Posted on 11/07/2015 11:15:11 AM PST by rktman
Everyone talks about the AKM being the most reliable firearm ever invented, but it is nice to see other designs coming to the forefront of reliability every now and again. In this case, I present a pair of Browning machine guns.
Granted, this is no indication that every Browning out there is extremely reliable. In fact, I would rather state the reverse, and I know many machine gunners out there can vouch for this, in that the fifty caliber M2 certainly isnât the most reliable thing in the world. Knowing how to properly headspace and time the the gun is an almost lost art, it has a large number of small parts that need to be assembled in very specific ways or else operation can break them, or it wonât happen at all. I personally have been the recipient of an unreliable M2 because the gunner hadnât properly headspaced and timed it before a patrol in Helmand, and we thus had a nonfunctioning M2 while taking fire. Not the best of situations.
(Excerpt) Read more at thefirearmblog.com ...
A rational nation would have a statue of that man in every town square.
L
I have the book “John M. Browning, American Gunmaker”. One of the things I like about it is they show all or nearly all of his original inventions. They are typically fire blackened and usually not even blued but they had one thing in common.
They worked. Browning liked the workers at Colt, Winchester, FN etc. He admired their ability to turn out beautifully finished production guns. He enjoyed mixing with them and they all liked him.
RE “...that you can hoist on your shoulder and walk around with....”
The immediate image that came to my mind is Don Rickles in “Kelly’s Heroes” bitching about carrying the .30 M1919 MG... hahah!
And that’s just Mamma Deuce’s little sister!!!!!! :^)
RE “...had a CAD/CAM program in his head and hands...”
He was one of those Americans that was able to figure the answer to a question before the question was asked, translate it to paper, and translate it to Metal.
Amazing guy, and typical of Our people in that time. Lots of know-how, can-do, and make-it-work.
Holy crap, that’s staggering!!! To see it all laid out like that.
Made my morning!!! Thank you!!! :^)
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