Gun History: Air Cooled Browning .30 Caliber

When the United States entered WWI, the Army needed a heavy machinegun. Browning developed the Model 1917 that was chambered to fire the standard .30-06 cartridge. The M1917 was a water-cooled weapon that was mounted to a heavy tripod.  It proved to be a very effective defensive weapon that could lay down a large amount of sustained firepower. Over 68,000 were produced during the war. 580 air-cooled units were produced for use in airplanes.

A machinegun was also needed for the U.S. tank corp. The water-cooled Browning was too bulky for these early tanks, so the air-cooled M1919 was designed but didn’t see service because of the end of WWI.

In between wars, the U.S. military realized it needed a machinegun that fit somewhere between the light Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) and the heavy M1917.  The M1919A4 filled this gap. While the M1917 was a great defensive weapon, it was much too heavy and cumbersome to be used during an attack. The gun itself weighted 41 pounds and the tripod added an additional 52 pounds. And none of this weight included the full water cans and ammunition.

The BAR was intended to work as a light machinegun support weapon, but it didn’t have sustainable firepower that could be relied upon. The 20 round box magazine couldn’t match a belt fed weapon.

Weighing in at 31 pounds, with a 14 pound tripod, the M1919A4 could easily be advanced to the battlefield by a two man crew. The 250 round belt which fired between 400-600 rounds per minute could lay down the supporting firepower advancing infantry needed.

The M1919A4 was one of the most versatile weapons of WWII. It was installed in armor, aircraft, landing craft, light vehicles and naval units. Nearly 390,000 were produced during WWII, the majority being built by General Motor’s Saginaw division.

When compared to the German MG34, the M1919A4 can’t match the MG34’s rate of fire which comes in at 800-900 rounds per minute. But the genius of the M1919A4 is its simple design and quick manufacture rate. While the German MG34 is a work of engineering art, it was expensive to produce and its many parts made it less reliable in battlefield conditions.

The durability of the M1919A4 is demonstrated by its lifespan. The United States used it in the Korean and Vietnam wars. Many NATO countries refurbished the A4 to fire the standard 7.62 x 51 mm round and fielded the machinegun well into the 1990s. Some countries still field the M1919A4 and it has been retooled to fire eight different cartridges besides the standard .30-06.

If there is one firearm that represents 20^th Century machineguns, it may be the M1919 and its variants. It isn’t the fastest or most ingenious design, but its durability and easy of manufacture represent the mass production of arms that came to dominate the battlefields of humanities most deadly wars.