I just bought the Mission models set with the1/35 scale .50 and the ammo belt. Can anyone help me with the following question.
When the .50 is being fired what happens with the ammo-belt ? As far as I can see in pictures the belt with full shells is beeing fed in the .50 on the right side. Does the belt stay in tact and hangs on the leftside for example ?

Thanks in advance,
Marc

When the bullet is extracted, the link to the right of the bullet becomes free and is pushed out by the advance of the next round. Which is why you have to sweep the top of the feed tray carrier when you load the next belt(just like the M60). There has to be a picture somewhere of a pile of discarded cases and links. The MG3 is the only mg I know that uses non-distintegrating belts.

Paul

One picture worth more that hundred words:



Rgds,
Pawel

Here's another picture :

Maybe you will have to buy a few more sets

HTH
Frenchy

Thanx guys,

Those picture are a great help. I guess I have to leave all the extra links on my humvee roof.

With the M2, is it not the case that the empty links are ejected from the right side of the weapon while the links are ejected from the bottom (similar to the operation of the FN-MAG or GPMG)?
The position of the empty links and shells in the preceding images (in this thread) would seem to indicate this. Would someone 'in the know' kindly clarify this for me?

Thanks much - Dan

Nope, everything comes out the Right it feeds straight through.

The weight of the brass shells causes them to fall nearly straight down while the lightness of the belt link allows those to be tossed quite a distance

There is a port for the spent shells to fall out of and the links go out the right side .Take a good look at the pic of the .50 mounted on the M1 and you will see what I mean .The .50 cal can be made to feed from left or right hand side ( I think this is a carry over from WW2 from B-17 use ect. ) The unit armorer changes out a few parts and such .

If you look @ the first pic you can see the Links coming out the Side.....Every thing I've read says the feed can be changed (Left or right) and the ejection on a "normal" M2 is out the side

The empty links come out the right side, if the gun is set up for left side feed, and the cases come out the bottom.

| |)

I've pulled this out of Encarta

Their wrong, the cases still come out the opening in the bottom. Only the links or belt comes out the right.

http://www.adtdl.army.mil/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/23-65/ch3.htm#ch3

4-4. REMEDIAL ACTION
When immediate action does not correct the malfunction, the quickest way to resume firing is to replace the defective part.

a. Removal of a Cartridge from the T-Slot. If the cartridge does not fall out, hold the bolt to the rear, and with the extractor raised, use a screwdriver to push the cartridge out the bottom of the receiver.


http://www.adtdl.army.mil/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/23-65/ch4.htm#ch4

I think what's gping on here is that some people are talking about the M2 while others are talking about the MG on the Abrams, which is not an M2. I cannot for the life of me recall the number right now, but I know it is a later variant of the browning heavy machine gun.

please see this article from mothers thread

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/47322&page=2

should answer all interested

reb

The .50 cal on top of the Abrams is a M2. Regaurdless the 50 all feed from one side, eject the links from the other and spent casings from the bottom of the receiver. It is the drill that the #2/ assistant gunner catch any live rounds cleared during a stoppage/jam so that it does not fall into the hot casings and "cook-off". If the feed is changed to the other side (like some Israeli M60s with dual 50s over the gun mantlet) then the links kick out the other side. Encarta is nice but the actual miltary weapon pams/ hands on trg/ live fire is the best reference.
Sorry for "rant" but people with experience (incoming as well as outgoing fire) know better than someone flying a desk in an air conditioned room.

Have to agree with India11A, links come out from right (or left, if reversed) feed port, spent shell casings come out from bottom. Also, commander's MG on M1A1/A2 tanks is an M2 HB.

It is an M2HB machine gun with M10 charging handle. No difference internally from the flex mount M2 used on a tripod or pintle to the turret type M2 used on an Abrams. The offiicial name for the cupola mounted M2 is "M2 Machine Gun, M48 turret type."

The M48 nomenclature refers to the fact that this type of modified M2HB was originally designed for the M48A2/A3 Patton tank cupola not to the machine gun itself.

The main differences are:
1. The charging handle and assorted mounting plates on the right side of the receiver is removed. It is replaced by the M10 which is a cable/pully system located on the left side of the receiver.
2. The butt plate with dual grips is replaced by one without any grips.
3. The forward and rear sights on top of the receiver body are removed from the M2 turret type.

As Salt6 states, the links eject from the right side (assuming lefthand feed) and the brass casings eject downward and slightly forward. The ejected casing ding the backside of the GPS housing and ricochet rearward towards the cupola vision blocks. A small metal plate is located just forward of the vision block to reduce the risk of damage to the FUP (forward unity periscope).

I agree with Salt6 that Encarta is wrong.

Concur with all India11A. Espcecially about those air condtioned desk drivers! The spent shell casings eject from the bottom of the reciever of the M-2 series of HMGs no matter which side the ammo is fed. The spent links will eject sideways from the opposite side that the linked ammo was fed from.
When insatalled on the M-1 or M1A1 series of tanks the M-2 HB .50 cal is equipped with the M-10 charging assembly on the left rear side of the reciever(cable). This in turn causes the M-2 to become the "M-48". It will no longer have a charging handle sticking out the right side of the reciever. But it is still a "Ma Deuce", no matter what the parts and publications geeks want to call it. It is however, slightly different than the M-2 as installed on the M1A2 tank. The loaders or coaxial M-240 7.62mm MG may also be mounted in place of the M-2 HMG on the M-1/M1A1 series of tanks.

the M1919 0.30 cal. can be fed with cloth belts instead of metal links so this adds up to the MG3.

Hey,
those guys in the Silicon Valley are too young to have served in the Army :-)
Don't beat them too hard.

In the French army, we have another M2HB variant. A plate on the right side has been thinned to enable the mounting on the VAB cupola. It's just an external modification. The whole internal firing systme remains the one which has proven fully effective for a long while now.

Finally nice to see that somebody got the straight poop put out in regards to the initial question. As to the complexity of changing the feed direction... takes about a minute and requires removing the bolt and changing a couple of pieces around on the feed tray. Nothing that can't be accomplished by the crew in under a few minutes. "Q"

Nobody talked about the good old M-85... :-) :-) :-) :-)

Still have headaches thinking about that one. I had to deal with it on the CEV and again on the M60A3. Now let's show our real age by talking about the M219 coax...

If it was not for the "Cracker Box" M-219 being such a piece of junk we probably never would have seen the M240. So I guess it did serve a purpose besides causing the loader to utter expletives. The M60E2 Coax MG that the USMC had in the M60A1 was difficult to zero and great at binding in its mount during sustained firing. I was a fan of the fixed headspace on the M85 too. And Robin, your info regarding the "M48" is nutz on, "TANKS".