Anyone Care to Comment on the Condition of This BMG?

US Navy "Eye on the Fleet" Photo Gallery. ^ | Oct. 12, 2005 | US Navy Photographer

[fso301]

Can someone comment on this picture of this M2 and it's ammo?

[El Gato]

Where are the officers?

To heck with the officers, that ain't the Soviet Navy. Where are the Chiefs?

Of course every land based Navy flight line I was ever on, or saw photos of, was a mess compared to Air Force ones. Most especially Air National Guard facilities. You can usually eat off the hanger floor there.

[El Gato]

I'm afraid to say, this is a navy problem, not the young marine standing there!

That's a sailor, not a Marine. Draftsman 2nd Class Arturo Chavez according to the caption. If he was a Marine, LadyX would personally be out there chewing on him, and Texas Cowboy would be haunting his a$$.

[eXe]

The gun looks pretty good other than that mount with some rust on top there. The ammo looks downright scary, links rusted and cases look kinda rough.

This one case I blew up and circled (see that black dot in the center) looks like a case failure waiting to happen..

[brazzaville]

Good evening.

That looks like the mount, rather than the gun. I would guess that it whould have been painted rather than phosphorized and more likely to rust.

It's too heavy to hump, whatever it is.

Michael Frazier

[river rat]

The M2 itself, looks clean and cared for..
The M2's mount, has flourishing rust.
The disintegrating belt clips are badly rusted.
The cartridges are FILTHY, with corrosion and particulate matter.

The M2 is a brutal performer - and I have little doubt she will consume the garbage this squid is feeding her -- but I would think his life and the lives of his shipmates and the welfare of his ship --- dictated that he serve the M2 cleaner food to avoid a very dangerous jam in time of peril.

Semper Fi

[Sola Veritas]

Looks like rust to me, especially on the recoil absorbers.

It may just be the angle of the photo, but those look more like 20mm rounds than a 50cal Browning Machine Gun rounds. Plus, notice the three different colors on the "bullets." Does the Navy have a 20 mm gun other than the phalanx?

[Lurker]

Standing orders are that ammo, links, and belts are never to polished. If the armorer issued it, it's supposed to be good to go.

Of course if an armorer handed me ammo that looked like that I'd find some way to crap in his messkit.

L

[UncleJeff]

That picture is bizarre. The gun itself appears to be well maintained, but the mount is corroding and that ammo should have gone over the side, not into the gun. It must be the perspective that makes the rounds look so big, but no lense made them look that ugly. I always figured squids didn't know anything about guns, but I was mistaken.

They don't know anything about ammo.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

The rusty spot appears to be on the gun mount and not on the Ma Deuce.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

[Simo Hayha]

Send a copy to those yum-yums in Illinois who want to put gun manufacturers out of business. The photo looks phony.

[Shooter 2.5]

Red: Tracer
Black: Armor Piercing
Green: Practice [?]

[Cannoneer No. 4]

I'm thinking armor-piercing incendiary.

[rahbert]

As others have pointed out the "GI gold" is on the mount
not the M2.

I am amazed that such crappy ammunition is being used.
I wouldn't want to cycle crap like that through any
weapon in my care.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Cartridge, Caliber .50, Armor Piercing Incendiary (API), MK 211 Mod 0

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Cartridge, Caliber .50, Armor Piercing Incendiary-Tracer, M20

[Atlas Sneezed]

Dummy rounds for Press Day?

[fso301]

The photo looks phony.

Follow the link. The photo is on an official US Navy website and is credited to a Navy photographer.

[buck61]

No expert but, looks like sand to me and, we don't know the circumstance of the setting. The rust however is something else. When I was in the military, paint seem to be the one thing there was plenty of.

[MikefromOhio]

LOL

That just sounds like fun to me LOL