The M1919 Browning is a .30 caliber medium machine gun that was widely used during the 20th century. It was used as a light infantry, coaxial, mounted, aircraft, and anti-aircraft machine gun by the U.S. and many other countries, especially during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Although it began to be superseded by newer designs in the later half of the century (such as by the M60 machine gun), it remained in use in many North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries and elsewhere for much longer. It is very similar in design to the larger .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Machine Gun, which is also a Browning-designed weapon and is still in NATO service.
Many M1919s were rechambered for the new 7.62 × 51 mm NATO round and served into the 1990s, as well as up to the present day in some countries. The United States Navy also converted many to 7.62 mm NATO, and designated them Mk 21 Mod 0; they were commonly used on river craft in the 1960s and 1970s in Vietnam.
The M1919 was an air-cooled development of the standard US machine gun of World War I, the Browning M1917, as designed by John M. Browning.
OPERATION
Loading
The M1919 originally fired the .30 cal M1906 (30-06) ball cartridge, and later the .30 caliber M2 ball cartridge, contained in a woven cloth belt, feeding from left to right. A metallic link was later adopted, forming a "disintegrating" belt.It was usually Dark-Grey to a mixture of Olive-Green,
Two Marines with a M1919A4 on Namur Island during World War II
Loading was accomplished by inserting the pull tab on the ammunition belt from the left side of the gun (either metal links or metal tab on cloth belts), until the belt- holding pawl at the entrance of feedway grabbed the belt and held it in place. The cocking handle was then pulled back (hand palm-up, to avoid thumb dislocation from a potential 'hot-barrel-cooked-off' round, *see below for explanation), and released. This advanced the first round of the belt in front of the bolt for the extractor/ejector on the bolt to grab the first cartridge. The cocking handle was pulled and released a second time. This removed the first cartridge from the belt, advanced the next round into position to be grabbed and moved the first round down into the chamber of the barrel ready for firing.
As the bolt went into battery (ready to fire) position the extractor grabbed the next round on the belt that was advanced and was resting in the feedway waiting to be loaded. Every time the gun fired, the gun performed the simultaneous operations of ejecting the spent round, loading the next round to be fired into the barrel, advancing the belt, and grabbing the next round in preparation for loading again.
The gun's original design was as a watercooled machine gun. When it was decided to try to lighten the gun and make it an aircooled gun, its design as a gun that fires from the closed bolt created a potentially dangerous situation. If the gun was very hot from prolonged firing, the cartridge ready to be fired could be resting in a red hot barrel, causing the propellant in the round to "cook off": firing from the intense heat without any warning.
Firing
When the rear of the trigger was pivoted upwards by the operator, the front of the trigger tipped downward, releasing the sear, and the sear, in turn, released the firing pin allowing it to strike the primer of the cartridge.
As the assembly of bolt, barrel and barrel extension recoiled to the rear of the gun, following the firing of the cartridge, the locking block which locked the bolt to the barrel and barrel extension was drawn out of engagement by a cam in the bottom of the gun's receiver. The recoiling barrel extension struck the "accelerator" assembly, a half-moon shaped piece pivoting from the front of the lock frame. The tips of the accelerator's two curving fingers engaged the bottom of the bolt and caused it to move rapidly to the rear, extracting the fired cartridge casing from the barrel. A track in the top of the bolt caused the feed mechanism to advance, providing a new cartridge to be chambered as the bolt moved forward under pressure from the recoil spring. If the trigger was still being pressed, the cycle then repeated itself.
SCREENSHOOT
| Type | Medium machine gun |
|---|---|
| Place of origin |  United States |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1919–Present |
| Used by | See Users |
| Wars | World War II Korean War First Indochina War Congo Crisis Vietnam War Rhodesian Bush War |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1919 |
| Produced | 1919–1945 |
| Variants | A1–A6; M37 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 31 lb (14 kg) (M1919A4) |
| Length |
|
| Barrel length | 24 in (610 mm) |
| | |
| Cartridge |
|
| Caliber | various |
| Action | Recoil-operated/short-recoil operation |
| Rate of fire | 400–600 round/min (1200-1500 for AN/M2 Variant) |
| Muzzle velocity | 2,800 ft/s (850 m/s) |
| Effective range | 1,500 yd (1,400 m) (maximum effective range) |
| Feed system | 250-round belt |
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