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104-589: The institute was established in 1946. Its roots lie in Norwegian participation in British scientific research during the Second World War (see Allied technological cooperation during World War II ). Many Norwegian scientists and technologists took part during the period when Germany occupied Norway between 1940 and 1945. FFI has 714 employees, of which approximately 360 are scientists and engineers. The main location of

208-745: A "butterfly" trigger like the M2HB, and the T153 had a pistol grip and back-up trigger like the M1919A4 and an extended charging handle similar to those on the M1919A5. The T153 was adopted as the M37 and was produced by SACO-Lowell and Rock Island Arsenal from 1955 to 1957. It was in regular service from 1955 until it was replaced by the M37E1 in the late 1960s and the M73A1 in the early 1970s. The M37

312-610: A British artillery piece, the Ordnance QF 6-pounder 7 cwt anti-tank gun. The US realized at the start of the war that their own 37 mm gun M3 would soon be obsolete and thus they produced a license built version of the QF 6-pounder under the designation 57 mm gun M1. Both 76 mm and 75 mm guns were mounted on tanks sent to the Soviets by the US, while the British tanks sent were armed with both

416-560: A bustle to the turret rear; this modification was known as the Firefly . The combination of British and American weaponry proved desirable, although despite the United States building a few 17-pounder Fireflies from new, it never went into mass production and did not see action. The US had its own 76 mm calibre long-barrel gun for the Sherman. While it wasn't as good as the 17-pounder, it still had

520-477: A dial on the right side. As a company support weapon, the M1919 required a five-man crew: the squad leader; the gunner (who fired the gun and when advancing carried the tripod and box of ammunition); the assistant gunner (who helped feed the gun and carried it, and a box of spare parts and tools); two ammunition carriers. The original idea of the M1919 was to allow it to be more easily packed for transport and featured

624-470: A difficult challenge, with the mandate for a closed bolt firing cycle to enable the gun to be safely and properly synchronized for fixed-mount, forward-aimed guns firing through a spinning propeller, a necessity on many single-engined fighter aircraft designs through to nearly the end of World War II. The receiver walls and operating components of the M2 were made thinner and lighter, and with air cooling provided by

728-448: A heavier "bull barrel", much thicker and was lengthened to 24 in (0.61 m) like the M1917, for cooling purposes, and a recoil booster to enhance cycling performance, even with the heavier barrel. Various other small adjustments to the design were made, such as moving the front sight from the barrel jacket to the receiver, which made it easier to mount the gun on vehicles. The design of

832-500: A license to produce the weapon domestically. The ksp m/22 stayed in active service all the way to 1957, although by then only in a gunpod for ground strafing. Originally the ksp m/22 was chambered in 6.5x55 mm but in 1932 almost all guns where re chambered to 8x63 mm . The Browning was adopted by the Royal Air Force as a replacement for the .303 Vickers machine gun and manufactured by Vickers Armstrong and BSA to fire

936-589: A light barrel and bipod when first introduced as the M1919A1. Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that the gun was too heavy to be easily moved, while at the same time, too light for sustained fire. This led to the M1919A2, which included a heavier barrel and tripod, and could sustain fire for longer periods. The M1919A4 weighed about 31 pounds (14 kg), and was ordinarily mounted on a "lightweight" (14 lb), low-slung tripod for infantry use (light and low compared to

1040-488: A much better chance of successfully engaging German heavy tanks especially at close range, offered consistent kill-power against more equally-matched opponents at all ranges, and didn't require major modification to fit like the 17-pounder did. The Firefly thus remained a British variant of the Sherman. The M10 tank destroyer was also up-gunned with the 17-pounder, creating the M10C tank destroyer , sometimes known as "Achilles". This

1144-432: 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 cartridge to heat up to the point that it would ignite and fire the cartridge on its own (a cook-off ). With each further shot heating the barrel even more, the gun would continue to fire uncontrollably until the ammunition ran out, since depressing

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1248-445: A squad weapon and were very effective at sustained fire. The M1919A6 first saw combat service in the fall of 1943. It had a metal buttstock assembly that clamped to the backplate of the gun, and a front barrel bearing that incorporated both a muzzle booster and a bipod similar to that used on the BAR. A lighter barrel than that of the M1919A4 was fitted, and a carrying handle was attached to

1352-458: A tripod or other mount. The resulting weapon was a belt-fed, 40 in (1.0 m) long, 25 lb (11 kg) gun and fired three times as fast as the M1919A6's of the day. The Stinger was recommended as a replacement for the BAR in squads however the war ended just six months later. Marine Corporal Tony Stein used a "Stinger" during the invasion of Iwo Jima . Stein would posthumously receive

