The U.S. Army Contracting Command in Newark, New Jersey last week awarded a contract to a Nevada company for continued deliveries of the famous "Ma Deuce."

U.S. Ordnance of McCarran, Nevada, was awarded a $16,364,451 firm-fixed-price contract for M2A2 .50-caliber machine guns with an estimated completion date of May 1, 2024. The M2A2, developed 15 years ago by U.S. Ord, features a quick-change barrel – it can be switched in less than 15 seconds by one person – and uses a single-breech lock system. Still, it is fully interchangeable with standard legacy M2HB components. 
 

First developed by John Browning at the tail end of the Great War and put into production in 1921, the M2 .50 cal has been a staple of U.S. and allied military operations ever since. While it could be easily reconfigured into dozens of different configurations for use in aircraft or on vehicles, as well as being air- or water-cooled, perhaps the most commonly-encountered variant is the M2HB Flexible, which saw extensive service from the late 1930s until 2010. Then the Army began shifting to the mildly updated M2A1, which uses fixed headspace and timing, allowing for safer operations, as well as a much more efficient flash hider that reduces the weapon’s signature by 95 percent at night. 
 

We've encountered some great M2s over the years, and have always found that they, if one is good, two are great, and four are ideal – as detailed below.