×
Aircraft / Aviation Vehicles & Artillery Infantry Arms Warships & Submarines Military Pay Chart (2023) Military Ranks
Advertisements
HOME
INFANTRY
MODERN ARMIES
SPECIAL FORCES
COUNTRIES
MANUFACTURERS
COMPARE
BY CONFLICT
BY TYPE
BY DECADE
COLD WAR
INTERWAR PERIOD
WORLD WAR 2

Infantry Small Arms / The Warfighter


Browning .303


Medium Machine Gun (MMG) / Aircraft Machine Gun [ 1936 ]



The Browning .303 became the Gun that Won the Battle of Britain - such was its value to the British cause in World War 2.



Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 05/09/2016 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]
Advertisements
Browning guns held a certain level of excellence in their design that they were ultimately manufactured beyond United States soil due to their global popularity. The British Royal Air Force (RAF) adopted a version of the belt-fed M1919 which was itself an air-cooled evolution of the original World War 1-era, water-cooled M1917. The British variant was designated Browning .303 as it was chambered to fire the British .303 / 7.7mm rifle cartridge. It went on to be used aboard a plethora of warplanes concerning the British cause of World War 2.

The Browning .303 was selected as a replacement for the Vickers .303 and produced locally by Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) Company.

The British form was based largely on the earlier Colt-Browning 1930 Pattern machine gun and introduced an open-bolt change to the internals. In its base aircraft fighting form, it would be arranged to fire from a hydraulic configuration within the wing of an aircraft but other variants were soon pushed through as battlefield need dictated including a trainable, hand-fired (with manual cocking handle) in-aircraft types as well as turret-mounted types. In the end, the weapon was so important to the British war effort that it came to be known as the weapon that "won the Battle of Britain". Both the storied Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane fighters carried this distinguished weapon as wing-mounted armament and the Avro Lancaster bomber - a legend in its own right - feature the gun in its turret emplacements (a quad-arrangement was seated at the tail).

The selection of the American design spawned from a 1934 search by the RAF for a reliable belt-fed, air-cooled vehicle weapon to feature aboard its aircraft. The choice whittled down to the Colt-Browning offering and an entry put forth by Vickers - the "Vickers Central Action" (VCA) with the Colt-Browning effort winning out. After securing local production rights with the American company, the weapon's local manufacture was charged to BSA and Vickers in 1935. However, only BSA contributed to the total production figures as Vickers was already committed to other machine gun efforts by then.

Initial forms were delivered from Colt during 1936-1937 and were designated locally as "Mark I". This model was designed to accept the ammunition belt from either side of the weapon which made it easily adaptable to the wings of British warplanes without much modification on the gun itself. Upgrades to the series brought along the Mark I* and Mark I** designations as auxiliary sear units were added to the design in an effort to prevent readied ammunition from freely "cooking off" in the hot weapon after a period of sustained fire. In 1937 there arrived the "Mark II" which installed a BSA-developed sear system which further improved the weapons performance in combat - indeed the Mark II is noted as the definitive variant of the British Browning .303 series as a whole. The Mark II* used a fluted muzzle collar and had a finned flash suppressor.

Around 468,000 Browning .303 machine guns were built before the end of World War 2 which arrived in August of 1945 - providing itself a spectacularly reliable and functional weapon worthy of wartime use.©MilitaryFactory.com
Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.
Advertisements

Specifications



Service Year
1936

Origin
United Kingdom national flag graphic
United Kingdom

Classification


Medium Machine Gun (MMG) / Aircraft Machine Gun


Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) Company - United Kingdom / Colt-Browning - USA
(View other Arms-Related Manufacturers)
National flag of Argentina National flag of Australia National flag of Belgium National flag of Canada National flag of Czechia National flag of Denmark National flag of Egypt National flag of France National flag of Greece National flag of India National flag of Indonesia National flag of Ireland National flag of Israel National flag of Italy National flag of the Netherlands National flag of New Zealand National flag of Norway National flag of Pakistan National flag of Poland National flag of Portugal National flag of South Africa National flag of the Soviet Union National flag of Sweden National flag of Syria National flag of Taiwan National flag of Thailand National flag of Turkey National flag of the United Kingdom National flag of the United States National flag of Yugoslavia Argentina; Australia; Belgium; Burma; Canada; Czechoslovakia; Denmark; Egypt; France (Free France); Greece; Hong Kong; India; Indonesia; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Pakistan; Poland; Portugal; Rhodesia; South Africa; Soviet Union; Sweden; Syria; Taiwan; Thailand; Turkey; United Kingdom; United States; Yugoslavia
(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)
Fire Support
Capable of suppressing enemy elements at range through direct or in-direct fire.


Overall Length
1,016 mm
40.00 in
Barrel Length
610 mm
24.02 in
Empty Wgt
23.59 lb
10.70 kg
Sights


Either on-gun or in-aircraft.


Action


Recoil-Operated; Full-Automatic Fire; Belt-Fed

Full-Automatic
Rounds are automatically ejected from the breech, a new cartridge stripped from the feed and set in the chamber, and rounds are continuously fired so long as the trigger is pulled and an ammunition supply exists.
(Material presented above is for historical and entertainment value and should not be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation - always consult official manufacturer sources for such information)


Caliber(s)*


.303 British (7.7mm)

Rounds / Feed


Belt-Fed (various lengths)
Cartridge relative size chart
*May not represent an exhuastive list; calibers are model-specific dependent, always consult official manufacturer sources.
**Graphics not to actual size; not all cartridges may be represented visually; graphics intended for general reference only.
Rate-of-Fire
1,200
rds/min
Muzzle Velocity
2,425 ft/sec
(739 m/sec)


Browning .303 - Base Series Designation
Mark I - Original form from Colt delivered 1936-1937; ambidextrous feeding of belt ammunition.
Mark I* - Upgraded Mark I; auxiliary sear units added.
Mark I** - Upgraded Mark I; auxiliary sear units added.
Mark II - Definitive Browning .303 form; model of 1937; auxiliary sear system developed by BSA.
Mark II* - Mark II model with fluted flash collar and finned flash-hider.


Military lapel ribbon for the American Civil War
Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft
Military lapel ribbon for the Cold War
Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War
Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft
Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War
Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2


Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective campaigns / operations.

Advertisements




Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Cookies


2023 Military Pay Chart Military Ranks DoD Dictionary Conversion Calculators Military Alphabet Code Military Map Symbols

The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com.

Part of a network of sites that includes GlobalFirepower, a data-driven property used in ranking the top military powers of the world, WDMMA.org (World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft), WDMMW.org (World Directory of Modern Military Warships), SR71blackbird.org, detailing the history of the world's most iconic spyplane, and MilitaryRibbons.info, cataloguing military medals and ribbons.

View day-by-day actions of the American Civil War with CivilWarTimeline.net. View day-by-day actions of World War II with SecondWorldWarHistory.com.


©2023 www.MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • Content ©2003-2023 (20yrs)