1456-892: A variety of European calibers were delivered by the Belgian gun maker Fabrique Nationale (FN), notably German-standard 7.92×57mm Mauser which was widely used in Eastern Europe ; and by Swedish gun maker Carl Gustaf SGF in 6.5×55mm and 8×63mm calibers. Argentina used Colt-manufactured guns chambered for the standard Argentine 7.65×53mm cartridge. The .303 variant equipped the Hawker Hurricanes delivered to Soviet Air Forces , during World War II (in both eight and twelve-gun variants). Soviet airmen compared them to their own, rapid-firing (at up to 1,800 rounds/min) ShKAS machine gun in terms of reliability: "But they often failed due to dust", recalled pilot Nikolai G. Golodnikov. "We tackled

1560-537: A vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft or anti-personnel machine gun. The same basic weapon, albeit modified to fire from an open bolt to prevent cooking off of cordite , was also chambered for the British .303 round, and was used as the United Kingdom's primary offensive (fixed forward firing) aircraft gun in fighters such as the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane and as fixed armament in bombers like

1664-527: A wing mounted machine gun but was also adopted as hand-fired mount for use in bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. It had a rate of fire of 1,150 rounds per minute. The license was issued to BSA by July 1935. The Browning .303 was used as the RAF and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) primary fixed forward firing aircraft armament before the war, both in synchronized mounts (firing through a spinning propeller) on pre-war biplane fighters ( Gloster Gladiator , Hawker Fury ) and on

1768-484: A wooden buttstock, handle, pistol grip and bipod directly mounted to the body of the weapon was in fact one pound heavier than the M1919A4 without its tripod, at 32 lb (15 kg), though its bipod made for faster deployment and enabled the machine gun team to dispense with one man (the tripod bearer). The A6 version saw increasing service in the latter days of World War II and was used extensively in Korean War . While

1872-630: The Allies . The coaxial M37 variant had the ability to feed from either the left or the right of the weapon and featured an extended charging handle similar to those on the M1919A4E1 and A5. A trial variant fitted with special sighting equipment was designated M37F. Another version of the M1919A4, the M1919A6, was an attempt to make the weapon into a true light machine gun by attaching a bipod, buttstock, carrying handle, and lighter barrel (4 lb (1.8 kg) instead of 7 lb (3.2 kg)). The M1919A6, with

1976-588: The Battle of the Bulge for us." The medium tank M4 was used in all theatres of the Second World War. It had a versatile reliable design and was easy to produce, thus huge numbers were made and provided to both Britain and the USSR by the United States under Lend-Lease. Despite official opinions, the medium tank M4 was well liked by some Soviet tankers, while others called it the best tank for peacetime service. When Britain received

2080-564: The Bristol Blenheim , the Fairey Battle , Handley Page Hampden and Martin Maryland , until the widespread introduction of the larger 20mm caliber Hispano-Suiza Mk.II cannon, and throughout the war as defensive turret weapons in bombers. British night fighter de Havilland Mosquitoes used quartets of .303 Brownings in the nose and Bristol Beaufighters used six in the wings, supplementing

2184-537: The British .303 inch (7.7 mm) round and named "Browning .303 Mk II" in British Service. It was essentially the 1930 Pattern belt-fed Colt–Browning machine gun with a few modifications for British use, such as firing from an open bolt to avoid cooking off the cordite rounds and a lighter bolt, increasing the rate of fire, much like the US .30 M2/AN aircraft variant. It was designed to fire hydraulically or pneumatically as

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2288-503: The Home Guard , who were forced to train with broom handles and makeshift pikes using lengths of piping and old bayonets until weapons could be supplied. In addition to those produced in Britain, small arms and ammunition were obtained from Commonwealth countries and also purchased from U.S. manufacturers until they were supplied under Lend-Lease beginning in 1941. The weapons obtained from

2392-498: The Korean War , and the Vietnam War . The M1919 saw service as a light infantry , coaxial , mounted, aircraft , and anti-aircraft machine gun by the U.S and many other countries. The M1919 was an air-cooled development of the standard US machine gun of World War I , the John M. Browning -designed water-cooled M1917 . The emergence of general-purpose machine guns in the 1950s pushed

2496-558: The M1919 .30 machine gun and the M2HB .50 machine gun chambered in .50 BMG were provided by the U.S. for infantry and anti-aircraft use. Browning AN2 light machine guns in .303 British caliber were already in standard use on British aircraft beginning in the late 1930s. Britain supplied small arms to the USSR, and the 9mm Sten submachine gun was supplied to Soviet partisan troops . The British made use of many American towed artillery pieces during

2600-520: The Medal of Honor for his actions during the battle." Flygplanskulspruta m/22, (fpl)ksp m/22 for short, was a Swedish variant of the .30 AN/M2 aircraft machine gun. The name translates to "airplane machine gun model 22". It was originally used by the Swedish army's aviation branch but moved over to the Swedish air force when it was formed in 1926. The first guns delivered were built by Colt but Sweden later got

