Tag Archives: 50 cal

Marines Award $95 Million Contract for Polymer-Cased .50 Caliber Ammo

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(USMC Photo)

After years of field testing, the Marines this week issued the service’s largest contract for polymer-cased .50 cal BMG ammunition.

The five-year $95 million contract, awarded to Nammo to be filled at the company’s MAC facility in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, was issued on Tuesday by the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Virginia.

As I previously reported at Guns.com, the Marines have been ordering polymer-cased .50 cal from MAC as far back as 2019. The company uses an advanced polymer caselet over a metal cap to reduce ammo weight by as much as 30 percent and provide cooler chamber temperatures, ejecting cool-to-the-touch cases. No modifications are necessary in weapons or procedures when using their polymer-cased cartridges.

Nammo MAC-made composite polymer cased belted .50 caliber ammunition. Note the “BYS” headstamp. (Photo: Cpl. Cameron Hermanet/USMC) 
Both the case and link are polymer. (Photos: Lance Cpl. Ryan Ramsammy/USMC)

Lighter weight per round comes in handy in logistics-limited operations typical of the Marines, who must move every bullet ashore either via aircraft, landing craft, or amphibious vehicle. In tests, a 100-round belt of polymer-cased .50 cal is 7 pounds lighter compared to legacy brass-cased rounds.

“This polymer ammunition also reduces fuel costs not only for aircraft but also for logistics and supply,” said Marine CWO3 Chad Cason, the project officer for .50-cal polymer ammunition at MCSC, in a 2022 release. “You can fit more ammunition on the pallet, increasing the overall pallet space used on a truck or ship. You can carry more on vehicles into combat or training as well.”

The Marines issued a $10 million contract to MAC in 2020.

Putting the ‘Fortress’ into the B-17: A Look at the Guns

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It is no understatement to say that the B-17 bomber is one of the most famous airplanes to fly a mission. Today we look at the hardware that lived up to its well-deserved “Flying Fortress” name.

When it first flew in 1935, the original B-17 wasn’t very well equipped with defensive gun armament; after all, its main armament was its massive 5,000-pound bomb load.

The YB-17 prototypes had a single gun up front, two in side nacelles, one for the radio operator, and one below – just five all told, all with limited fields of fire. (National Museum of the Air Force)

Boeing YB-17 nose turret via National Museum of USAF 

Boeing YB-17 flex gun turret via National Museum of USAF

Wartime experience soon changed this, and by the time the B-17G model took to the air, it carried 13 .50-caliber air-cooled machine guns and almost 7,500 rounds of ammunition to keep them firing. While a few of the bomber’s crew were dedicated gunners, everyone save for the pilot and co-pilot had a gun at their disposal and were expected to use it if needed.

B-17G Flying Fortresses Drop Bombs On Berlin, Germany 26 February 1945. [91St Bg] 59348AC 342-FH_000123

For a closer look, head over to my piece at Guns.com that includes a walk around we did out at Pima. 

Because some folks just want belt feds, man

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Folks have been making semi-auto belt-fed machine gun clones for years. Why? Well, I guess, why not, right?

I mean, if you always wanted, say, an M1919, M60, or M249 but live in a state where it is unlawful for a “civilian” to own such hardware– even if it is transferrable and you pay the average $30K going rate for it– or just don’t want to jump through the NFA hoops, which can leave your family in an odd legal space should you pass without having it in a trust, these semi-autos make a certain sense.

These days, FN sells the M249S, a semi-automatic version of the SAW light machine gun, for $8,499.

Plus, if you are really into historical reenacting, such a piece can instantly catapult the user into a key player at the next event. For instance, I have a buddy that does WWII living history at Fort Morgan/Gaines/Battleship Alabama and has a fairly correct firing NFA-compliant MG42/M53 that always gets lots of attention.

Along that vein, Ohio Ordnance Works– a company that makes full-up M2 .50 cals for Mil/Gov customers as well as the semi-auto M1918A3 BAR for the rest of us– now has a “no stamps required” Ma Deuce, the M2 SLR .50 cal.

“Starting to ship on Dec 7th, 2021… what the people want, the people get!” says OOW. (Photo: OOW)

More in my column at Guns.com.

Fairly Well Preserved Ammo for 50 Years in the Drink

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Vietnamese media recently reported on a pile of vintage small arms ammo that was recovered from the mud of the Tiền River that looks like it just came from the factory. 

Local media showed members of the Vietnamese Army inspecting the ammo, reportedly illegally salvaged from the river near Thuong Phuoc on the Cambodian border and confiscated by Border Guards. It has been underwater for decades, purportedly in a deep-sixed PCF, perhaps one that was put there in 1975 by its ARVN crew during the final days of the regime. 

The fact that it was in fresh water and likely covered by a layer of mud surely helped but either way, you have to hand it to the quality of those green ammo cans, much of which likely dated to WWII anyway. 

That will get your attention

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A relatively quiet day during the Battle of the Bulge: Posed U.S. Army Signal Corps photo of an 82nd Airborne Div machine gun nest “somewhere in the Ardennes.”

Note the big M2 .50-caliber Browning heavy machine gun in a ground defense role with a spare barrel literally chilling out to the left. “Ma Deuce” still fills this same role today, and will likely for generations to come. Turns out you just can’t beat 100~ rounds of 671-grain APIT headed out per minute as long as the ammo holds up.

Also, note the M1919 .30-06 light Browning to the right for close-in work. Together with the above set-up, this one post can own that field out to 2,000m against advancing infantry– until the StuGs and panzers show up anyway, at which point it becomes time to rapidly displace to the rear.

