"Fast and Furious" Operation Included 50 caliber weapons

It has been reported in the Christian Science Monitor and other sources that the ATF "Fast and Furious" operation included 50 caliber weapons, similar to those shown on this page.

These guns ended up in hands of the Mexican drug cartels and have been used against Americans - ultimately killing a US border patrol agent.



The question that some Americans are asking is; was "Fast and Furious" a massive sting operation that simply went bad - or was it an ill-planned conspiracy to implicate the US as being responsible for the arming of the cartels? In all likelihood it was the former - but just the fact that our own government would be suspected of such a heinous plot illustrates that when it comes to implementing the radical agenda of the Obama administration - we will believe anything!

The Browning M2 .50 caliber (12.7mm) Machine Gun, is a World War II era automatic, belt-fed, recoil operated, air-cooled, crew-operated machine gun. The M2 is crew transportable with limited amounts of ammunition over short distances. This gun has a back plate with spade grips, trigger, and bolt latch release. It is equipped with leaf-type rear sight, flash suppressor and a spare barrel assembly. By repositioning some of the component parts, ammunition may be fed from either the left or right side. A disintegrating metallic link-belt is used to feed the ammunition into the weapon. It is capable of single-shot (ground M2), as well as automatic fire.

This gun may be mounted on ground mounts and most vehicles as an anti-personnel and anti-aircraft weapon. Associated components are the M63 antiaircraft mount and the M3 tripod mount. The M2 .50 Cal. flexible version is used as a ground gun on the M3 tripod mount or various Naval mounts. The M2 .50 Cal., M48 turret type, fixed type, and soft mount are installed on mounts of several different types of combat vehicles and ships. The weapon provides automatic weapon suppressive fire for offensive and defensive purposes. This weapon can be used effectively against personnel, light armored vehicles; low, slow flying aircraft; and small boats.

The M2 machine gun on the M3 tripod provided a very stable firing platform. Together with its slow rate of fire and its traversing and elevating mechanism, the M2 was used to a very limited extent as a sniper weapon during the Vietnam war at fixed installations such as firebases. Snipers prefired the weapons at identifiable targets and worked the data into range cards insuring increased first-round accuracy. The 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division constructed 20-30 foot high shooting platforms, adding steel base plates and posts to further stabilize the M2 on the M3 tripod. Together with the use of Starlight night vision scopes, the M2 severely limited enemy movement within 900 yards (1,000m) of the perimeter of a firebase.

Builder: Saco Defense
Numerous manufacturers originally produced the M2 Heavy Machine Gun.
Length: 61.42 inches (156 centimeters)
Weight:
Gun: 84 pounds (38 kilograms)
M3 Tripod (Complete): 44 pounds (19.98 kilograms)
Total: 128 pounds (58 kilograms)
Bore diameter: .50 inches (12.7mm)
Maximum effective range: 2000 meters with tripod mount
Maximum range: 4.22 miles (6.8 kilometers)
Maximum effective range: is 1,830 meters
Cyclic rate of fire: 550 rounds per minute
Unit Replacement Cost: $14,002