2704-469: The Ordnance QF 2-pounder and the Ordnance QF 6-pounder. Another technology taken to the US, by Henry Tizard , for further development and mass production, was the (radio-frequency) proximity fuse . It was five times as effective as contact or timed fuzes and was devastating in naval use against Japanese aircraft and so effective against German ground troops that General George S. Patton said it "won

2808-719: The Second World War . There are various ways in which the allies cooperated, including the American Lend-Lease scheme and hybrid weapons such as the Sherman Firefly as well as the British Tube Alloys nuclear weapons research project which was absorbed into the American-led Manhattan Project . Several technologies invented in Britain proved critical to the military and were widely manufactured by

2912-461: The Sherman Crab , which could have assisted combat engineers with clearing mines under fire, protected by armour. Armoured recovery vehicles (ARVs) were also converted from Shermans by the British as well as the specialist BARV (Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle) designed to push-off landing craft and salvage vehicles which would otherwise have been lost. The British supplied tanks to the USSR in

3016-492: The Soviet Air Force against the then technologically superior Luftwaffe . British RAF engineer Frank Whittle travelled to the US in 1942 to help General Electric start jet engine production. The American P-51 Mustang was originally designed to a British specification for use by the Royal Air Force and entered service with them in 1942, and later versions were built with a Rolls-Royce Merlin aero-engine. This engine

3120-585: The United States Intelligence Community in the post-war period became the cornerstone of Western intelligence gathering and the " Special Relationship " between the United Kingdom and the United States. Many military inventions during the war found civilian uses. M1919 Browning machine gun The M1919 Browning is a .30 caliber medium machine gun that was widely used during the 20th century, especially during World War II ,

3224-497: The Vickers K machine gun was preferred. There is pictorial evidence of the .303 Browning being placed on improvised bipods for ground use during the early campaigns in Burma and Malaysia. In the late 1940s and early 1950s the US military was looking for an upgrade to the M1919 that could feed from either side for use as an improved coaxial machine gun. Saco-Lowell developed a model that had

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3328-418: The early British research into the atomic bomb . One of the devices brought to the US by the mission, the cavity magnetron , was later described as "the most valuable cargo ever brought to our shores". Small arms began to be shared after the fall of France, most of the 'sharing' being one sided as America was not yet directly involved in the conflict and thus all the movement was from the United States to

3432-564: The 1960s until the 1990s, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) used ground tripod and vehicle-mounted M1919A4 guns converted to 7.62 mm NATO on many of their armored vehicles and M3 personnel carriers. Israel developed a modified link for these guns due to feeding problems with the original US M1 link design. The improved Israeli link worked with .30 caliber, 7.62 mm NATO and 8×57 mm cartridges. With assistance from firearms engineers at Fabrique Nationale de Herstal , Belgium,

3536-559: The 1960s. The M1919A6 was used by Springfield Armory in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a testbed for an interim general-purpose machine gun. It was rechambered for the experimental T65 series cartridges, culminating in 1951 with the T66 machine gun chambered for the T65E3 cartridge (one of the forerunners to the 7.62mm NATO cartridge). It had a new barrel with a flash-hider attachment, a shorter action, and modified M1 disintegrating belt links to feed

3640-406: The 1990s, as well as up to the present day in some countries. 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 metal M1 link was later adopted, forming a "disintegrating" belt . Loading was accomplished by inserting the pull tab on the ammunition belt from

3744-649: The 8th Air Force as its primary photo reconnaissance and chaff deployment aircraft. The United States supplied several aircraft types to both the Royal Navy and RAF - all three of the U.S. Navy's primary fighters during the war years, the Wildcat , Corsair (with the RN assisting the Americans with preparing the Corsair for U.S. naval carrier service by 1944 ), and Hellcat also served with

3848-729: The Allies during the Second World War. The origin of the cooperation stemmed from a 1940 visit by the Aeronautical Research Committee chairman Henry Tizard , during which Tizard arranged to transfer UK military technology to the US in the event that Hitler's planned invasion of the UK should succeed. Tizard led a British technical mission, known as the Tizard Mission , containing details and examples of British technological developments in fields such as radar , jet propulsion and also

3952-525: The American efforts. Around 20 British scientists and technical staff to America, along with their work, which had been carried out under the codename ' Tube Alloys '. The scientists joined the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos , New Mexico , where their work on uranium enrichment was instrumental in jump-starting the project. In addition Britain, was vital in sourcing raw materials for the project, both as

4056-487: The Americans and other Allies include ASDIC (sonar), the Bailey bridge , gyro gunsight , jet engine , Liberty ship , RDX , Rhino tank , Torpex , traveling-wave tube , proximity fuze . Technologies developed by the Americans and shared with the British and Allies include the bazooka , LVT , DUKW , Fido (acoustic torpedo). Canada and the U.S. independently developed and shared the walkie-talkie . The Tizard Mission

