better than this old school heavyduty weapon.

So, they modernized it exactly once, and it’s still flawlessly in service on the most advanced platforms without any sign of retirement on the horizon.

And in this video, you’re going to see how and why this happened.

Okay, so the thing that would eventually lead to the M2 Browning is actually something that appeared in the First World War, and that was the armor.

It was now showing up on planes protecting pilots and key components, and there were tanks coming into play.

So, it was obvious that the rifle caliber machine guns weren’t going to be effective much longer.

An interesting thing at the time was that the American army didn’t have anything to fill the gap between the 30 caliber machine gun and field artillery.

So, General John Persing had an idea how to fill it.

He requested from the Army Ordinance Department a new heavy machine gun with at least a halfin caliber, a muzzle velocity of 2700 ft pers, and a bullet heavy enough to be effective against armor.

But the whole thing also had to work against anything else that might show up on the battlefield.

So to not bother you with the chaotic development, the project eventually landed on the desk of none other than John Moses Browning, better known as America’s greatest gun designer.

He and his team worked through trials and errors, scaling up the standard 306 cartridge to meet the ambitious specifications of the new round.

And while they were doing that, they realized that the captured German 13×92 mm rounds for their anti-tank rifle had actually performed pretty close to the requirements General Persing had set.

It was the first round in history designed to defeat armor.

So they tested this German cartridge and took some inspiration from it, so to speak, and applied it to the scaling up of the 306.

And through some headaches back and forth, they eventually came up with the 50BMG or 12.

7 by 99 mm.

As for the weapon that needed to fire this cartridge, they did a similar thing and also scaled up Browning’s well-known and proven M1917 water cooled machine gun, making everything larger so it could handle this new round.

Although this was far easier said than done, the 50BMG had about four times the energy of the 306, so there were quite a lot of things that needed to be changed in order for it not to blow up.

The initial trials proved disappointing, and the war they needed this machine gun for actually ended on the very same day as the prototype was being demonstrated, but they continued working anyway until they came up with the M1921, a weapon without war and without anyone knowing what to do with it.

It was a water cooled machine gun weighing 80 lb if you don’t count the water, tripod, condensation can, and ammunition, which brought the whole setup to over 120 lb.

practically suitable for an anti-aircraft roll only.

It was simply too heavy and clunky for the infantry and feeding was only from the left side which made it awkward to mount on the early tanks and aircraft.

The rate of fire was some 500 rounds per minute.

Nothing fancy about that and the ammunition for it was much heavier and more expensive than the 30 caliber.

The Navy adopted some of these machine guns for anti-aircraft defense on their ships which kept the project barely alive.

Then Browning died in 1926 and everything looked like the same was going to happen with the new machine gun.

However, then came Dr.

Samuel Green who took the project into his hands and with his team began systematically working on everything Browning didn’t think of.

The first thing was that the military didn’t need one 50 caliber gun, but a whole family of guns for various roles.

So he redesigned the receiver to accept ammunition from either the left or right side by simply moving a few internal parts, which was incredibly important for using the gun in the wings of aircraft.

He made a bunch of radical changes to Browning’s design until they had a universal receiver that could be turned into seven different weapons just by swapping barrels and jackets.

So they had both the water cooled and air cooled machine gun fixed and flexible aircraft gun, anti-aircraft gun, vehicle and ground configurations all within basically the same weapon with some slight modifications.

This is what went into service under the name M2 Browning machine gun.

Now perhaps the most important solution they came up with was making this gun work on the ground.

Let me explain.

The first major role the new 50 caliber machine gun got was on aircraft to replace their old 30 caliber guns that weren’t powerful enough for the newer fighters and bombers of the time.

On aircraft, this version designated M2 had a thinner barrel to save weight and overheating wasn’t an issue because they’re flying at several hundred mph in cold air and when they fire they only use short bursts.

This is why these variants had a much higher rate of fire than ground ones, pushing over 850 rounds per minute.

However, the problem with the air cooled ground setup was that the barrel would overheat and break very quickly.

But this was finally solved with the version M2 HB standing for heavy barrel.

This much thickerwalled and longer barrel had mass to absorb and dissipate heat.

Although the gun now weighed 84 lb alone, it still wasn’t really useful for infantry, but it was at least 40 lb lighter than the water cooled version.

But anyway, they finally had the machine gun they wanted in World War I.

And as we as humans can’t seem to find peace with each other, everything was looking like a new global problem would erupt where this weapon would have a chance to prove itself.

And they weren’t wrong.

After the aircraft variant was standardized, vehicle and infantry versions followed and the M2 Browning went into full production.

Now preparing for a new war, the 50 fired its first shots in anger on December 7th, 1941, or what you might know better as the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The M2 was there on ships, aircraft, and vehicles, and they were now all pointing at the Japanese dive bombers and fighters that were decimating the American fleet.

4 days later, Germany declared war on the United States.

And now the real deal was about to begin.

As we said, the first and most important role was on aircraft.

Fighters usually had 650s, three in each wing, except the P47 Thunderbolt with eight, and the P38 Lightning that had four, plus a 20 mm cannon, all mounted in the nose.

