[Robert Taylor]

The Browning .50 caliber machine gun was created by John Moses Browning, the most inventive of all American firearms designers. The machine gun was created for the United States Army 80 years ago and it is still in service today.

Orignially the machine gun was made in both watercooled and aircooled versions, the aircooled version is the one still in use.

About 25 years ago, a handful of companies started making bolt action and semi-automatic rifles to fire the .50 BMG cartridge. There are a considerable number of long range target shooters that enjoy shooting these kinds of rifles.

The cartridge itself is a very large round, the full metal jack bullet is about 750 grains heavy, especially considering that many deer rifles of the .30 caliber area shoot 140 to 180 grain bullets.

Many aircraft the USA had in WWII used the aircooled BMG as main armament, both fighters and bombers.

There is no recorded use of one of a .50 BMG gun of any configuration used in a criminal attack in America but that has not stopped an all out campaign to ban them by various gun confiscation groups, whose claims are often outright lies.

It should be alarming to anyone that these VERY EXPENSIVE target rifles, never used in crime, are under attack by gun control/confiscation groups. These people really just want the guns rounded up in America and all of us forceably disarmed.

There are some good reasons why gangstas do not buy nor use these rifles in criminal attacks:

Cost: cheap single shot versions: four grand and up

Weight: average of a decent target rifle version is 36 pounds or so.

Length: four feet long or more


So, no gangsta is going to plunk down four thousand dollars for a very heavy rifle that he can't tote or even shoot out of a car window. So ask yourself, why the screaming over banning them? Good question.

Join the NRA today and fight these groups that seek to disarm us, not only of target rifles but our very right to defend ourselves from criminal attack.

[null and void]

So, no gangsta is going to plunk down four thousand dollars for a very heavy rifle that he can't tote or even shoot out of a car window. So ask yourself, why the screaming over banning them? Good question.

Do you really want the answer?

[11Bush]

I was not aware that the .50 was fitted with a water jacket. The .30 yes, but not the .50. Any sources for info?

[VOA]

The Browning .50 caliber machine gun was created by John Moses Browning, the most inventive
of all American firearms designers.

A couple of years ago I saw a documentary on cable (History Channel?) about the
small arms of the Japanese army in WWII.
After I stopped laughing at some of the miserable weapons the Japanese grunt
was saddled with, I came to my senses and said "Thank G-d John Moses Browning was
an American!"