The Maxson Meat Chopper: M45 Browning .50 caliber Quadmount
The Browning M2 .50-caliber is about as perfect as you can get in terms of a heavy machine gun. The only thing better than a single “fifty” is two of them, and the only thing better than a pair of M2s is… four of them. This is what the Army got when they contracted for the Maxson M45 Quad turret.
While World War II stretched across Europe, one of the hallmark battle tactics of the 1939-41 Nazi Blitzkrieg were close attacks by low-flying aircraft. German fighter planes would fire machineguns just a few hundred feet off the ground in strafing runs, all the while flying as fast as they could in an effort to (and too often successfully) avoiding return fire. In most cases these Messerschmitt planes carried 13 mm (.51 in) synchronized MG 131 machine guns or 20mm cannon / .30-caliber rifle combos and light auto weapons of the ground pounders had a difficult time breaking these attacks up. What was needed was something that had some more kick to it, and the W. L. Maxson Corporation of New York aimed to provide it.
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