Browning Machine Gun Caliber .50, M2, Aircraft, Fixed And Flexible - TM 9-225 War Department Technical Manual

Ii. Disassembly, assembly, and head space.

Removal of groups from gun Changing from left-hand feed to right-hand feed j Converting a fixed gun into a flexible gun III. Stoppages and immediate action.

I IV. Care and preservation.

Points to be observed before a flight j Points to be observed after a flight I Working in the machine gun I Method of filling oil buffer V. Ammunition — Continued. Paragraph Care, handling, and preservation 31 Defects found after firing 35 Field reports of accidents 36 VI. Spare parts and accessories.

Appendix.- List of references 51 1. Purpose. — This manual is published for the information and guidance of the using arms and services.

2. Scope. — a. This manual contains all the essential information of a technical character required by the using arms for identification, use, and care of the materiel described. In addition to a description of the weapon, it contains all essential information required to identify, use, and care for ammunition, spare parts and accessories, and cleaning and preserving materials.

h. The disassembling outlined herein is the only disassembling which the using troops are authorized to perform.

3. References. — All publications to be used in conjunction with this manual are listed in the Appendix.

Weight of gun (fixed) pounds— 64.51 Weight of gun (flexible) do 68. 51 Weight of barrel assembly (barrel and sleeve) pounds 13. 31 Overall length of gun (fixed) inches 57. 09 Overall length of gun (flexible) do 56. 40 Overall length of barrel do 36. 00 Rate of automatic fire shots/min 550 to 650 5. Description. — The Browning machine gun, caliber.50, M2, aircraft, is a recoil operated, belt fed, air cooled machine gun. The metallic link, disintegrating belt is used in all firing of the gun. This gun is designed for both fixed and flexible use and by properly repositioning some of the component parts the gun may be fed from either the rightor left-hand side as desired.

a. Types. — (1) Fixed gwn. — The fixed gun (fig. 1) is designed for installation on or adjacent to the airplane engine; or for mounting in or on the wings. It is provided with an operating slide which connects with the bolt by means of the bolt stud. The operating slide is provided for retraction of the breech mechanism by hand and for use in loading, unloading, and reduction of stoppages in firing. It can be drawn back to its full extent or to a position with the bolt not fully home and the bolt retained there by engaging the slot provided in the lower surface of the operating slide on the operating slide rear guide.

(a) The fixed gun is normally assembled with a backplate having a horizontal buffer, although it may have a vertical buffer backplate due to previous practice or to limitation in mounting space.

(&) The fixed type of gun when mounted on or adjacent to the engine is fired by means of a synchronized mechanical trigger motor attached to the gun receiver. This mechanism causes the gun to deliver semiautomatic fire.

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