Airsoft M2 Browning .50cal Machine Gun
By Graham "MadDog" and Hugo "Catman"

Introduction

Graham "MadDog" and I got talking a few months back and he mentioned to me that he had plans to build a .50cal but nowhere to build it. I on the other had no plans to build a .50cal but a pretty well outfitted workshop. So we got decided to team up and make it.

The Plan

The original plan was to make a steel housing and put the gearbox in from a P90 AEG a high mAh battery and a huge ammo trough. However as we were doing research we noticed the barrel of the M2 recoils back as it fires, replicating this with an AEG gearbox inside the gun could have been done but I insisted the system use gas/compressed air - simply for the noise and recoil it would generate, a M2 with a P90 gearbox would at the end of the day just be a big P90. So we decided to make it more of an experience to shoot rather than just another bland support gun.

We'll be mounting it on a Land Rover and we'll also be constructing a tripod for it - two more projects we'll do when we finish the main gun ;)

There is no master plan here, every build day we discuss what needed to be done and how we should go about it.

Click here to see some of the pics/videos we used in our research.

NOTICE: we are not building a real gun and it cannot be converted to firing live rounds, this is an Airsoft version intended to fire 6mm BBs at "safe" velocities of about 300fps (less than 1 Joule) at 450-550 rounds per minute. Neither Graham or myself own real firearms - though we have both lots of experience in them. This gun, when finished, will be deployed for skirmish use at the Manx Airsoft Club - situated on the Isle of Man.

Special Thanks

Would like to thank the following people who've contributed in various ways to helping with this Project:
- Tom Andrews
- Pete "Alfer"
- "Panzergraf"

Stuff Used

Pillar Drill, 3 Angle Grinders, ARC & MIG Welder, Cordless Drill, Sander, Belt Sander, hammer, heavy duty vice, 50 litre air compressor (max 120psi) and some rather rusty 3mm Steel.
Pictures of the workshop (taken before work started on the M2): #1, #2