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Browning M1917
The Browning 1917 .30 caliber machine gun is the immediate predecessor of the Browning M1919. This weapon saw use from the final days of World War I, throughout the duration of World War II as well as both the Korean and Vietnam wars due in large part to its reliability and usefulness in the sustained fire role (made possible by the water cooling jacket surrounding the barrel).
In 1901, John Moses Browning filed US Patent 678937 for an automatic recoil loader. The construction found little favor with the US Army Ordnance Department. The M1917 was basically an evolution of this patent. The Browning M1917 is a water-cooled machine gun. Air-cooled experimental weapons led after the First World War to the lighter M1919, which was built mechanically the same. The Browning MG externally resembles the Maxim machine gun and has a similar belt feeder. Both have short-recoil operation of the barrel and bolt locking system in the housing. Nevertheless, they are greatly different mechanically. The Maxim has a toggle-lock action lock similar to that of the Luger P08, while the Browning MG bolt and barrel are locked by a steel block. The Browning M1917 is slightly lighter than the Maxim and just as reliable. The Browning M1918 is a further development for aircraft service.
The M1917A1 is an updated variant, developed in the 1930s. Recognizable by the bottom plate, which had side flanges and a positive locking top cover hinge pin.
In 1930, Poland adopted the Ckm wz. 30, a clone of the M1917.
Specifications
(1917 - ????)
- Type: Machine Gun
- Caliber(s): .30-06 Springfield
- Weight: 103 lb (47 kg) (gun, tripod, water, and ammunition)
- Length: 38.5 in (980 mm)
- Barrel length(s): 24 in (609 mm)
- Capacity: 250-round fabric belt
- Fire Modes: Full-Auto
The Browning M1917 machine gun can be seen in the following films used by the following actors:
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Big Parade | German soldiers | 1925 | ||
| Wings | American and German soldiers | 1927 | ||
| Pardon Us | Prison Guards | 1931 | ||
| Bad Man's River | Aldo Sambrell | Canales | acetylene-firing mock-ups | 1971 |
| Mexican soldiers | ||||
| Spoils of War | U.S. soldiers | archive footage | 2009 |
Television
| Show Title | Actor | Character | Note / Episode | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The State Border: Film | U.S. soldiers | archive footage | 1986 | |
| Mail Call | archive footage | 2002-2009 |
Video Game
| Game Title | Appears as | Note | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desperados: Wanted Dead Or Alive | "Gatling Gun" | Anachronistic | 2001 |
| Red Dead Redemption | "Browning Gun" | Anachronistic | 2010 |
| Battle of Empires: 1914-1918 | "Browning M1917" | 2015 | |
| Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades | 2016 |
M1917A1
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wake Island | Brian Donlevy | Major Geoffrey Caton | 1942 | |
| Philip Van Zandt | Cpl. Gus Goebbels | |||
| U.S. Soldiers | ||||
| Bataan | U.S. Soldiers | 1943 | ||
| The Fighting Seabees | U.S. Marine | 1944 | ||
| Back to Bataan | Philippine guerrilla fighters | 1945 | ||
| Breakthrough | U.S. Soldiers | 1950 | ||
| Halls of Montezuma | Richard Hylton | Conroy | 1951 | |
| The Steel Helmet | North Korean Army | 1951 | ||
| The Desert Rats | German soldiers | standing for Maxim MG08 | 1953 | |
| Godzilla | Japanese Defense Forces | 1954 | ||
| Five Gates to Hell | Vietnamesse guerillass | 1959 | ||
| Merrill's Marauders | the Marauders | 1962 | ||
| Lawrence of Arabia | 1962 | |||
