Browning Machine Gun

The Browning M1917, designed by John Browning, was adopted by the U.S. Army as a heavy machine gun in 1917. Over 42,000 units were produced during World War I by manufacturers, including Westinghouse and Remington. Although initially intended for the U.S. military, versions of the Browning machine gun were also used by other countries, including Poland and Norway. During World War II, the Browning M1917 was used by various armed forces, including Nazi second-line troops and the Soviet Red Army, which captured these weapons during their campaigns in Western Ukraine and Belarus in 1939. The M1917 saw action in the Battle of Moscow, a pivotal event in the Great Patriotic War (1941 – 1945). The original model was upgraded to the M1917A1 in the interwar period, improving its design and extending its service life well into World War II and the Korean War.