Bombers had up to 13 machine guns mounted in various turrets for defense against enemy fighter interceptors.

The best example here would be the legendary B17 Flying Fortress that had 1350 culls in its definitive G version.

And there were things like the B25 medium bomber that was converted in the Pacific for strafing Japanese ships.

It was armed with, listen to this, up to 1850 cals, basically anywhere there was space on the aircraft to mount one.

They could sweep the deck of a Japanese ship and destroy its anti-aircraft defense with a single pass.

after which dive bombers could come in and sink it.

And they were incredibly effective with this tactic.

Then as the war escalated on the ground, the M2 became so widespread that if something could carry one, it would have it.

Tanks, halftracks, armored vehicles, jeeps, they all had at least 150 on top.

It was primarily mounted for anti-aircraft defense, like on the turret roof of Sherman tanks, and operated from the engine deck instead of from inside the hatch.

This was so they could elevate the gun vertically to engage German dive bombers and fighters daring to strafe American convoys.

Although it wasn’t the safest place to fire the machine gun from during a firefight, German pilots quickly learned how dangerous low-level ground attacks were when heavy machine guns were just about everywhere American forces were.

But besides protecting them against threats from the air, when you turn the 50 down on any ground target and fire long enough at it, well, whatever it is, it’s going to give in eventually.

Sandbag, bunkers, walls, and even tanks would get destroyed with repeated 50 cal bursts.

Tanks like the Panza 4 weren’t safe against 50 caliber fire from the side, not to mention thinly armored halftracks.

And on top of destroying cover that protected you from standard rounds, Germans were frustrated even further because 50s outranged their MG34s and 42s significantly.

They had their Lafet tripod that was simply put ingenious for the time with an analog computer and optics, separate trigger and recoil springs which made their machine guns extremely accurate and deadly.

However, the Americans had the M3 tripod, which was crude and simple in comparison with the Lefett, but it did have a traverse and elevation mechanism that gave them mill adjustments for accurate fire at long ranges, even beyond 2,000 yd.

And there was the problem for the Germans.

50BMG still had plenty of energy, even at such ranges where fire from the light machine guns wasn’t nearly as effective.

So, the M2 quickly became one of, if not the most hated weapons Americans had on the ground.

It was everywhere, always with enough ammo.

And getting shot at by the 50 is a completely different experience than any other rifle or machine gun.

American soldiers also came up with the tactic called reconnaissance by fire, where columns traveling through hostile territory would point their 50s in different directions and fire short quote unquote recon bursts into anything that might be suspicious.

As the column would move, they would be firing at nearby bushes, trenches, wrecked vehicles, or abandoned bunkers, you know, just in case.

And the 50 BMG was powerful enough to go through the cover that would stop a 30 caliber round.

So you, for example, didn’t need to waste shells from the tank’s main gun just for probing the terrain.

Then we have a similar situation with the M45 Maxin quad mount, the anti-aircraft weapon with 450s mounted on a powered turret.

Although it was quite effective against low-flying aircraft, the thing was that after the German Luftwaffer was battered by the Allies, there weren’t many air threats.

So, these Quad50 mounts were used on ground targets, and it didn’t get the nickname crout mower or meat chopper for nothing.

As you know, 450s firing at the same spot is not really the most pleasant experience in the world if you’re on the receiving end.

Some of these were mounted on M3 halftracks, creating serious moving firepower.

And of course, regular M2 was still used by the infantry with the tripod, but mostly in defensive fixed positions, as it was simply too heavy for quick movement.

Also, resupplying ammunition wasn’t like resupplying a regular machine gun.

A 100 round belt for the 50 was about 25 pounds, and that gives you some 10 seconds of firing time.

And while we’re on the topic of ammo, the standard ball full metal jacket round was more than enough to ruin your day.

But 50 caliber ammunition evolved quite a bit with some spicy rounds for armor penetration, tracer, incendury, or all of that combined in a single round.

Fighter aircraft would combine different types in their load.

So, they’d have traces to see where they’re shooting, but also armor piercing and incendury effects for a higher chance of shooting down the enemy plane.

Later, after the war, even more interesting 50 BMG ammo types would appear, but we’ll come to that.

So, by the time World War II ended, almost 2 million M2 Browning machine guns were produced, and surprisingly, 1.

6 million were actually the aircraft version.

But then if you think about the horrific losses of American aircraft, every single one that went down brought its guns with it.

So I think it makes sense.

Now when the war ended, the M2 served with every branch of the American military, fought in every theater and virtually in any engagement from Pearl Harbor all the way to the end.

But the story of the M2 pretty much had only begun.

After World War II, aircraft had evolved significantly and became much harder to kill.

So, Americans tried to crank up the rate of fire on their good old M2 guns on fighters to over 1,000 rounds per minute, compensating for the 50 BMG being much less powerful than 20 or 30 mm autoc cannons used by other nations.

They came up with the M3AN version that would arm first generation American jets that carried six guns in the nose.

