"Ma~Deuce"

[airtwardo 7]

'Fiddy-Cal' Becomes Weapon Of Choice In Iraq

By David Wood, Newhouse News Service

WASHINGTON -- U.S. troops in Iraq are firing .50-caliber machine guns at such a high rate, the Army is scrambling to resupply them with ammunition -- in some cases dusting off crates of World War II machine gun rounds and shipping them off to combat units.

In the dangerous and unanticipated conflict that has intensified in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in March 2003, the gun that grunts call the "fiddy-cal" or "Ma Deuce," after its official designation, M-2, has become a ubiquitous sight mounted on armored Humvees and other heavy vehicles.

Above the staccato crackle and squeak of small arms fire, the fiddy-cal's distinctive "THUMP THUMP THUMP" indicates that its 1.6-ounce bullets, exactly the weight of eight quarters, are going downrange at 2,000 mph. The bullets are said to be able to stop an onrushing car packed with deadly explosives dead in its tracks from a mile away. A .50-cal round can travel four miles, generally not with great accuracy.

At closer ranges, it is so powerful that a round will obliterate a person, penetrate a concrete wall behind him and several houses beyond that, gunners in Iraq have said.

"You can stop a car, definitely penetrate the vehicle to take out the engine -- and the driver," said Army Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., who recently retired after commanding the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq.

Merely "the noise of it is huge. Intimidating," Swannack said. But it's so powerful, he added, "I would not use it in an area where there's lots of noncombatants."

In the 1990s, fiddy-cals and crates of .50-cal ammunition gathered dust as the Army struggled to shed its heavy image and become lighter, quicker and more high-tech. Fiddy-cals are early Industrial Age artifacts, invented by John Moses Browning during World War I. Browning's 1919 drawings specified machined steel plates and rivets; today's manufacturers haven't monkeyed with his basic design. The gun alone weighs a bone-crushing 84 pounds, not including its 40-pound tripod and heavy brass-jacketed ammunition.

Outmoded or not, when Iraq erupted, the Army and Marines reached back for the .50-cal and its heavy killing power.

Swivel-mounted in the turret of a Humvee, the gun can lay down a heavy steel blizzard, 40 rounds a minute, on grouped insurgents or vehicles, and is often used in convoys or at checkpoints as a last resort to stop suicide car bombers.

Small wonder, then, that the steady increase in .50-cal use began to rapidly drain ammo stockpiles. At the Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, Ky., ammunition left over from Desert Storm, Vietnam, Korea and even World War II had been stored in massive concrete bunkers, including some 12 million rounds of .50-cal. They began shipping it off to Iraq.

By the time the war stretched into its second year, the Blue Grass stockpile of .50 cal had shrunk to 4 million rounds.

The Army surged production of new .50-cal ammunition, taking on more than a thousand new workers at its Lake City ammunition plant in Independence, Mo.

"Fifty-cal is crazy," said Bryce Hallowell, spokesman for Alliant Techsystems Inc., the contractor that runs the plant. Four years ago, Lake City was manufacturing about 10 million rounds a year; currently it is producing at an annual rate of 50 million rounds and rising.

Even that five-fold increase hasn't been enough.

At Blue Grass, Darryl Brewer, a combat medic in Vietnam, is chief of logistics for the ammunition depot. Recently, he started pulling out .50 cal. crates marked 1945. He opened some up and peered inside.

"Pristine," Brewer reported. "It's in lead-sealed cans, like sardines. Just like it was made yesterday."

The 1945 ammunition was opened and test rounds fired to check for reliability and accuracy, standard testing done for all aging ammunition. "They find anything wrong, they'll do a suspension," Brewer said, adding with some pride, "Very seldom you see that in a fiddy-cal."

Fifty-cal rounds are linked into belts that are fed from steel ammo boxes into the side of the weapon. At Blue Grass, technicians have to replace the World War II links, using a "delinker-linker" machine so old they had to make parts for it before it would work. The relinked rounds are sealed back in ammo boxes, like sardines, and shipped.

Once grunts open up the boxes in Iraq, "then you start to have deterioration," Brewer said. "Stuff goes pretty fast."

Like other workers at Blue Grass, Brewer, 58, has a personal stake in the war, and the ammo. His son, 1st Lt. William Bryan Brewer, deploys to Iraq in December as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot. Conceivably, suppressive ground fire from .50-cals will force insurgents to keep their heads down as his aircraft passes.

"We got a couple guys with sons over there," Brewer said. "That's why we're kinda particular to make sure this stuff is right when it goes out.

"It could save their lives one day, you never know."

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[DexterBase 1]

In Vietnam, a Marine sniper named Carlos Hathcock mounted a scope on an M-2 and killed several viet cong in a rice paddy about 2000 yards away. That's pretty damned accurate in my book.

I was in one particular ambush where the M-2 was absolutely critical in the survival of my platoon. Hearing tha M-2 pumping those heavy rounds downrange is a very comforting sound.

[Erroll 80]

We used them extensively in the South West African/Angolan conflict, except we called them .50 (5 oh) Brownings. They were often mounted in the doors of our choppers - ideal for clearing LZs, especially when mounted in twin-configuration. Awesome weapon!

