Posted on 06/22/2004 8:48:59 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants
The US Army issued a contract to build a new heavy machine-gun, the M307. It can fire 25mm "smart shells" or, with a barrel change, the older .50 caliver (12.7mm) bullets. Earlier, it planned to build a new .50 caliber machine-gun, the M312.
Now it’s official, the U.S. Army is building a replacement for the 1920s era M-2 .50 caliber (12.7mm) heavy machine-gun. The new weapon, the M-307, has been designed so it can fire either the computer controlled 25mm "smart shell" or (by changing the barrel and receiver), .50 caliber ammo. The troops will begin receiving the new weapon in three or four years.
The M-2, nicknamed "Ma Deuce" by the troops, has been around so long because it was very good at what it did. Accurate, reliable, rugged and easy to use, many of the M-2s currently in use are decades old. The army doesn’t want to build new ones, and wasn’t sure it could do without the venerable, and very useful, Ma Deuce. So instead of going ahead with the plan to build a new .50 caliber machine-gun (the XM312), the manufacturer of the XM307 (General Dynamics) was given the go ahead on manufacturing their weapon with the stipulation that it be convertible to a plain old, non-computer, .50 caliber weapon by quickly swapping out a few parts. The XM312 was only eight pounds lighter than the 50 pound XM307, as the electronic component of the XM307 is not all that heavy, just expensive and always in need of fresh batteries. Maybe they’ll get in the habit of slipping a fresh battery into each box of 25mm ammo.
Aside from the .50 caliber ammo being 20 times cheaper than the high tech 25mm stuff, if there are teething problems with the computer controlled weapon, the troops will still have a spiffy new version of the old M-2. An XM307 with a .50 caliber barrel is still 14 pounds lighter than an M-2 and can use some aspects of the fire control electronics (like the range finder).
The 25mm XM307 was developed from the 1990s project to produce a 20mm computer controlled shell for an infantry weapon, as well as a heavier crew served weapon (the XM307). The 20mm shell proved to be rather less lethal than was required, so it was decided to move up to 25mm. The infantry weapon (the OICW) combined the 25mm weapon and a 5.56mm rifle in one unwieldy arrangement that has now been dropped. There will be a semi-automatic 25mm weapon (the XM-25) for the infantry (that looks and feels like a hefty shotgun) and the automatic XM307 (which weighs 50 pounds and fires the 25mm rounds at the rate of about 250 a minute, or four a second.) The computer controlled 25mm round, at over 20 bucks each, can also be fired one at a time. This will often be sufficient, because the XM307 has a built in range finder that can put a 25mm round through a window, and have it detonate inside the room. This can be very useful, and there’s no need to put dozens of rounds through the window, as is the case with the current .50 caliber weapon. The XM307 can also fire more conventional armor piercing and incendiary shell. The major problem with the XM307 is that this new computer controlled stuff has not been used in combat yet. Until it is, no one will be quite sure just how much of an improvement it is over Ma Deuce.
I love the .50 cal. We had some ground-pounder fifties mounted on our helicopters in VN till they started shaking out our fillings and the A/C rivets. We soon traded with the Navy and got some specifically made for aircraft mounting. Nothing sounded better when on short final into a hot LZ than to hear those babies open up. Check out my home page where you're looking down the barrel of one.
How soon are the M-2 parts kits going to start turning up as surplus?
Semper Fi and wondering about a trip to Mexico
If I change the barrel and receiver I can probably fire my 30-06 ammo in my .22lr. The stock may have to be modified though.
If the Army needs somebody to take those dirty old machine guns off their hands, I'm available.....
As a special tool for some ops, OK, but otherwise, this project is more money thrown away.
I caught that, too. Kind of a strange statement. It would make more sense if they said that the bolt and barrel needd to be changed.
I hope Uncle Sugar in all his infinite wisdom doesnt torch these old venerable war horses
Like he has those Thompsons, M-14s, etc etc....
Put them in cosmoline for long term storage...as well as spare parts...just in case these new fangled replacements dont measure up...and we at least have something of value that actually works and holds up....
imo
Swap everything EXCEPT the tripod? ;>)
A 1 inch gun borders on being a cannon rather than a machine gun.
How about the CMP?
Semper Fi,
John Browing was a genious. The day he sold the Army on the M1917, he took the Army brass out and demonstrated the reliability of the design by holding down the trigger of the machine gun and firing it for 45 minutes continuously without a single misfire. (Firing rate of about 600 rpm X 45 min = 27,000 rounds)
Needless to say, they were impressed.
I believe that anything larger than a .50 BMG (non-black powder) must be registered with the ATF as a destructive device.
I guess where you can have one but not the other, it would be good. But why not have both?
Interestingly, 20mm and 25mm were the calibers for many of the early (often hand operated) machine cannon of the late 19th century -- nordenfeldt and gardiner quick-firing guns, etc.
Speaking of the CMP, I got my tracking number for a Greek H&R rack grade just this morning to be delivered tomorrow. I feel a case of Garanditis coming on and may have to call in sick tomorrow.
Gunnery ping.
Only if you can get an illegal to bring it back across the border. You'd get nailed if you're legal.
Don't worry, some branches will be using M2s for another 50 years. No way will Seabees be getting that fancy expensive stuff until every last M2 is used up.
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