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The M1919 Browning is a .30 calibre machine gun

The M1919 Browning is a .30 calibre machine gun which saw widespread service during WW2, The Korean war, The Vietnam war, by NATO countries until the 1990s and is still in use today in some countries.

Similar in design to the larger .50 calibre M2 being of recoil operated machine gun this versatile gun was a development of the M1917 of WW1 and was used widely as a light infantry weapon and Mounted in some way on most armoured vehicles. It was both fitted to aircraft and also used in an anti-aircraft role, truly a weapon for all theatres of war.

In infantry use the gun required at least a two man team but more usually four men were used; the gunner, the assistant gunner and two ammunition carriers.

Originally introduced as the M1919A1 the concept was of a light and easily transported weapon featuring a bipod and light barrel, however it soon became apparent that it was too heavy to be easily moved and also too light to withstand sustained rates of fire, so with the addition of a tripod and a heaver barrel the M1919A2 had, at least addressed the sustained fire problem.

Usually mounted on a lightweight, low-slung tripod for use by the infantry the M1919A4 weighed in at 31 lbs. (14kg). Using fixed vehicle mounts it was also employed attached to Jeeps, Tanks, APCs and amphibious vehicles throughout the whole of WW2.

The introduction of the M1919A6 was an attempt to create a light machine gun by the attachment of a bipod, a buttstock and a lighter (4lbs. (1.8kg)) barrel but ended up weighing more than the A4 without its tripod although the bipod made it much faster to deploy and dispensed with 1 team member. This model saw increased service towards the end of WW2 and was used extensively in Korea.