However, the war in Korea and encounters with the Soviet-made Mig 15s proved that the days of the Browning 50 cal on fighters were over because the rounds simply didn’t have enough power to reliably shoot down new jet fighters.

So, they were replaced with the 20 mm guns and then the M61 Vulcan rotary cannon that finally solved the problem of firepower on jets.

However, the A&M3 stayed in the tail turret of the B-52 Stratafortress, aimed through fire control radar.

In 1972, two B-52 tail gunners claimed the last bomber gunner air-to-air kills in history when they fired some 700 rounds into a MiG 21 until it exploded.

A few days later, another MiG was shot down the same way.

And this was the final confirmed kill of an enemy fighter by a bomber gunner ever.

Well, through humiliating failure after failure of prototypes, it turned out that no one could make it work better than the old M2.

The Vietnam War proved that it was still the best thing on the ground for heavy firepower, especially effective in the jungle, while the M60 took over the role of the generalpurpose machine gun.

There were some modified A M2s mounted on helicopters, but the M60 was more suitable for that role because it was much lighter.

However, those aircraft versions would later be widely used on new helicopters like the Blackhawk and others.

But the M2 was once again on everything that could carry one.

Jeeps, tanks, patrol boats, armored fighting vehicles, and most interestingly, if you ask me, the gun trucks.

Those quad mounts from World War II came in quite handy when mounted on improvised trucks with combat compartments welded on.

Good luck ambushing one of those.

Transportation Corps in Vietnam used them to escort and protect supply convoys from constant enemy ambushes.

And of course, while we’re on Vietnam and the 50 caliber, we have to mention the legendary American sniper Carlos Hathcock.

He experimented with the M2 on a tripod and mounted an eight power scope and zeroed it in from his firebase on a hill, playing with it in single shots like a sniper rifle.

And when one unfortunate Vietkong fighter appeared with his bicycle and AK-47 at 2500 yards, Hathcock fired two rounds and hit him with his scoped 50, setting a shooting record that stood for 35 years and was broken in 2002 by a Canadian sniper using a 50 caliber rifle in Afghanistan.

Carlos would later inspire Ronnie Barrett, who made the 50BMG sniper, aka anti-material rifle, that became so effective in the wars to come and helped set many longrange kill records.

And speaking of the 50 calibers evolution, there was also some interesting specialurpose ammunition like the Ralphos round that combined armor-piercing, high explosive, and incendury purposes within the same cartridge.

Now, arguably the only real change to the M2 Browning machine gun since its introduction that actually helped fix something was the A1 version that solved the headsp space and timing problem that haunted the gunners all the way from World War II to 2010.

The issue was that due to 1930s manufacturing when Browning and Green designed the M2, two things couldn’t always be precisely machined to guarantee a proper fit for every barrel and receiver combination.

The first one called head space was the distance between where the firing pin sits and the base of the cartridge when it’s seated in the chamber.

If head space is too tight, the gun won’t fire.

But if it’s too loose, then there’s a gap through which the casing could explode and spit shrapnel in the gunner’s face, which you’d agree is a bigger problem.

Now, the second one was timing, which is the precise synchronization between the bolt and the firing pin.

Basically, before the firing pin drops, the bolt needs to be completely locked.

If not, the round fires while the bolt is still moving, which is called an outof battery detonation.

And it’s definitely not something you’d want to happen when you press the trigger.

So, because the machining of the wartime mass production couldn’t make sure that these measures were 100% right each time, Browning’s solution was to make them both adjustable.

So, the gunner could make whatever barrel work with whatever receiver with some adjustment.

The gunner screws in the barrel and checks the fit using small metal gauges for both head space and timing.

And if something is wrong, he adjusts the thing and everything’s cool.

However, the catch is that you’d need to do that with every single barrel change.

And when would you need to change the barrel the most? Well, in combat after prolonged firing when your barrel gets dangerously hot.

So, because you can’t really pause the battle, then get up and screw in the new barrel, make all the safety checks and measurements before you resume fire.

gunners did it by feel or simply hope that the adjustments for the previous barrel also worked with the new one.

If it did, great.

You keep firing.

If not, in the best case, you’d have a gun that just won’t fire.

In the worst case, it blows up in your face.

So, this was what the gunners had to do for 80 years until the M2A1 finally solved it with fixed headspace.

The thing is that with modern machining and new materials, the parts could now be made to exact specifications and stay that way after prolonged use.

So, the gunner never has to think about it when the barrel is changed.

The A1 also got a safety and a flash suppressor that reduces the flash by about 95% which is great for night fighting so the gun wouldn’t blind you and reveal your position.

Other than that, the gun is pretty much the very same design that was created over 100 years ago.

And the most interesting part is that it’s now paired with the latest tech like the crows common remotely operated weapon station where the M2 is controlled by a joystick from the safety of the armored vehicle.

It also has all the fancy features like rangefinders, night and thermal vision, and gyro stabilization for accurate firing on the move, and a bunch of other things that John Browning couldn’t even dream of existing, let alone being paired with his weapon designed to fight World War I planes and tanks.

Thanks.