How did this even happen?

Just a guess-don't chop off my head.

I believe the barrel twist locks in place so when it's smoking hot it can be quickly replaced if necessary.

The barrel lock was not properly engaged.

It's a simple error that should have never happened and is not funny.
 
Its worse than that. The Browning M2 barrel screws in (by hand) and apparently this one wasn't. Note that the gun did not fire (as it should not have), and the barrel was pushed out by the bolt going forward to chamber the round.

The "smoke" is, I believe just dust from the desert coming off the gun. If the round had fired (detonated) you would have seen a lot more violent action.
 
Operator error. The individual who installed to barrell failed to do so properly and the operator failed to check.

My guess is that someone played a practical joke. Not funny and if I were the Company Commander some heads would have rolled.
 
Quick change barrel not attached properly.
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It is a quick change barrel. BTW: The US Army was one of the last to get quick change barrels:

http://articles.janes.com/articles/...-50-QCB-machine-gun-system-United-States.html


This is the US Army M2E2:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peosoldier/3879836979/


i was the Saudi National Guard firing range advisor for several years. Some Saudi units got QC barrels before Desert Storm. The Saudis bought the FN QC barrel kit:

http://www.fnhusa.com/mil/products/firearms/model.asp?fid=FNF016&gid=FNG008&mid=FNM0156
 
Thanks for the heads up on the quick change barrel modification. That is the one thing the M2 needed.

My last hands on with the M2 was in the late 70s, but I had been very involved with them for a few years prior, working as a FS & DS level Small Arms Repairman.

One interesting thing, that speaks volumes about Ma Deuce, in my entire service, I never saw a single one that broke. I worked on a number of them that had been broken (by troops) but never one that had broken because of the gun operating or wearing out. (yes, barrels wear out, but those don't come into the repair shops, they just get replaced at the user/company level)

The things that got broken/damaged were exterior parts, broken by dropping the reciever on a hard surface, mostly charging handles, or sight ears/hood, spade grips, and once in a while the spade grip frames.

This often occured when the weapons were mounted or dismounted from the tracks. Especially in Germany, where I was, it rains a bit and steel gets slippery. The 80+ pounds of the M2 receiver, wet metal, and often in the dark means an increased rate of this type of accidents over drier environments
 
That is the one thing the M2 needed.
Click to expand...

There were several failure to set timing and headspace wrecks every year where i worked at in Saudi. i carried the gauges on a chain around my neck and tried to be helpful, but you can't be everywhere. One Saudi troop died when a piece of the cartridge case penetrated his femoral artery.
 
The "smoke" is, I believe just dust from the desert coming off the gun.
Click to expand...

Or was this whole thing staged?
That "smoke" is propelled 15 or more feet out of the barrel before the barrel falls.
Could it have been a case of the powder failing to burn due to low pressure? Such as what can happen in an under charged load???
 
I worked on a lot of .50's that failed. Serious get the pipe wrench with a cheater pipe on the wrench to get a barrel out failure. One guy took a load of brass in the crotch (Grunts sit under ground mounts) and it blew the cover off. As usual, it was operator error. I would like to see what those QC units look like. Maybe like the M-85 .50?
 
There were several failure to set timing and headspace wrecks every year where i worked at in Saudi. i carried the gauges on a chain around my neck and tried to be helpful, but you can't be everywhere.
Click to expand...

There is no mechanical solution to under trained troops. And that has always been true, no matter which era you look at.

The quick change barrel on the M85 was a good feature. The rest of the gun wasn't as good. And yes, I worked on them too.
 
I have a cousin who was in the Navy between WW-II and Korea on a cruiser who told me about a barrel change on a 40mm quad mount gone wrong. When they test fired it ... the barrel went right out of the gun into the ocean. I'll just bet someone caught some serious hell over that! :D
 
44 Amp

I hated those M-85's. They either ran like a raped date or they just drove you nuts. The old saying "10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag" fits good there. What ever happened to the M-85's? You would think that they would pop up on the news in some country somewhere. I have never really seen them other than in tanks donated to other countries.
 
The audio is great..."Didn't tighten the barrel back up, did you?" "No..."

Pretty sure that dates back to Desert Storm or shortly thereafter.
 
Gunplummer,

I have seen a ground mount for the M85. They were rather rare, and I think, like the gun itself, not very popular.

I don't think the M85 was ever in anything but the M60 series MBT. One thing I remember was the M85 was expensive. Back in the 70s, the barrel extension alone was $1200! You could get a couple of actual good machine guns for what an M85 cost (or what our govt paid for them, at any rate).

I got blown off the turret one time by the blast from a tank next to me, while trying to adjust the solenoid of that damn M85 so the Bn Cmmdr could finish his qualification. I was actually breaking the rules to do him a favor working on the track on the line. Spc4 me cussed a blue streak at a LtCol! I was so torqued I didn't realize I was chewing out an officer!

He was cool about it though, just waited till I wound down, and said,
"Son, you're entirely right. Now shut up. I'll handle this, if you'll fix my gun"
So I did. And he did. And I got to overhear him chewing on the other tank's TC. Ah, those were the days....:rolleyes:
 
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