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The Browning M1919 is a .30
caliber light machine gun family widely used during the
20th century. It was used as a light infantry, coaxial,
mounted, aircraft, and anti-aircraft machine gun by the
U.S. and many other countries, especially during World
War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Although
it began to be superseded by newer designs in the later
half of the century (such as by the M60 machine gun),
it remained in use in many NATO countries and elsewhere
for much longer.
Many M1919s were rechambered for the
new 7.62 ¡Á 51 mm NATO round and served into the 1990s,
as well as up to the present day in some countries.
The United States Navy also converted many to 7.62 mm
NATO, and designated them Mk 21 Mod 0; they were commonly
used on river craft in the 1960s and 1970s in Vietnam.
History
The M1919 was an air-cooled development of the standard
U.S. machine gun of World War I, the Browning M1917,
as designed by John M. Browning. The weapon originally
fired the .30-06 M1 or M2 rifle cartridge from woven
cloth or metallic link belts feeding from left to right.
Operation Loading
Loading was accomplished by opening the top cover, lifting
the extractor, inserting the new belt of ammunition
into the gun's feed tray, then lowering the extractor
over the first round in the belt. As the cover closed,
the operator's right thumb made sure the belt feed lever
was to the left to ensure the lever fit into the belt
feed lever stud cam groove, a machined groove on top
of the bolt. After latching the cover, the cocking handle
was pulled back palm-up, to avoid thumb dislocation
from a 'hot-barrel-cooked-off' round, and released inserting
the first round into the barrel's chamber.
Firing
When the rear of the trigger is pivoted upwards by
the operator, the front of the trigger tips downwards
releasing the sear, and the sear, in turn, releases
the firing pin allowing it to strike the primer of the
cartridge in the chamber.
Use
As an infantry weapon, it was usually crew operated
by 2 soldiers: the gunner, who carried the tripod and
ammunition; and the assistant gunner, who carried the
weapon, spare parts, and sometimes more ammunition and
when in action, fed the ammunition belts into the gun
to ensure smooth entry of each round in the belt, decreasing
the chance of the weapon jamming.
The original idea was to allow the gun to be more easily
packed for transport, and featured a light barrel and
bipod when first introduced as the M1919A1. Unfortunately,
it quickly became clear that the gun was too heavy to
be easily moved, while at the same time too light for
sustained fire. This led to the M1919A2, which included
a heavier barrel and tripod, and could be continuously
fired for longer durations.
An M24 Chaffee sporting an M1919A4 in a ball mounting
on the front hull and an M1919A5 to the right of the
main gun in the turret.The M1919A4 weighed about 31
pounds (14 kg), and usually was mounted on a tripod
(for infantry use), or from a fixed mount. It saw wide
use in World War II mounted on such vehicles as: jeeps,
tanks, and ships.
The A5 was an adaptation of the A4 with a forward mounting
point to allow it to be mounted in tanks and armored
cars. This, along with the M37 and the Browning M2 machine
gun, was the most common secondary armament during WWII
for the Allies.
M1919A6 in use during the Korean WarAnother version
of the M1919A4, the M1919A6, was an attempt to make
the weapon easier to carry by reducing its weight and
to make use of a bipod, but it turned out to be heavier
at 32 lbs (15 kg) and was considered "substitute
standard". With its bipod and stock, it actually
weighed more than the A4 by itself, but less than the
A4 with its tripod. It was still used extensively, however,
by allied troops during World War II and the Korean
War. The main differences were a folding bipod mounted
on the front of the gun, a sheet-metal buttstock that
was attached to the pistol-grip firing handle, a carrying
handle, and a tapered barrel weighing 4 lbs (1.8 kg)
instead of 7 lbs (3.2 kg) returning the weapon to an
A1-like state.
The Model 1919 was heavily re-worked to become the
.30 caliber M2 aircraft machine gun. Key to aircraft
use was weight. Unnecessary metal was removed from its
components and, with the cooling effect of air rushing
past the barrel from the plane's speed, the designers
made the barrel thinner and hence lighter. As a result,
the M2 weighed 2/3 that of the 1919A4 and the lightened
mechanism gave it a higher rate of fire ¡ª pertinent
to use where the target might be in range and in the
line of sight for barely a second.
Other calibers
The same basic weapon was also chambered for the British
.303 round, and was used as a basic fighter aircraft
gun in fighters such as the Supermarine Spitfire until
the widespread introduction of the larger caliber Hispano-Suiza
HS.404 cannon, and throughout the war in bombers. Similar
versions for a variety of European calibers were delivered
by the Belgian gun maker FN (Fabrique Nationale), notably
German-standard 7.92 Mauser which was fairly widely
used in Eastern Europe.
Production
The M1919 was manufactured during WWII by many different
companies in the U.S. including General Motors and Rock
Island Arsenal. In the UK production was chiefly by
BSA.
Variants and derivatives
M1919 variants
In total there were six variants of the basic M1919
machine gun. The original M1919 featured a relatively
heavy barrel, attempting to match the sustained fire
capability of contemporary water-cooled machine guns.The
M1919A1 featured a lighter barrel and a bipod. The M1919A2
was another lightweight development specifically for
mounted cavalry units, utilizing a shorter barrel and
special tripod (though it could be fitted to either
the M1917 or M2 tripods). This weapon was designed to
allow greater mobility to cavalry units over the existing
M1917 machine gun. The M1919A2 was used for a short
period between World War I and World War II after the
cavalry had converted from horses to wheeled and tracked
vehicles. An improved version of the M1919A2, the M1919A3,
was also developed.
