Editing M2 Browning (section)

{{Short description|.50 caliber heavy machine gun}}
{{Redirect2|Fifty cal|.50 cal|cartridges in this caliber|12 mm caliber}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox weapon
| image              = PEO Browning M2E2 QCB (c1).jpg
| image_size         = 300px
| caption            = M2E2 with a quick change barrel and tripod
| name               = Browning machine gun, cal. .50, M2, HB
| type               = [[Heavy machine gun]]
| origin             = United States
| is_ranged          = yes
| designer           = [[John M. Browning]]
| design_date        = 1918
| manufacturer       = {{plainlist|
*'''Active'''
**[[Fabrique Nationale]]
**[[General Dynamics]]
**Ohio Ordnance Works Inc.
**[[U.S. Ordnance]]
*'''Former'''
**Manroy Engineering
**[[Sabre Defence|Sabre Defence Industries]]
**[[Colt's Manufacturing Company|Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company]]
**[[High Standard Manufacturing Company|High Standard Firearms]]
**[[Savage Arms|Savage Arms Corporation]]
**Buffalo Arms Corporation
**'''[[General Motors Corporation]]'''
***[[Frigidaire]]
***[[ACDelco|AC Spark Plug]]
***[[Nexteer Automotive#History|Saginaw Steering Gear Division]]
***Brown-Lipe-Chappin Divisions
**Kelsey Hayes Wheel Company
**[[Springfield Armory]]
**Wayne Pump Company
**ERMCO
**[[TRW Inc.#History|Ramo Manufacturing]]
**[[Rock Island Arsenal]]}}
| production_date    = 1921–present (M2HB/M2A1)
| number             = 3 million<ref name="worldpolicy2000">{{cite web |url=http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/smallarms.htm |title=Report: Profiling the Small Arms Industry |date=November 2000 |website=World Policy Institute |access-date=2010-07-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011093831/http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/smallarms.htm |archive-date=2017-10-11 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| service            = 1933–present
| used_by            = See ''[[#Users|Users]]''
| wars               = [[World War II]] <br />[[Indonesian National Revolution ]] <br />[[Korean War]] <br />[[First Indochina War]] <br />[[Suez Crisis]] <br />[[1958 Lebanon crisis]] <br />[[Cuban Revolution]] <br />[[Portuguese Colonial War]] <br />[[Rhodesian Bush War]] <br />[[Vietnam War]] <br />[[Laotian Civil War]] <br />[[Cambodian Civil War]] <br />[[Colombian Armed Conflict]] <br />[[Dominican Civil War]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Power Pack: U.S. Intervention in the Dominican Republic, 1965-1966 |series=Leavenworth Papers, Number 15|last=Yates|first= Lawrence A. |date=July 1988|page= 123|publisher= [[United States Army Command and General Staff College]]|url= https://history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/dom_republic/Power_Pack-US_Intervention_Dominican_Republic_1965-1966.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150906182310/http://www.history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/dom_republic/Power_Pack-US_Intervention_Dominican_Republic_1965-1966.pdf|url-status= dead|archive-date= 6 September 2015}}</ref> <br />[[Ethiopian Civil War]] <br />[[Lebanese Civil War]] <br />[[Cambodian–Vietnamese War]] <br />[[Sino-Vietnamese War]] <br />[[Nicaraguan Revolution]] <br />[[Falklands War]] <br />[[Operation Urgent Fury]] <br />[[Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present)]] <br />[[Iran-Iraq War]] <br />[[Operation Just Cause]] <br />[[Gulf War|Persian Gulf War]] <br />[[Rwandan Civil War]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/rwandan-government-soldier-fires-on-june-12-1994-to-rwandan-news-photo/456391190 |title=A Rwandan government soldier fires on June 12, 1994 to Rwandan |access-date=10 August 2022 |archive-date=6 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306194014/https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/rwandan-government-soldier-fires-on-june-12-1994-to-rwandan-news-photo/456391190 |url-status=dead }}</ref> <br />[[Somali Civil War]] <br />[[Yugoslav Wars]] <br />[[Operation Uphold Democracy]] <br />[[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiA_W9-pW9Y |title=50 Cal. Gunner Engages Taliban Positions During Ambush |author=FUNKER530 - Veteran Community & Combat Footage |date=21 June 2013 |access-date=4 June 2017 |website=YouTube |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316003317/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiA_W9-pW9Y |archive-date=16 March 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> <br />[[Iraq War]] <br />[[Syrian Civil War (2011–present)]] <br />[[War in Iraq (2013–2017)]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du8J30kRNMA |title=Iraqi Capture of Saqlawiyah Northwest of Fallujah From Da'esh |website=YouTube |access-date=4 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602100745/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du8J30kRNMA |archive-date=2 June 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> <br />[[Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)]] <br />[[Russo-Ukrainian War]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2022/03/22/ukraine-has-received-browning-50-caliber-heavy-machine-gun/ |title=Ukraine has received Browning .50 caliber heavy machine gun |website=Bulgarian Military|date=22 March 2022 |access-date=24 March 2022}}</ref>
| weight             = {{plainlist|
*{{cvt|38|kg}} <br />{{cvt|28|kg}} (AN/M2)
*{{cvt|58|kg}} with [[tripod (weapon)|tripod]] and traverse and elevation mechanism (T&E)}}
*{{cvt|24|lb}} barrel weight<ref name="FM23-65">{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/Fm23-65/mode/2up?view=theater |title=FM 23-65 Browning Machine Gun caliber.50 HB, M2 2002 |date=23 December 2002 }}</ref>
| length             = {{convert|1654|mm|in|abbr=on}} <br />{{convert|1429|mm|abbr=on|1}} (AN/M2)
| part_length        = {{convert|1143|mm|abbr=on|1}} <br />{{convert|910|mm|abbr=on|1}} (AN/M2)
| cartridge          = [[.50 BMG|.50 BMG (12.7×99mm NATO)]]
| action             = [[Recoil operation|Short recoil-operated]]
| rate               = {{plainlist|
*450–600 rounds/min (M2HB)<ref name="M2HB-QCB">{{cite web |url=http://www.fnherstal.com/index.php?id=280&backPID=306&productID=61&pid_product=233&pidList=306&categorySelector=2&detail=&cHash=b6f6442733 |title=FN M2HB-QCB |website=FN Herstal |access-date=25 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225174447/http://www.fnherstal.com/index.php?id=280&backPID=306&productID=61&pid_product=233&pidList=306&categorySelector=2&detail=&cHash=b6f6442733 |archive-date=25 December 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Dunlap|1948|pp=310–311}}
*750–850 rounds/min (AN/M2)
*1,200–1,300 rounds/min (AN/M3)<ref>{{Harvnb|Chinn|1951|loc='''III''' pp. 315, 323–334}}. In 1939, H. Arnold sought a cyclic rate greater that 1000 rounds/minute. The T25E3 gun was standardized as M3, and 2,400 had been made by September 1945. "The standardized basic machine gun fired at the rate of 1,200 rounds per minute."</ref>}}
| velocity           = {{convert|2910|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}} (M33 ball), {{cvt|78|ft}} from muzzle<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dtic.mil/dticasd/sbir/sbir032/a044a.pdf |title=Army Ammunition Data Sheets for Small Caliber Ammunition |publisher=Defense Technical Information Center |page=150 |date=April 1994 |access-date=27 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071202134237/http://www.dtic.mil/dticasd/sbir/sbir032/a044a.pdf |archive-date=2 December 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> <br />{{convert|3050|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}} in manual<ref name="FM23-65"/><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.usord.com/content/docs/manuals/usord_m2hb_op-manual.pdf | title=M2 HB/QCB }}</ref>
| range              = {{convert|1800|m|yd|abbr=on}}<ref name="M2HB-QCB"/>
| max_range          = {{convert|7400|m|yd|abbr=on}}
| feed               = [[Belt (firearm)|Belt-fed]] (M2 or M9 links)
| sights             = 
}}

