Is it possible to fire a .50 machine gun from the hip?

Question

Sensible answers only please. I include a link to my previous question (apologies if you've already answered) about what weapon the soldier is firing from the hip at 5:00-5:07; a .50 cal seems to be the agreed weapon but I have never heard of them being fired from the hip like this before- I thought they were much to heavy and recoil was a wrist-breaker?

Thanks!

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ap05_p14744Giz7c_Yw9WWsgBgx.;_ylv=3?qid=20071129013503AAMwain

Answer 1

The weapon you see being used in the video clip is most likely a M1919 .30 caliber Browning machine gun or something very similar to it, you probably fixating on the spade grips the gunner is firing from....

If you could pick up a .50 caliber machine gun with it barrel installed and a belt of ammunition, the recoil from the first shot is going to sent you flying providing it does kill you.

Answer 2

I doubt if it is a .50 calibre weapon. The ammunition in the belt looks too small. Having said that I have seen a Bren Gun, .303 ammunition, fired from the hip. This was while I was on a summer camp with my schools Army Cadet Force. We went to a firing range near Okehampton and fired allsorts of weapons. The Army instructor we had gave us a demonstration and started by saying that all the war films we saw where soldiers fired light machine guns from the hip were rubbish as it couldn't be done and, if it could, you wouldn't hit anything anyway. He promptly picked up the Bren, which is a heavy beast anyway, and put a full magazine straight through a target about 30 yards away. When he had finished firing he then told us never to try it ourselves as we would probably break our wrists. Don't know if this helps but it's true.

Answer 3

Ahhhh, no.

After watching the video several times I'm pretty sure he is firing a Belgium-made MAG machine gun. Which was, and still is, used throughout central Africa, especially in Rhodesia and the Belgian Congo in the 1960s when African countries were gaining their Independence from their European masters.

The MAG (Mitrailleuse D'appui General) is a general purpose machine gun, similar to the Browning Automatic Rifle in many ways, but is a belt-fed system.

The MAG is a 7.62 NATO caliber weapon, weighs 22 pounds without buttstock and bipod and had cyclical rate of fire of 700-1000 rounds per minute. It comes in both infantry and tank variants and can be fired "from the Hip" without the buttstock (in the video the macinegunner used a sling).

The FN MAG is even in use with the U.S. military...as the M240. One could easily make the argument that the FN MAG is the world's most common machine gun, having been adopted by over 80 countries.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

No, that is most definately not a .50 caliber weapon. Yes you can shoot the M-2 from the hip, but just once. After that you'll be so injured you wont be able to pick it up for the second round. On the M-2, I've actually burried the tripod legs, and sandbagged them before I filled in the holes, and it still eventually digs it's self back out. The recoil is WAY to bad to be fired from the hip. That gun is definately a .30 caliber cartridge.

Answer 5

You could fire a .50 from the hip but you wouldn't be standing or holding it long. That is not a .50 in this video. It is most likely a .30 cal machine gun but much too small to be a .50.

Answer 6

It weighs almost 90 pounds + ammo weight, and the recoil would more than likely knock you down. The weapon is porbably an old .30 cal that looks similar to the M2

Answer 7

Do you realise how much they weigh and how long the barrel is? In theory if you are as strong as a horse, with a strap running from the barrel across your back down to the stock you may discharge a round or two - but they most probably will go straight up or straight into the ground.

Answer 8

Little one,
In the real world.
That is not a movie.
In the movie.
They use blanks.
The actor can get away with it and come back to work the next day at the same time and same place.
Over and over again.
In the real world?
May not even get up the next day.
So don't fool around out there.
Luke 9.55-56
What do you think?

Answer 9

No, it is not. The weapon along with the barrel is too long and too heavy.....not to mention the tripod (which should be used). So, if you are talking abou the .50 cal that the Army uses, then no it is not possible.

Answer 10

Looks like a .30 caliber Browning design. It's a job and a half just to carry the .50 caliber M2 (which that weapon obviously isn't) and no one would ever fire one that way.