4160-509: The Atlantic convoys of war material from the US to the UK came under serious threat from U-boats, considerable encouragement and practical help was given by the US to accelerate the development of code-breaking machines. Subsequent co-operation led to significant success in Australia and the far East for breaking encrypted Japanese messages. Other technologies developed by the British and shared with

4264-618: The M13 disintegrating belt. They were designed for interim use until the M73 machine gun could be fielded. The M37E1 was to be standardized as the M37A1 but development of the improved M73A1 precluded this. The increasing American involvement in Vietnam created a demand for small arms, especially the new M60 machine gun. The Navy had surplus machine guns left over from World War 2 and Korea, but they were chambered for

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4368-458: The M1917 or M2 tripods. This weapon was designed to allow greater mobility to cavalry units over the existing M1917 machine gun. The M1919A2 was introduced in 1922 and was used for a short period between World War I and World War II after the cavalry had converted from horses to wheeled and tracked vehicles. The M1919E1 , commonly known as the M1919A3 , was introduced in 1931 as an improved version of

4472-411: The M1919 design lacked. When the gun was ready to fire, a round would be in the chamber and the bolt and barrel group would be locked together, with the locking block at the rear of the bolt. When the rear of the trigger was pivoted upwards by the operator, the front of the trigger tipped downward, pulling the sear out of engagement with the spring-loaded firing pin, allowing it to move forward and strike

4576-493: The M1919 into secondary roles in many cases, especially after the arrival of the M60 in US Army service. The United States Navy also converted many to 7.62 mm NATO and designated them Mk 21 Mod 0; they were commonly used on riverine craft in the 1960s and 1970s in Vietnam. Many NATO countries also converted their examples to 7.62 mm caliber, and these remained in service well into

4680-408: The M1919A2 for the infantry. The most common variant of the series was the M1919A4. Production blueprints of the new variant were complete in late 1936, and slow-scale production soon followed. The driving force behind the development of this variant was the lack of reliability in the previous 18-inch barrel versions, which did not produce enough recoil to cycle the action reliably. The gun was given

4784-568: The Model 1919 was completely re-engineered into the .30 caliber AN/M2 (Army-Navy) aircraft machine gun (not to be confused with the .50 caliber AN/M2 or the 20mm AN/M2 , the two other primary US aircraft weapons of WWII). The .30 in M2/AN Browning was widely adopted as both a fixed (offensive) and flexible (defensive) weapon on aircraft. Aircraft machine guns required light weight, firepower, and reliability, and achieving all three goals proved

4888-656: The RN's Fleet Air Arm , with the Royal Air Force using a wide range of USAAF types. A wide range of American aircraft designs also went to the Soviet Union's VVS air arm through Lend-Lease, primarily fighters like the P-39 and P-63 used for aerial combat, along with attack and medium bombers like the A-20 and the B-25 being among the more prominent types, both bombers being well suited to

4992-573: The UK's new 'eight-gun fighters' the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire and the naval Fairey Fulmar , and as secondary weapons in mid-war variants of the Spitfire, as well as being fitted in single, double or quadruple mounts as offensive weapons for the Bristol Blenheim , the Fairey Battle , Handley Page Hampden , Martin Maryland / Baltimore , Fairey Swordfish , Lockheed Hudson , Douglas Boston , Blackburn Skua and Bristol Beaufort . It

5096-451: The UK, production was chiefly by BSA . Originally unit priced at $ 667 each, mass production lowered the price to $ 141.44. The original M1919 was designed for use with tanks. The water-cooled M1917 was inappropriate due to weight and the vulnerability of the water jacket. Browning modified the M1917 to be air-cooled by making changes that included dropping the water jacket and using a heavier barrel. In total, there were six variants of

5200-530: The US ended all nuclear co-operation with Britain. However, the demonstration of British Hydrogen bomb , and the launch of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union, both in 1957, resulted in the US resuming the wartime co-operation and led to a Mutual Defence Agreement between the two nations in 1958. Under this agreement, American technology was adapted for British nuclear weapons and various fissile materials were exchanged to resolve each other's specific shortages. Cooperation between British intelligence agencies and

5304-510: The US to the Soviet Union were a significant benefit to mechanized Red Army units. Soviet industry produced few armoured personnel carriers, so Lend-Lease American vehicles were in great demand for fast movement of troops in front-line conditions. While M3s had only limited protection, common trucks had no protection at all. In addition, a large part of the Red Army truck fleet was American Studebakers, which were highly regarded by Soviet drivers. After

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5408-547: The United Kingdom. In the months following Operation Dynamo , as British manufacturers progressed in building replacements for the materiel lost by the British Army in France, the British government looked overseas for additional sources of equipment to assist in overcoming shortages and prepare for future offensives. The most extreme example of the shortages were found in the quickly improvised Local Defence Volunteers, later renamed

