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Beyond a shadow of a doubt, one of the most formidable and versatile infantry weapons of World War Two was the famous Browning .50-caliber machine gun. During the war, the .50-caliber served in a variety of roles ranging from aircraft armament to ground combat use. Its effectiveness has made it one of the most widely used weapons of the American military (not to mention that it is still in service!).

Like the M-1917A1, the .50-caliber machine gun has its roots back in the First World War. When the American Expeditionary Force entered combat, one of the weapons in the German arsenal that our troops did not have was the 13.2mm antitank rifle. This massive, bolt-action weapon was developed by the Germans to counter Allied tanks. The lightly armored tanks of the time were highly vulnerable to this large caliber, high velocity cartridge.

Since the Germans were beginning to deploy tanks against the Allies, the AEF needed a comparable weapon to counter this new threat. In April of 1918, the AEF requested a machine gun firing a cartridge comparable to the German 13.2mm round. It was felt that a machine gun would be more effective than a bolt-action rifle.

The task of developing such a cartridge fell to the Winchester Repeating Firearms Company. Ballistic testing confirmed that a .50-caliber cartridge would be the optimum size (comparable to the 13.2mm which is .53-caliber). The resulting cartridge bore a strong appearance to a greatly scaled up .30-06 round. Preliminary testing revealed some ballistic shortcomings and additional development was need to make it acceptable.

While Winchester worked out the problems with the cartridge, the Ordnance Department looked for the best type of machine gun to use the round, so they approached John M. Browning. Browning stated that he could scale up his M-1917 action to fire the new .50-caliber cartridge. Working in conjunction with the Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, Browning tackled the project and had a prototype weapon ready for testing on November 12, 1918. Unfortunately, the Armistice occurred on November 11, 1918, so the new weapon saw no combat service.

Development work on the machine gun continued after the war and the Frankford Arsenal took over the refinement of the .50-caliber cartridge. The revised round was significantly more powerful than the original Winchester design. The new round fired a massive 700 grain bullet at 2,800 feet per second, which equaled or excelled the performance of the original German 13.2mm round. Unfortunately, the power of the revised .50-caliber round presented some problems including the fact that its recoil could shake apart Browning’s basic machine gun mechanism apart. To counter this problem, Browning developed a hydraulic buffer which eliminated much of the recoil stress and could also be adjusted to control the rate of fire to some extent.

Extensive testing of the new machine gun and cartridge began in 1919 and continued for almost two years. This in-depth testing showed the excellence of the weapon and it was formally adopted as the Model 1921. This used the basic Browning recoil-operated mechanism (with the new buffer system) and utilized the basic type of water-cooling. Both the Army and the Navy adopted the M-1921 (although none were procured for issue until 1925). Between 1925 and 1934, only 1,000 M1921s were delivered. Although intended as an antitank weapon, it was also utilized as an anti-aircraft weapon.

During this period the only major problem to arise was with the charging handle, which proved to be rather difficult to manipulate. An improved design was developed in 1930 and the revised weapon was named the M-1921A1. The new charging handle was retro-fitted to the weapons previously manufactured.

As the Army began to consider the eventual necessity of changing from the old horse equipment to mechanized equipment, the type of armament for tanks and other vehicles was carefully evaluated. Since the M-1921A1 was the standard antitank weapon, it was natural for that weapon to be considered for such use. However, the water-cooling mechanism was both heavy and bulky and so a request was made for an air-cooled version.

In order to compensate for the removal of the water-cooling mechanism, a heavier, 36-inch barrel was designed. This weapon proved to be what the Army was looking for and the “Caliber .50 Machine Gun, Heavy Barrel, M-2” was born.

In addition to its use on vehicles the M-2HB was equipped with a heavy tripod (the M-3) for ground use. In order to achieve the maximum possible performance of the .50-caliber cartridge, the barrel length was increased from 36-inches to 45-inches. The greater weight of the new barrel lowered the rate of fire. The basic M-2HB weighed in at 81 pounds and the M-3 tripod added an additional 44 pounds. The M-2 could be feed from either side of the receiver. It had a rate of fire ranging from 450-550 rounds per minute and had an effective range of 2,500 yards.

While production was ramping up for the M-2HB, it was also decided to improve the M-1921/M-1921A1 by replacing its bulky water-feed mechanism with a streamlined version. This adopted in 1933 as the “Caliber .50 Machine Gun, Water Cooled, M-2”. The M-3 weighed in at 100 pounds and the water jacket added another 21 pounds. It was typically mounted on the M-3 anti-aircraft mount which weighed 380 pounds when set up for action. The “Water Chest, M-3” was also, but weighed in at 74.5 pounds when filled. Due to its extreme weight, the M-3 was not used in the infantry role, being used instead as an anti-aircraft mount in fixed, fortified weapons. In such a role it was very effective because it could fire long bursts without danger of over-heating. Some 82,500 water-cooled M-2s were built during World War Two.

The M-2HB saw widespread use in every theater of the war, total production was 1,964,418, three quarters of which were modified for aircraft use by adding a perforated cooling jacket to the barrel. The M-2HB was unquestionably the best weapon of its type field by either side during World War Two. After the war, it remained the standard heavy machine gun of the U.S. military and provided honorable service in Korea and Vietnam, with only minor changes to its World War II configuration.

Even more remarkably, the M-2HB is still the stand heavy machine gun of the U.S. military today! As one author so aptly stated “There isn’t a machine gun that has received more heartful appreciation from its uses and fear from its victims…than Mr. Browning’s caliber .50 shooting machine.”

Seventy-four years after its adoption, John Browning’s classis design soldiers on.