Hello all, here is today's article posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled “Ma Deuce — The M2 .50-Caliber Machine Gun” and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/m2-browning-50-caliber-machine-gun/.
Ma Deuce — The M2 .50-Caliber Machine Gun
- Thread starter Mike H.
- Start date
Smiledon#57
Operator
I remember the day I failed to follow the correct steps in disassembly of the 50 cal. Took me several hours to get it right, and I never made that mistake again.
bc22wm
Custom
"Though the weight and recoil were a bit much, they actually did ride on pedestal mounts atop standard jeeps."
I know for a fact that firing live ammo from atop of 13 tons of recycled beer cans (M113) will rattle that beast but good. Trying to drive a jeep while Ma was spitting must have been some trick.
There is nothing like the feeling of pushing your chest right up onto the handles of Ma and depressing those butterfly's. You can feel the power roll right through you from your boots to your steel pot.
I know for a fact that firing live ammo from atop of 13 tons of recycled beer cans (M113) will rattle that beast but good. Trying to drive a jeep while Ma was spitting must have been some trick.
There is nothing like the feeling of pushing your chest right up onto the handles of Ma and depressing those butterfly's. You can feel the power roll right through you from your boots to your steel pot.
USMC6094
Custom
The Merchant Marine ship I rode to the invasion of Iraq in 03 had 4 .50s on pedestals as part of our defense set up.
Three of them were WWII produced guns, made by Fridgedaire..........
And if memory serves, DOD has been searching for a replacement, for more than a quarter century......
Three of them were WWII produced guns, made by Fridgedaire..........
And if memory serves, DOD has been searching for a replacement, for more than a quarter century......
GunnerM48A5(K)
Alpha
I used them in M113's and M48A5's in Korea. I used the M85 on the M60 series tank which had fixed HS&T. Never had a M2 quit except when it ran out of BB's. The M85 was always getting jamed up and a pain to load/reload. I wish they could have mounted the M2 on the M60s.
rcurtner
Professional
I think our M-60's had M-2's and the A1's had the M-85, not sure though. I do remember ammo in 50 round boxes for loading/reloading the 85 that were a pain in a**. This was when I was in 1/68 Armor 8th Inf div Germany 1965. The 85 was dual rate of fire 850/900 rpm on high and around 450/500 rpm on low. Correct me if I'm wrong. Was in M-48A3's in Vietnam bet the A5's had some serious upgrades.
GunnerM48A5(K)
Alpha
The A5's were great. The low-profile cupola was a game changer. Originally the A5's with the low profile were supposed to have M60D's but they changed that and attached a M2 mount for us like the one on the M113’s. The loader had the M60D though. The M68 105mm was the same gun as the M60s. When I went back to Korea, they had reequipped the Armor Units with M60A3TTS tanks. With the Laser Ranger Finders, Tank Thermal Sights and no search Light. The M60A3TTS was a major change to our advantage.
rcurtner
Professional
Can only imagine using a laser range finder and the thermal sight. All we had was a crappy IR sight. Thanks for the info.
GunnerM48A5(K)
Alpha
GunnerM48A5(K)
Alpha
We were training with the infantry one night. We had them hide in the tree line. Then we invited the leaders over to our tanks and showed them our sights. Their faces went blank when we were able to show all of the troops in the tree line with no moon light.
rcurtner
Professional
Yeah, bet that was a game changer for the Inf unit.
We did not have the TTS, but I was on the Hughes LASER Rangefinder Test Project at the Armor Board. My first test there after Vietnam, 1972. Test on the M551 and also used on the M60A2 (which I also tested).
I was appalled to find that it took until the late '70's to get into service on M551's.
I also used the M85, M73 and M219 POS. And the M37 (an M1919MG coax on M48, in Thirty Cal!)
Attachments
Lexie__M
Custom
I had a neighbor who was a gunner on a Huey in Viet-Nam
He was explaining how he had a Ma Deuce on his Huey.
He stated that they had to hold the Ma Deuce with slings as hard bolted would shake loose all the rivets due to the shaking.
He stated he felt like a god as so easy to take out elephants which he did on a few occasions both in Viet-Nam and Cambodia.
I told him off on killing innocent elephants for his god ego trip.
I know he did this as he was a huge ego trip bragger.
Yeah, very fast softballs. In better resolution (which I've limited here), you can easily make out the "wobbling spiral" of the bullet after it struck the ground. G/2/11th ACR. My photo.