5512-695: The United States included the Tommy gun , M1911A1 pistol and the M1917 revolver produced by Colt and Smith & Wesson, all primarily produced in .45 ACP . The Home Guard received the Browning .30 machine gun , the M1918 .30 BAR and the P17 .30 Enfield rifle . M1917 Enfield rifles chambered for .303 British were also provided by the U.S. while all .30-caliber U.S. rifles, BARs and machine guns were chambered for .30-06 Springfield Later,

5616-440: The accelerator's two curving fingers engaged the bottom of the bolt and caused it to move rapidly to the rear. The extractor-ejector was a mechanism that pivoted over the front of the bolt, with a claw that gripped the base of the next round in the belt. A camming track in the left side of the receiver caused this to move down as the bolt moved back, lowering the next round down on top of the fired case, pushing it straight down out of

5720-408: The barrel jacket to make it easier to carry. Previous M1919 designs could change the barrel, but it required essentially field stripping the gun to pull the barrel out from the rear – the pistol grip back plate, bolt group and the trigger group all had to be removed before the barrel could be replaced, and this put the gun out of action for minutes, and risked losing and damaging parts in

5824-440: The barrel jacket was changed to include circular holes instead of long slits of earlier models. The recoil buffer assembly was also a new addition to the design between A3 and A4 development, designed to reduce the impact of the bolt hitting the backplate. The M1919A4 was used in both fixed and flexible mounts, by infantry and on vehicles. It was also widely exported after World War II and continues to be used in small numbers around

5928-402: The basic M1919 machine gun. The M1919A1 introduced a newly strengthened bottom plate and some few other changes. It was meant to be used on Mark VII tanks replacing the earlier Marlin M1918 heavy machine guns. The M1919A2 was another lightweight development specifically for mounted cavalry units, utilizing a shorter 18-inch barrel and a special tripod, though it could be fitted to either

6032-460: The belt to fly out the right side of the receiver. A recoil buffer tube extended from the back of the receiver to make the cycle of the bolt smoother than previous designs, to absorb some of the recoil of the bolt, and formed a place for the pistol grip to be installed. Except for the M1919A6, all other variants had to be mounted on a tripod or other type of mount to be used effectively. The tripod used by infantry allowed traverse and elevation. To aim

6136-410: The bolt closed, the firing pin dropped, and the round was fired. The sequence was repeated roughly ten cycles per second until the trigger was released or the ammunition belt was exhausted. The gun's original design was as a water-cooled machine gun (see the M1917 Browning machine gun ). When it was decided to try to lighten the gun and make it air-cooled, its design as a closed bolt weapon created

6240-424: The breech, would not feed through the new mechanism. The M1 links, which were designed for the longer and thinner .30-06 Springfield, would also be too narrow to fit the shorter and thicker 7.62mm NATO round. The US Navy, because of their narrower inventory of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, used linked belts of either 7.62mm M80 Ball or a 4:1 ratio mix of 7.62mm M80 Ball and 7.62mm M62 Tracer. The refurbished feed mechanism

6344-532: The charging handle, and to seize the ammunition belt and pull to prevent it from feeding, if the gun ever started an uncontrollable cycle of cooking off. Gunners were trained to manage the barrel heat by firing in controlled bursts of three to five rounds, to delay heating. Most other air-cooled machine gun designs were fired in the same way, even those featuring quick-change barrels, and which fired from an open bolt , two features that make air-cooled machine guns capable of somewhat more sustained fire, both features that

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6448-412: The driving spring attached to the back plate (eliminating the need for a mainspring and driving rod protruding out the back of the bolt), a solenoid trigger for remote firing, a feed cover that could open from either side, a bolt with dual tracks that could feed from either side, and a reversible belt feed pawl, ejector, and feed chute. The experimental T151 had a flat backplate, the T152 had spade grips and

6552-415: The earlier .30-06 Springfield cartridge rather than the new standard 7.62mm NATO cartridge. The Mk 21 Mod 0 was a US Navy conversion of the .30 M1919A4 to fire the 7.62mm NATO cartridge. This was accomplished by replacing the barrel, bolt, and feed cover and adding a chamber bushing, a link-stripper, and a second belt-holding pawl to allow it to feed and fire the new cartridge. Spacer blocks were added to

6656-409: The extraction grooves of the bolt face through the ejection port. A spring in the feed tray cover pushed the extractor-ejector down onto the next round, so if the feed tray cover was opened, the extractor-ejector would be pulled upwards if the belt needed to be removed. The belt feed lever was connected to the belt feeding pawl at the front end, had a cam pin at the rear end which ran through a track in

6760-405: The fairly short-barreled 75mm gun most Shermans came equipped with did not offer very good armor penetration even with specialty ammunition, especially against the then-new Panther and Tiger . However, the British 76.2mm (3-inch) Ordnance QF 17-pounder , one of the best anti-tank guns of the period could be fitted in the Sherman's turret with modifications to the gun, a new gun mantlet and welding