The '''M2 machine gun''' or '''Browning .50 caliber machine gun''' (informally, "'''Ma Deuce'''")<ref>{{Cite web |title=24th MEU ACE 'lock and load' Ma Deuce: photo essay |url=https://www.24thmeu.marines.mil/News/Article/Article/510719/24th-meu-ace-lock-and-load-ma-deuce-photo-essay/ |access-date=2022-05-31 |website=24th Marine Expeditionary Unit |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Rottman |first=Gordon |title=The US Army in the Vietnam War 1965–73 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-84603-239-4 |location=Reading, UK |page=56}}</ref> is a [[heavy machine gun]] that was designed near the end of [[World War I]] by [[John Browning]]. While similar to Browning's [[M1919 Browning machine gun]], which was chambered for the [[.30-06 Springfield|.30-06]] cartridge, the M2 uses Browning's larger and more powerful [[.50 BMG]] (12.7 mm) cartridge. The design has had many designations; the official U.S. military designation for the infantry type is '''Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB, Flexible'''. It has been used against infantry, light armored vehicles, watercraft, light fortifications, and low-flying aircraft.

The gun 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 (2001–present)|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 '''M2HB''' (heavy barrel) is manufactured in the U.S. by [[General Dynamics]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4360 |title=Contracts for Friday, September 3, 2010 |website=Defense.gov |access-date=2011-09-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110529135851/http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4360 |archive-date=29 May 2011}}</ref> Ohio Ordnance Works,<ref>{{Cite web |title=.50 M2HB QCB (M2A1) |url=http://oow-govmil.com/firearms/50-m2hb-qcb-2/ |work=Ohio Ordnance Military |date=28 October 2016 |access-date=2020-08-24}}</ref> [[U.S. Ordnance]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4072 |title=Contracts for Wednesday, July 15, 2009 |website=Defense.gov |access-date=2011-09-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110529135853/http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4072 |archive-date=29 May 2011}}</ref> and [[FN Herstal]] for sale to the U.S. government and other nations via [[Foreign Military Sales]].