The myth of "they could use ours but we couldn't use theirs" has been around long time and I've heard it applied to several different things, all equally false.
When used by Viet Nam era bull artists/posers its usually about the Combloc .30 being confused with our .30s. iT wasn't true then, its not true now.
I don't know of any modern small arms where its true. And, by modern, I mean cartridge arms. Might have been "sorta" true during the Revolution, where SOME of our guys were armed with the French .69 caliber musket vs, the British .72 cal Brown Bess. You can fire a .69 ball from a .72 bore but not the other way around. (dimensions nominal)
There is one "modern" example, again sort of, and its not generally considered small arms. This is the medium mortar used by many nations during WWII. Both Axis and Allied nations made 8cm /81mm /82mm mortars, all based on the same prewar design (a French one, I think..) and there was SOME limited ammo cross compatibility, but this was not by intent, it was just happenstance, and not something any nation counted on.
You hear a lot of BS in the service, and from Vets who either don't know the difference or are deliberately pulling your leg.
Shall we discuss Japanese "Bamboo bullets"? hmm, no, that should probably be its own thread...
The M2 .50 cal has the mechanical potential to be very accuratem, but as used in service, with service ammo, and its fairly coarse sights it doesn't reach its accuracy potential, and being an area weapon is what the military wants from it.
There is, of course, no single weapon or system that "won the war", but if you want to discuss things in those terms, my vote wouldn't be for the Garand or the 1911, but the .50 BMG. No other nation had a comparable gun & cartridge, and while they had some that were close, no one else used theirs the way we did ours.
If it was big enough to carry one, we put a .50 (or more than one) on about everything that drove, crawled, swam or flew. No one else (other than Allies using our equipment) did that. They had their .30s, and so did we, but we also had Ma Deuce, and used them, a LOT!
Other nations had their 13mm and 12.7mm guns, but their use was mostly as aircraft guns, while we used our .50 everywhere!
When used by Viet Nam era bull artists/posers its usually about the Combloc .30 being confused with our .30s. iT wasn't true then, its not true now.
I don't know of any modern small arms where its true. And, by modern, I mean cartridge arms. Might have been "sorta" true during the Revolution, where SOME of our guys were armed with the French .69 caliber musket vs, the British .72 cal Brown Bess. You can fire a .69 ball from a .72 bore but not the other way around. (dimensions nominal)
There is one "modern" example, again sort of, and its not generally considered small arms. This is the medium mortar used by many nations during WWII. Both Axis and Allied nations made 8cm /81mm /82mm mortars, all based on the same prewar design (a French one, I think..) and there was SOME limited ammo cross compatibility, but this was not by intent, it was just happenstance, and not something any nation counted on.
You hear a lot of BS in the service, and from Vets who either don't know the difference or are deliberately pulling your leg.
Shall we discuss Japanese "Bamboo bullets"? hmm, no, that should probably be its own thread...
The M2 .50 cal has the mechanical potential to be very accuratem, but as used in service, with service ammo, and its fairly coarse sights it doesn't reach its accuracy potential, and being an area weapon is what the military wants from it.
There is, of course, no single weapon or system that "won the war", but if you want to discuss things in those terms, my vote wouldn't be for the Garand or the 1911, but the .50 BMG. No other nation had a comparable gun & cartridge, and while they had some that were close, no one else used theirs the way we did ours.
If it was big enough to carry one, we put a .50 (or more than one) on about everything that drove, crawled, swam or flew. No one else (other than Allies using our equipment) did that. They had their .30s, and so did we, but we also had Ma Deuce, and used them, a LOT!
Other nations had their 13mm and 12.7mm guns, but their use was mostly as aircraft guns, while we used our .50 everywhere!