[airtwardo 7]

ideal for clearing LZs, especially when mounted in twin-configuration. Awesome weapon!

***

Step back in time a bit, my Dad use to tell me about the comforting sound the Quad-50's made raking the battlefields during the Battle of The Bulge.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[TypicalFish 0]

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Swivel-mounted in the turret of a Humvee, the gun can lay down a heavy steel blizzard, 40 rounds a minute,

Forty rounds a minute? I thought the cyclic rate was a bit higher...

"I gargle no man's balls..." ussfpa on SOCNET

[Wopelao 0]

That info is obviously wrong, as it is 550 rounds per minute, maybe the excerpt was mistaken to one of the MK19 rate of fire....60 per minute. (at least is closer to that rate of fire)

[BillyVance 35]

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That info is obviously wrong, as it is 550 rounds per minute, maybe the excerpt was mistaken to one of the MK19 rate of fire....60 per minute. (at least is closer to that rate of fire)

A little over 9 rounds per second, devastating!

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Wopelao 0]

Oh, indeed I forgot to say that I love the smell of spent MK19 cartridges...

[airtwardo 7]

M~2 info

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[ExAFO 0]

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'Fiddy-Cal'...

...Can definately ruin your weekend.

Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.

[rickjump1 0]

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ideal for clearing LZs, especially when mounted in twin-configuration. Awesome weapon!

***

Step back in time a bit, my Dad use to tell me about the comforting sound the Quad-50's made raking the battlefields during the Battle of The Bulge.

Funny, this summer at the Ronan, Montana VFW Club, I met an old guy named Roy who was in the Battle of the Bulge. His quad-50 unit was attached to the 101st. Before they left England they shot down a Me109. The grunts in the Bulge loved them for clearing out the vegetation in the trees exposing the Germans.

Do your part for global warming: ban beans and hold all popcorn farts.

[JohnRich 4]

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the .50-cal and its heavy killing power.

Attached is a photo with something for scale to show the readers here the size of the .50 caliber cartridge.

This is also used in long-range sniper rifles with great effect.

[wmw999 2,587]

Is that your hand, John? That makes it a whole lot more impressive than if it were, for instance, a munchkin hand

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[LouDiamond 1]

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This is also used in long-range sniper rifles with great effect.

Quite right.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[JohnRich 4]

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Is that your hand, John? That makes it a whole lot more impressive than if it were, for instance, a munchkin hand

Hello sweetie. Yes, that is my own personal big 'ol fat hand. When one of these cartridges is fired, you better have your ear plugs in, and don't be standing off to the side in the blast zone from the recoil compensator. It almost shakes the earth under your feet.

[airtwardo 7]

A couple years ago I got to fire a pistol that was chambered for the .50 BMG .

I was one of those old Remington bolt action pistols that were originally chambered for the .221 fireball round....

First dozen or so times I shot it, it was with 'low' power hand loads....still quit a handful!

Then I put 5-6 'standard' rounds through it....of course much of the powder was flash burning out the barrel...but STILL quite a knuckle knocker!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[Guest 1010]

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This is also used in long-range sniper rifles with great effect.

One of the "old" guys back in my reserve unit liked them, said you could get multiple rounds downrange before the report got to the target

You can have it good, fast, or cheap: pick two.

[airtwardo 7]

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m2-50cal.htm




Unit Replacement Cost: $14,002

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[Guest 1010]

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http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m2-50cal.htm

"The 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division constructed 20-30 foot high shooting platforms, adding steel base plates and posts to further stabilize the M2 on the M3 tripod. Together with the use of Starlight night vision scopes, the M2 severely limited enemy movement within 900 yards (1,000m) of the perimeter of a firebase. "

I'll say. And iirc my "old" guy was in 3d BN same unit. I'll try to get this to him.

You can have it good, fast, or cheap: pick two.

[rickjump1 0]

I remember taking all the tracks out to the .50 range at Ft Hood. One of the platoon sergeants insisted on putting a cleaning rod down every barrel that was to be shot, and the plan was to shoot everthing we had. Sure enough, he came up with a barrel that the cleaning rod would not go fully through. Years earlier someone had got some rags stuck in the barrel and simply put it in the arms room without telling anyone. The sergeant's professionalism sure saved our asses that day in more ways than one.

Do your part for global warming: ban beans and hold all popcorn farts.

[airtwardo 7]

Quote

Quote

This is also used in long-range sniper rifles with great effect.

Quite right.

***

Interesting looking flash hider / compensator on that.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[LouDiamond 1]

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Interesting looking flash hider / compensator on that.

Yeah thats what I thought too when I recovered it. It's number 361, do the math and you can get an idea of when it was put into use Barrett was pretty tight lipped about it as well.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[mr2mk1g 10]

I've got one of those sat on my mantelpiece.

[Erroll 80]

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I've got one of those sat on my mantelpiece.

A munchkin? Cute.

[mr2mk1g 10]

er, no - a .50 cal round. I joke with friends that I'll manually insert it into any burglar - much more macho than going to get one of my guns.