[Firearms News] It's common when someone refers to a subject like the best service pistol or longest serving rifle that they are talking about a certain model of firearm and not an individual unit. When it comes to "longest serving", it would be hard to rummage through inventories and find an exceedingly old piece. Such is the nature of a firearm used in military service. Normal wear and tear takes their toll. Yet every so often something is found that defies expectation and makes one rethink old notions.
There was a recent discovery at the Anniston Army Depot, where various small arms for the US Army are refurbished and upgraded before returning to unit armorers. An M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun bearing the serial number 324 arrived from an active duty unit for maintenance and an upgrade to the M2A1 configuration. That low of a production number would have it in the original 1933 run by Colt (although FN in Belgium has been making them continuously since 1933) for an amazing run of 87 years!
Now if you are not familiar with the history of the M2, affectionately called "Ma Deuce", its life started at the tail end of World War I. The arrival of armored vehicles and heavier aircraft brought forth a call for new weapons to deal with them, as the US Army had nothing effective against either. While others started in 1917 the famed designer John M. Browning came on board in 1918. His plan was to start by enlarging his 1917 .30-caliber machine gun design. In conjunction with Winchester, the new firearm would use a scaled up version of the standard issue .30-’06 cartridge. The first prototypes were not a resounding success however. They were slow with a 500 rounds per minute rate of fire and a muzzle velocity of just 2,300 feet per second. Needless to say it didn't meet any criteria. |