9 Things You Didn’t Know About the Browning M1919 Machine Gun

The Browning M1919 machine gun is one of the most effective machine guns ever developed and is perhaps the definitive American platform, especially with respect to its popularity among civilians. 

Test yourself to see if you knew these 9 facts about the M1919 machine gun.

• It was widely used through the Second World War, until the Vietnam War.

The M1919 was developed at the end of the First World War to replace the M1917, a water-cooled machine gun that was used at the end of the War. Despite the reliability of the M1917, it weighed over 100 pounds, which made it quite a potential burden on its crews. The M1919 was much, much lighter, just a bit over 30 pounds, making it easier to transport and crew. Because of its costs of production, significantly lighter weight, reliability and general efficacy, the M1919 was widely used through the Second World War, Korea, and Vietnam.

• It’s still in service. 

While the last major conflict in which the M1919 found itself in a combat role, at least in American hands, was the Vietnam War, the platform is still in service and has been lent or adopted in some capacity or other by many countries around the world. 

• It fires the same cartridges as the M1 Garand (the traditional variant).

The original M1919 was chambered in .30-06 Springfield and was designed to fire the .30 caliber M1906 cartridge; later M2 ball cartridges were intended to be used with it. This is the same chambering not only as the M1 Garand rifle, but also its predecessor, the M1903 Springfield. 

• But multiple variants in different calibers have been developed.

While the original M1919 was chambered in .30-06 Springfield, later variants were developed around a number of other cartridges, including but not limited to 7.62x51mm NATO, .303 British, 7.92x57mm Mauser, 6.5x55mm, and 7.62x54mmR; these cartridges were popular rounds used by other great powers of the day, including the British Commonwealth, Germany, and Russia. 

• The design was an upgrade over water-cooled machine guns.

The predecessor of the M1919, the M1917, was a water-cooled machine gun. Besides the issue of weight, water-cooled machine guns needed a constant supply of water or the barrel would overheat, and because of the cumbersome barrel shroud, could present issues with visibility. 

The much lighter M1919 was air-cooled, which significantly improved the weight and visibility of the platform while eliminating the need for access to a continuous stream of water, making the platform far more portable than its predecessors. 

• It was belt-fed. 

Unlike some machine gun platforms that fed from a magazine, the M1919 fed from a belt, from left to right. The first belts were woven cloth, but later designs utilized a disintegrating M1 metal link belt.

• It was originally designed to be mounted to a tank. 

The first M1919 machine guns were designed to be mounted to a tank for support and suppressive fire. However, the M1919 could also be carried by a crew in the field using a tripod, and variants were used by the Navy as well as mounted to aircraft as well. 

• Over 50 countries have used the M1919. 

Countless countries and belligerents around the world have adopted the M1919 or been lent it by supporting forces, including but not limited to Canada, China, France, Finland, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Japan, Ireland and Italy, among others. 

• It’s a surprisingly popular civilian machine gun. 

As machine gun platforms go, the M1919 is one of the most popular among civilians and there is a relatively high civilian ownership rate. However, legislative changes in the 1980s limited the number of M1919 machine guns that were available to the civilian market, inflating prices and giving rise to semi-automatic variants. 

These M1919-esque platforms feature a right side plate with a raised portion that protrudes into the receiver and which prevents full-auto operation. This converts these platforms into semi-auto-only variants, making it possible for civilians to own and operate them without dealing with onerous NFA restrictions and red tape. 

Regardless, with the right M1919 parts kit, a semi-auto variant can be built reasonably effectively and cost-efficiently, which has kept the M1919 a popular “machine gun” for civilian shooters to build, tinker with, and shoot.

Here for an M1919 Parts Kit?

Given its popularity among civilian users, if you landed here in need of M1919 parts for repairs, or even an M1919 parts kit to customize or build your own model, check out our collection and get in touch with us if you need any assistance. We would be more than happy to help you find the parts or even an M1919 parts kit that meets your needs.