The Firearm Blog

M2A1 Machine Gun

The Army was recently demoing the upgraded, and long-overdued, version of the M2 Browning machine gun. Army.mil reports ...

The M2 A1 is an upgrade to the M2 machine gun. It provides a quick-change barrel and fixed head space and timing to reduce Soldier errors and associated safety risks, according to a report prepared by the Small Arms Branch. The Army is also working on a lightweight .50-caliber machine gun to augment the M2 A1, Henthorn said.

Also on demoed was the light-weight version of the M240, the M240L, which will be deployed next year ...

One of the weapons showcased was the M240L medium machine gun, a lighter alternative to the M240B machine gun. The M240L weighs 21-and-a-half pounds, six pounds lighter than the M240B.

"Lightening Soldiers' loads is a key element of what we want to do," Henthorn said. "We are carrying a lot of weight downrange on missions because we want capability. Every pound we take off a guy is a pound he doesn't have to carry up and down a hill."

Along with reduced weight, the branch is shortening the barrel and providing a collapsible butt stock for the M240 L, said Troy Harris, deputy chief of the small arms branch.

Henthorn said Army-wide fielding could begin in 10 months.

[ Many thanks to Lance for emailing me the link. ]

Colt have won a contract worth $126 million to manufacturer the FN designed M240B machine gun, the standard medium caliber machine gun of the Army and Marines.

Colt Defense, LLC., West Hartford, Conn., was awarded on Sept. 25, 2009 a $32,143,048 firm-fixed-price contract for M240B machine guns. Work is to be performed in Hartford, Conn., with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2015. Bid solicitation was open to the Firms in the U.S. and Canada with two bids received. TACOM-RI, CCTA-AR-SA, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0175).

Daniel Watters, an expert on military procurement, told me that the military have been trying to maintain, or expand, the small arms production industrial base by procuring from second sources.

A mounted M240B

A big thank you to Daniel Watters for the info.