6864-433: The feedway, preparing to draw it from the belt in the next firing cycle. Every time the gun fired a shot, it performed this sequence: the bolt came rearward, extracting the spent round from the chamber and pulling the next round from the belt so that the fresh round ejected the spent one. As the bolt came forward, it chambered the fresh round, advanced the belt, and engaged the following round in preparation for loading. Once

6968-438: The field. The M1919A6 muzzle device allowed the gun crew to replace the barrel from the front; an improvement, but still an awkward procedure compared to other machine guns of the day. The M1919A6 was a heavy (32 pounds, 15 kg) and awkward weapon in comparison with the MG34 (26 pounds, 12 kg) and MG42 (25 pounds, 11 kg) and was eventually replaced in US service by the M60 machine gun (23.15 pounds, 10.50 kg) in

7072-416: 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 then pulled and released a second time. This caused the extractor to remove the first cartridge from the belt and chamber it (load it into the barrel ready to fire). As the bolt slid forward into battery, the extractor engaged the next round on the now-advanced belt resting in

7176-425: The form of the Matilda , Valentine and Churchill infantry tanks. Soviet tank soldiers liked the Valentine for its reliability, cross country performance and low silhouette. The Soviet's opinion of the Matilda and Churchill was less favourable as a result of their weak 40-mm guns (without HE shells) and inability to operate in harsh rasputitsa , winter and offroad conditions. Deliveries of M3 Half-tracks from

7280-565: The front and back of the feedway to guide the shorter round and block the use of the longer .30-06 Springfield ammunition. A six-inch flash hider was also added to the barrel to reduce the muzzle flash. The conversions were performed from 1966 through 1967 at Naval Ordnance Station Louisville . Modified M1919A4s had the designation "Machine Gun, 7.62mm / Mk 21 Mod 0" stamped on the receiver sideplate in 1/4-inch lettering. The replacement barrels had "7.62mm NATO-G" stamped on them in 1/8-inch letters to differentiate them from M1919A4 or M60 barrels;

7384-406: The gun along its vertical axis, the adjustment screw needed to be operated. This allowed the point of aim to be moved upwards or downwards, with free traverse to either side, allowing the gunner to set an elevation and sweep a wide band of fire across it by simply moving the gun from side to side. There was no need to control barrel climb or keep careful track of the fall of shots to make sure the fire

7488-406: The gun, equivalent to a weight of 11 lb (5 kg). In Ordnance circles, the .30 M2/AN Browning had the reputation of being the most difficult-to-repair weapon in the entire US small arms inventory. The M2 also appeared in a twin-mount version which paired two M2 guns with opposing feed chutes in one unit for operation by a single gunner, with a combined rate of fire of 2,400 rpm. All of

7592-407: The institute is at Kjeller near Lillestrøm , 20 km east of the country's capital Oslo . The Kjeller area is a hub of research activity in south eastern Norway, with a total of some 2,400 people working at a variety of research establishments, colleges and university departments. Part of the institute's Maritime Systems Division is situated in the coastal city of Horten , southwest of Oslo on

7696-409: The left side of the gun—either metal links or metal tab on cloth belts—until the feeding pawl at the entrance of the feed way engaged the first round in the belt and held it in place. The cocking handle was then pulled back with the right hand, palm facing up (to protect the thumb from injury if the weapon fired unexpectedly, which could happen if the barrel was very hot), and then released. This advanced

7800-410: The letter G indicated it used a grooved barrel bushing. It used the standard 7.62mm NATO M13 link "strip-out" disintegrating link, in which the bolt pushes the round out of the bottom of the two-part link and then forwards into the breech. The old M1 link "pull-out" disintegrating links, which are pulled backwards out of the one-piece link by the extractor towards the bolt and then forwards into

7904-540: The lighter .30-caliber weapon was increasingly relegated to training duties as the war progressed. A derivative of this weapon was built by Colt as the civilian market MG40 . It was later replaced by the larger caliber – and is not to be confused with – the Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, Aircraft , with the smaller-calibre ordance bearing the official designation of " Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .30 , M2, Aircraft ". The .50 AN/M2 "light barrel" version , used in

8008-405: The main armament of four 20mm Hispano cannon in ventral fuselage mounts. Refer to #Browning .303 Mark II for more details. It's often believed that the British modification to open bolt firing made it impossible to synchronize the guns to fire through the propeller arc, however .303 Brownings were indeed synchronized on Gloster Gladiator and some other early WWII designs. Similar versions for

8112-514: The majority of fixed and flexible/turreted mounts on U.S. World War II-era aircraft as the war progressed, lacked the massive "cooling collar" of the heavy barrel M2HB version, which is still in service with the ground forces of the U.S. military in the 21st century. The AN/M2 was responsible for seriously wounding "one of the best Japanese fighter pilots of the war" flying ace Saburō Sakai when he attacked eight SBD Dauntlesses from behind mistaking them for F4F Wildcat fighters. The "Stinger"