| Up to His Ears (Les tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine) | Jean-Paul Belmondo | Arthur Lempereur | 1965 | |
| Ursula Andress | Alexandrine Pinardel | |||
| OSS 117: Mission for a Killer (Furia à Bahia pour OSS 117) | Frederick Stafford | Hubert Bonnisseur | 1965 | |
| Nazis and Indians | ||||
| The Professionals | Frederick Stafford | Rico | anachronstic for 1917 | 1966 |
| Mexican soldiers | ||||
| What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? | US Army soldiers | mounted on jeep | 1966 | |
| The Wild Bunch | Lee Marvin | Tector | anachronistic for 1913 and 1916 | 1969 |
| Warren Oates | Lyle | |||
| Emilio Fernández | Mapache | |||
| Jorge Rado | Ernst | |||
| Mexican soldiers | ||||
| Rum Runners (Boulevard du Rhum) | U. S. Coast Guard | 1971 | ||
| Soldier of Orange | Dutch soldiers | standing for Schwarzlose M. 08/13 | 1977 | |
| 1941 | Dan Aykroyd | Sergeant Tree | 1979 | |
| U.S. soldiers | ||||
| The Professional | African prison guards | 1981 | ||
| Deal of the Century | Seen in the Gundealer's Room | 1983 | ||
| Exterminator 2 | Mounted on Eastland's truck | 1984 | ||
| Commando | In the hidden armory in | 1985 | ||
| Matewan | private detectives | 1987 | ||
| Return from the River Kwai | Miao tribesmen | 1988 | ||
| Farewell To The King | Gerry Lopez | Gwai | 1989 | |
| Headhunter | ||||
| Miller's Crossing | Police | 1990 | ||
| Evita | Argentine Navy sailors | 1996 | ||
| Tae Guk Gi | Dong-gun Jang | Sgt. Jin-tae Lee | 2004 | |
| Soutch Korean soldiers | ||||
| Public Enemies | U.S. soldiers | Colt Model 1922 | 2009 | |
| 71: Into the Fire | South Korean soldiers | 2010 | ||
| Gallipoli: End of the Road | Australian and Turkish soldiers | anachronistic for 1915 | 2013 |
Television
| Show Title | Actor | Character | Note / Episode | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission: Impossible | Colt MG38 mounted on truck, "Nitro" (S03E21) | 1969 | ||
| The Pacific | James Badge Dale | Robert Leckie | 2010 | |
| Jon Bernthal | Sgt. Manny Rodriguez | |||
| Joshua Bitton | Sgt. J.P. Morgan | |||
| Jon Seda | Sgt. John Basilone | |||
| U.S. Marines | ||||
| Boardwalk Empire | Stephen Graham | Capone | 2010 - 2014 | |
| Ku Klux Klan | ||||
| 1923 | Brandon Sklenar | Spencer Dutton | "1923" (S1E01) | 2022 |
Video Game
| Game Title | Appears as | Note | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forgotten Hope 2 | "Browning M1917A1" | 2005 | |
| Company of Heroes | "M1917 Browning Heavy Machine Gun" | 2006 | |
| The Darkness | 2007 | ||
| Civilization V | Introduced in "Gods & Kings" expansion pack (2012) | 2010 | |
| Red Orchestra 2: Rising Storm | "M1917 Browning" | 2013 | |
| Battlefield 1 | "M1917 MG" | Introduced in "Turning Tides" DLC (2017), anachronistic | 2016 |
Kongsberg M/29
The Norwegian adaption of the Colt version chambered in 7.92×57mm Mauser. A later model was converted to 7.62x63mm NATO called M/29F1.
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Into the White | Norwegian soldiers | 2012 | ||
| The King's Choice | Norwegian soldiers | 2016 |
Kulspruta M/1936
The Swedish adopted a version of the M1917 under the name "Kulspruta M/1936". The M/1936 was converted into the (then) standard 6.55mm, but the anti-aircraft version used the 8×63mm Bofors (ptr m/32). In the 1970s the remaining M/1936 were converted to the 7.62×51 mm NATO.
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strike First Freddy (Slå først Frede!) | Kolick's henchmen | 1965 | ||
| The Callup | Swedish soldiers | 1979 | ||
| Beyond the Border | Martin Wallström | Sven Stenstrom | 2011 | |
| Antti Reini | Wille Jarvinen | |||
| Swedish soldiers |
See Also
- Browning Arms Company - A list of all firearms manufactured by Browning.