Looks like .50 cals are becoming more widespread

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Used to be there wasn’t anything on the market available in .50 BMG other than a few transferable M2 machine guns and converted Boys anti-tank rifles (it’s impossible to find .55 British Boys AT rounds). Then in 1989, Barrett started marketing their M82 rifle in .50 BMG and the guns have skyrocketed in popularity despite bans in some states (California, New York etc) on the sale or possession of guns in the caliber while a number of niche builds are surfacing.

Now, in further signs that the .50 BMG is penetrating the market (pun intended), check out Sportsman’s Warehouse’s Christmas circular:

Yup, they have a Bushmaster BA50 for $3499, ammo included!

That’s pretty sweet when you consider I saw them at a Gander Mtn for $5799 a year ago.

I checked out one of these at the last SHOT Show, and they are very nice for when you are looking to hit the gong with 671-grains at 2,000m.

You know, the new normal.

Didn’t shoot it all? Bury it!

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One common thing that happens all the time in the military is being issued too much ammo, such as on a live fire exercise, and intead of returning it which is a whole pain in the ass, it gets disposed of via E-tool.

Well apparently in 1945 when a B-24 unit was leaving England to return home, they left a few belts of .50 cal behind in the dirt of their borrowed RAF airstrip. Fast forward 70~ years and some aviation buffs dug up about 1,500 rounds of still very live tracer and ball ammo just three feet below the surface.

Heck, I am surprised they didn’t find a whole B-24!

More in my column at Guns.com.

Swarmboats, yeah, we got that

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Using technology originally designed for the Mars Rover, the Office of Naval Research has developed a kit that can be added to any boat and used to make a swarm of autonomous boats.

Navy officials see the new capability as a force multiplier to make the other guy work harder to get through our technology without putting Sailors at risk.

“It’s a great capability to relieve the Sailor of the dirty, the dangerous, the dull missions out there,” said Rick Simon, the Demonstration Director with Spatial Integrated Systems, one of the contractors working on the project. “Instead of having four patrols boats out there with four or five Sailors on each boat, you have one or two Sailors sitting at an operations center controlling four or five boats.”

The robot boats are inexpensive and expendable. The technology, called CARACaS (Control Architecture for Robotic Agent Command and Sensing) can be put into a transportable kit and installed on almost any boat. The boats can choose their own path, network, then intercept a contact, transmitting situational awareness data back to the control center the whole time.

Demonstrated back in 2014, they escorted a boat through a narrow passage.

The new mission tests is geared for harbor defense. The boats can use cooperative decision making between the boats to handle business in deterring and detaining possible threats.

(Originally appeared in my column at Guns.com)

Is that a six-pack of .50 cals in your chin, or are you just happy to see me?

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In a follow up to yesterday’s post on the M2 unjamming tool made by a B17 gunner, here is an interesting version of the B17G. The “G” model Flying Fortress was not so much a bomber as it was a flying anti-aircraft artillery cluster. Equipped with a remotely operated Bendix-made chin turret, the G model had 13 AN/M2 .50 cals compared to the 7 in previous models.

And some had even more.

Meet West End, tail number 42-31435, who was equipped with an experimental 6-barrel Bendix turret, giving her a total of 17 M-2 heavy machine guns.

West End, tail number 42-31435 SU-S experimental six gun m2 turret

Click to big up

Each had a cyclic rate of fire topping 850 rounds per minute (a bit spicier than the typical ground combat variant of Ma Deuce), giving West End the theoretical capability of ripping out 240 .50 BMG tracers per second if all 17 of her guns were engaged.

West End, tail number 42-31435 SU-S experimental six gun m2 turret 3 West End, tail number 42-31435 SU-S experimental six gun m2 turret s

This aircraft was credited with 27 combat missions with the 384th Bomb Group and crash landed at RAF Manston, Kent, due to major flak damage after escorting a raid on a German V-weapons complex near Coubronne, France 6 July 1944.

Cranking up the ol’ Meat Chopper

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marine m45

Marines pulling airbase defense somewhere in the Pacific in WWII. Note the F4Us on the flight line. The lawnmower style gas engine of the M45 turret is visible behind the gunner’s back.

Known as “The Meat Chopper” from its use against infantry, the M45 Maxson Quad turret was designed as an anti-aircraft gun, envisioned in the above image.

The electrically-powered mount moved at about 60-degrees per second and could elevate to near-vertical and depress slightly less than the horizon for use against ground targets in enfilade. Two 6-volt batteries recharged by a small Briggs and Stratton gas engine coupled to a generator fed the electric motor on the mount.

M45 Mount

To this mount, the design added a central gunner’s seat of luxurious canvas, a large spiderweb-type graduated sight, and four Browning M2 heavy machine guns arranged in a pair on each side, which provided .50 cal suppression in surround sound.

Fully equipped with 800 rounds of ammunition (200 in each “Tombstone”), an armor shield for the gunner, oil and fuel for the engine and all accessories, the mount topped 2,400-pounds. This size fit in the rear of a large truck, half-track, or could be towed alone on a small M20-style trailer and their firepower made them very popular with the Joes and Marines in the field.

Note wheels cranked out when stationay

Note wheels cranked out when stationary

That comfy gunner's chair

That comfy gunner’s chair. Note the engine.

Note the electronic solenoid for the M2s. Without electrical power via battery or engine, the Maxson was a lawn ornament

Note the electronic solenoids for the portside M2s. Without electrical power via battery or engine, the Maxson was a lawn ornament

IJM Restorations in the UK has been working on a vintage Maxson for several weeks and in the above images and below video shows it in working condition, able to elevate and traverse with the assistance of a small gasoline-powered engine.

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