8216-660: The modifications were intended to make the weapon more useful as a squad light machine gun , it was a stopgap solution. Even though it was reliable, it proved somewhat impractical for its intended role. In the late 1950s, an M1919 designed for remote firing via a solenoid trigger was developed for use in the XM1/E1 armament subsystem was designated M37C. The US Navy later converted a number of M1919A4s to 7.62mm NATO chambering and designated them Mk 21 Mod 0; some of these weapons were employed in Vietnam War in riverine warfare patrols. From

8320-526: The new cartridge. It was deemed still too heavy for field use and was not adopted. A specific aircraft version of the .30 caliber Model 1919A4 was manufactured by Browning as the .30 AN/M2 . It had a thinner barrel and receiver walls to keep down weight. Compared to the M1919A4, the AN/M2 had a substantially higher rate of fire (1,200 to 1,500 rounds per minute). It was used on US aircraft early in World War II, but

8424-488: The only source in the world of Nickel Powder required to build gaseous diffusers and providing Uranium both from its mine in British Congo as well as contracting a secondary supply from Sweden. Considerable information was transmitted from the UK to the US during and after WWII relating to code-breaking methods, the codes themselves, cryptoanalyst visits, mechanical and digital devices for speeding code-breaking, etc. When

8528-462: The previous M1917 tripod). Fixed vehicle mounts were also employed. It saw wide use in World War II mounted on jeeps , half-tracks , armored cars , tanks , amphibious vehicles, and landing craft. The M1919A4 played a key role in the firepower of the World War II U.S. Army. Each infantry company normally had a weapons platoon in addition to its other organic units. The presence of M1919A4 weapons in

8632-423: The primer of the cartridge. As the assembly of bolt, barrel and barrel extension recoiled to the rear of the gun upon firing , the locking block 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 spring-loaded piece of metal pivoting from the receiver below the bolt and behind the barrel extension. The tips of

8736-584: The problem gluing percale on all the machine-gun holes, and when you opened fire, bullets went right through. The machine guns became reliable then. They were of low efficiency when fired from distances of 150–300 m." The M1919 was manufactured during World War II by three different companies in the United States: Buffalo Arms Corporation, Rock Island Arsenal , and the Saginaw Steering Gear division of General Motors . In

8840-419: The speed of the aircraft, designers were able to reduce the barrel's weight and profile. As a result, the M2 weighed two-thirds that of the 1919A4, and the lightened mechanism gave it a rate of fire approaching 1,200 rpm (some variants could achieve 1,500 rpm), a necessity for engaging fast-moving aircraft. The M2's feed mechanism had to lift its own loaded belt out of the ammunition box and feed it into

8944-418: The tank's engine gave propulsion in the water. On reaching land the screens could be dropped and the tank could fight in the normal manner. The DD, another key example of combining technologies, was used by both British and American forces during Operation Overlord . The DD had impressed US General Dwight D. Eisenhower during demonstrations and was readily accepted by the Americans. The Americans did not accept

9048-408: The tank, it was given the designation Sherman, as part of the UK practice of naming its US-built tanks after American Civil War generals. Both the British and the Soviets re-armed their M4s with their own tank guns. The Soviets re-armed a small number with the standard 76 mm F-34 tank gun but so much 75 mm ammunition was supplied by the US that the conversions were not widespread. Unfortunately,

9152-414: The top of the bolt, and a pin in the feed tray cover acted as the pivot between the two ends. The rearward movement of the bolt caused the rear end of the feed lever to pull to the right, causing the feeding pawl at the other end to move left over the belt. The pawl would pull the belt further to the right as the bolt came forward again, also sending the loose M1 link of the previous round to be taken out of

9256-419: The trigger was not what was causing the gun to fire (although rarely as full rate automatic fire; it takes time for heat to soak into a cartridge, so usually it would manifest as a series of unexpected random discharges, the frequency increasing with the temperature of the barrel). Gunners were taught to cock the gun with the palm facing up, so that in the event of a cook-off, their thumb would not be dislocated by

9360-428: The type of lower-altitude strike missions the Soviets had as a top priority. The British demonstrated the cavity magnetron to the Americans at RCA, Bell Labs. It was 100 times as powerful than anything they had seen and enabled the development of airborne radar . In 1942, the British nuclear weapons research had fallen behind US and unable to match US resources, the United Kingdom agreed to merging their work with

9464-512: The various .30 M2 models saw service in the early stages of World War II, but were phased out beginning in 1943, as hand-trained rifle-caliber defensive machine guns became obsolete for air warfare (the .50 in/12.7 mm M2/AN Browning and 20 mm AN/M2 automatic cannon had replaced the .30 in as offensive air armament as well). The .30 in M2 aircraft gun was widely distributed to other US allies during and after World War II, and in British and Commonwealth service saw limited use as