However, by and large the most common variant of the
series was the M1919A4, which was used in both a fixed
and flexible capacity by infantry and on vehicles. It
was also widely exported after the second world war
and continues to be used in small numbers around the
world. Two variants were developed specifically for
vehicular use, the M1919A5, with an extended charging
handle, and the M1919A4E1, a subvariant of the M1919A4
refitted with an extended charging handle.
The last variant was an attempt to make the M1919A4
lighter and handier for infantry use. The M1919A6 featured
a buttstock and bipod, as well as, a flash hider. While
the weapon was supposed to be more useful as a light
machine gun, it was still heavy compared to contemporary
weapons in the role, and was generally not regarded
favorably.
M2 aircraft gun
A specific aircraft version of the Model 1919A4 was
manufactured by Browning with a thinner barrel and thinner
receiver walls. It was used on pre-WW2 US aircraft but
was replaced by the larger .50 caliber M2 machine gun
and relegated to training duties. Also a derivative
of this weapon was built by Colt as the MG40. This weapon
should not to be confused with the Browning Machine
Gun, Cal. .50, M2, Aircraft, and its full designation
is Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .30, M2, Aircraft. It
is sometimes referred to as AN/M2. The AN/ part of the
nomenclature stood for "Army-Navy" and was
used to describe joint systems until the end of the
Second World War.
This weapon soldiered on for a short period during
the 1960s as the main weapons for early AC-47 Spooky
Gunships in Vietnam, until sufficient Miniguns could
be acquired.
Today, like other members of the M1919 pattern, the
M2 is popular with civilian enthusiasts, who have in
some cases fitted their guns with buttstocks and bipods
to allow for use without a tripod or other mount. The
modified AN/M2 consisted of a butt stock from a US M1
Garand fastened to the receiver of the Browning machine
gun, a rear sight typically from a BAR 1918 and an improvised
trigger. These conversions were based on field conversions
by soldiers in the Pacific Theatre during the Second
World War. A weapon of this type was used by Marine
Corporal Tony Stein in the invasion of Iwo Jima, who
would posthumously receive the Medal of Honor for his
actions during the battle. It had a rate of fire in
excess of 1,200 rpm and was nicknamed the "Stinger."
M37 and Mk 21
After the Second World War, two additional variants
of the M1919 were adopted by the US military. The Coaxial
M37 variant, with the ability to feed from either the
left or the right was one. It also featured an extended
charging handle similar to those on the M1919A4E1 and
A5. A trial variant fitted with special sighting equipment
was designated M37F, while a variant with spade grips,
the T152, was also developed but not adopted. A variant
designed for remote firing via a solenoid trigger for
use in the XM1/E1 armament subsystem was designated
M37C. A version of the M37, rechambered in 7.62x51 mm
NATO is rumored to have been created, but even if it
was it most likely would have been quickly supplanted
by the M60 and M73 Machine guns. The US Navy, however,
did convert a number of M1919A4's to this chambering
and designated them Mk 21 Mod 0.
International variants and derivatives
The M1919 pattern has been used in countries all over
the world in a variety of forms and under a number of
different designations.
The Browning Mk 1 and Mk 2 were older-style Commonwealth
designations for the .303 caliber Browning machine guns
used on the vast majority of British aircraft of the
Second World War at one point or another. The difference
between the Mk 1 and Mk 2 versions is unknown, but the
weapon visually is quite similar AN/M2 aircraft gun.
The post-war designations for these weapons was L3,
and they were used by the United Kingdom, Canada, and
Australia to designate the fixed (A1) and flexible (A2)
versions of the M1919A4 in .30-06 caliber. L3A3 and
L3A4 denoted sear hold-open conversion of previous L3A1s
and L3A2s. The A3 is the modified version of the A1,
and the A4 is the modified version of the A2. The Canadians
later adopted a separate designation for 7.62x51 mm
rechambered M1919A4s for fixed (C1) and flexible (C1A1)
applications. The C5 and C5A1 were product improvements
of the previous C1 and C1A1 respectively.
Ksp m/42 (background) and Ksp m/42B (foreground)FN-Browning
mle 1938 was the French designation for the FN-built
derivative converted to 7.5 mm MAS ammunition. Manufactured
in the late 1930s, and used on fixed mountings of U.S.-built
aircraft in French service from 1939 to 1942.
MG A4 is the Austrian designation for the M1919A4,
not to be confused with MG4, a South African licence-built
version of the M1919A4 in current use with the South
African National Defence Forces (SANDF). The MG4 is
manufactured by Lyttleton Engineering, Pretoria. Mg
M/52-1 and Mg M/52-11 were Danish designations for the
M1919A4 and M1919A5 respectively.
Ksp m/42 was the Swedish designation for license built
M1919 chambered in 6.5 x 55 mm or 8 x 63 mm, and from
1975 circa, mostly fitted with barrels in 7.62 x 51
mm. The Ksp m/42B was a lighter version with bipod and
shoulder stock (used in a similar way as the M1919A6),
chambered in 6.5 x 55 mm and later in 7.62 x 51 mm.
The Poles developed a copy of the Browning M1919 chambered
for 7.92 x 57mm Mauser, designated Ckm wz.32, similar
to the earlier Ckm wz.30
Commercial variants and derivatives
Colt produced a derivative of the M2 aircraft machine
gun, the Colt MG40, which shipped in a variety of calibers
including the basic .30-06 Springfield and 7mm Mauser.
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