M51 Quad .50-caliber Machine Gun on Trailer Mount (TM 9-223, Twin Cal. .50 Machine Gun Mount M33 and Multiple Cal. .50 Machine Gun Mount M45, July 1944) |
M51 Multiple .50-Caliber Machine Gun (“Quad Fifty”)
| Every gun section in the 898th was equipped with one quadruple mount .50-caliber MG. These truck-drawn, trailer-mounted guns were capable of pouring a deadly hail of lead at low-flying aircraft. They were also devastating against ground targets, although as an automatic weapon over 11mm in caliber, by the international conventions then in force, this weapon was only to be so employed “in self defense.” Caliber: .50 inches (12.7mm) Muzzle Velocity: 2,930 feet per second Effective range: 2,500 yards Rate of fire: 1,600 - 2,200 rounds per minute Weight: approximately 2,400 pounds Height (guns level): 55 inches Height (guns fully elevated): 75 inches ((Data from TM 9-223, Twin Cal. .50 Machine Gun Mount M33 and Multiple Cal. .50 Machine Gun Mount M45, July 1944.) |