9568-606: The war, Soviet designers paid a lot of attention to create their own 6x6 army truck and the Studebaker was the template for this development. In 1942, a T-34 and a KV-1 tank were sent by the Soviet Union to the US where they were evaluated at the Aberdeen Proving Ground . Another T-34 was sent to the British. Britain supplied Hawker Hurricanes to the Soviet Union early in the Great Patriotic War to help equip

9672-536: The war, such as the M2 105 mm howitzers , M1A1 75 mm pack howitzers , 155 mm guns (Long Toms) . These weapons were supplied under lend-lease or bought outright. Tank / tank destroyer guns used by the British included the 37 mm M5/M6 gun ( General Stuart and General Grant/Lee tanks), 75 mm M2 gun ( General Grant/Lee ), 75 mm M3 gun (General Grant/Lee and General Sherman ), 76 mm gun M1 (General Sherman) and 3-inch gun M7 ( 3-inch GMC M10 ). The Americans in turn used

9776-468: The weapons platoon gave company commanders additional automatic fire support at the company level, whether in the assault or on defense. The M1919A5 was an adaptation of the M1919A4 with a forward mounting point to allow it to be mounted in tanks and armored cars. This, along with the M37 (another M1919 variant) and the Browning M2 machine gun , was the most common secondary armament during World War II for

9880-535: The western side of the Oslofjord . Horten is known as the country's MEMS capital, and is also a centre of electronics and naval research and industry. In way of concrete technology products, FFI is known for, among other things: Allied technological cooperation during World War II The Allies of World War II cooperated extensively in the development and manufacture of new and existing technologies to support military operations and intelligence gathering during

9984-520: The world. Two variants were developed specifically for vehicular use, the M1919A5, with an extended charging handle, and the M1919A4E1, a sub-variant of the M1919A4 refitted with an extended charging handle developed in the 1950s. During the war it became clear to the US military that the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle , while portable, was not sufficient as a sustained fire weapon due to its fixed barrel and 20-round magazine. The M1919A4

10088-478: Was a field modification by Marines in the Pacific Theater during World War II and used on the ground as a light machine gun. These were salvaged from crashed and disabled aircraft and fitted with a bipod (spade grips still attached). Later more extensive modifications led to six being fitted with a custom trigger, M1 Garand buttstock, M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle bipod and rear sights to allow for use without

10192-436: Was also used as a turret gun in various Boulton Paul or Nash & Thompson turrets on bombers and flying boats. Even after the introduction of autocannon as primary fighter armament .303 Brownings were retained as supplementary weapons on many aircraft including later versions of the Spitfire, as well as fighter-bomber and night fighter versions of the de Havilland Mosquito , among others. For hand-held moveable mount use

10296-670: Was being produced in the United States by Packard as the Packard Merlin . In addition to the British making use of American planes the US also made use of some Supermarine Spitfires both in escorting USAAF 8th Air Force bombers in Europe as well as being the primary fighter of the 12th Air Force in North Africa. In addition Bristol Beaufighter served as night fighters in the Mediterranean, and two squadrons of de Havilland Mosquito equipped

10400-411: Was falling at the proper range. The gun was aimed using iron sights, a small folding post at the front end of the receiver and a rear aperture sight on a sliding leaf with range graduations from 200 to 1,800 meters in 200 meter increments. When folded down, the aperture formed a notch that could be used to fire the gun immediately without flipping up the leaf. The rear sight also had windage adjustment with

10504-455: Was faster and cheaper to produce but did not have the portability of a rifle. Realizing that producing an entirely new replacement machine gun would take time, the military decided that a stop-gap solution would be best and adapted an existing design. The M1919A6 was an attempt at such a solution, to parallel the designs of the German MG 34 and MG 42 machine guns, each of which were portable for

10608-485: Was the foundation for cooperation in scientific research at institutions within and across the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. Many Norwegian scientists and technologists took part in British scientific research during the period when Germany occupied Norway between 1940 and 1945. This resulted in the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment , formed in 1946. After the war ended,

10712-584: Was used in accordance with British tactical doctrine for tank destroyers, in that they were considered self-propelled anti-tank guns rather than aggressive 'tank hunters'. Used in this fashion, it proved an effective weapon. The British also used the Sherman hull for two other Sherman variants known as the Crab , a mine flailing tank, and the DD Sherman , the 'DD' (Duplex Drive ) The DD was an amphibious tank. A flotation screen gave buoyancy and two propellers powered by

10816-464: Was used mostly on the M47 and M48 Patton medium tanks. The M37F was a trial variant fitted with special sighting equipment. The M37C was a variant without a sight bracket designed for use in aircraft armament (like the skid-mounted XM1/E1 helicopter armament subsystem). The M37E1 was a M37 machine gun converted by Rock Island Arsenal and Springfield Armory to chamber the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge and feed

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