German Ground equilivent of .50 M2

[MikeW]

So what was the Wehrmacht ground equilivent of the American BMG M2 .50?

I know the Luftwaffe had 13mm guns on their aircraft.

Also I am aware that the Germans used 20mm for antipersonal like the M2, but I would imagine the .50 is more cost effective, lighter, more mobile, but the 20mm is probably more effective, but at a cost of weight.

[Matt Weber]

I don't believe the Germans had an "equivalent" weapon to the US Browning M2 .50cal machine gun. (nor did any other country for that matter! )
This is because the Germans didn't believe in having "light" machine guns, and "heavy" machine guns. They believed one Machine gun could do all the jobs. This was the MG34, which they classified as a "general purpose" machine gun.

However, to answer your question, which gun did the Germans use to fullfill the same roles as the M2; well, that would most likely be the MG131. You are correct that it was a 13mm machine gun, and was installed on most Luftwaffe bombers during the war, such as the Ju-88, Do-17, and He-111.

Does anybody have an MG131 so we can compare size and weight to the M2 with it?

They also had the MG15, which was an 8mm weapon. I believe all the German tanks were equipted with the MG34 throughout the war?

The Browning M2, or "Ma Duce" is a living legend! I can't think of any weapon that has been in front line service longer than the M2? It's been around since WWI, and is still in service today!!!

Matt

[theinglebaby23]

Remember too that the MG-34 and -42's were amazing machine guns that probably fit the 50 cal role in many ways. They had such an amazing rate of fire that they smoked their adversaries weapons, even today.

Plus the Germans were fighting a different war when these were developed. They invented the armored warfare concept and were fighting infantry hoardes and cavalry troops when they were developed through the end of the war (and a .50 wouldn't have much effect on a T-34).

So, probably just different organizations. I think more effective too by far. The Germans still use the MG-42 today, and the US automatic weapons systems (the M240B and M249) look amazingly familiar...