The M2 Tripod is a U.S. machine gun

Machine gun

A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....

 tripod

Tripod

A tripod is a portable three-legged frame, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The word comes from the Greek tripous, meaning "three feet". A tripod provides stability against downward forces, horizontal forces and moments about the...

 originally used with the Browning M1919

M1919 Browning machine gun

The M1919 Browning is a .30 caliber medium machine gun that was widely used during the 20th century. It was used as a light infantry, coaxial, mounted, aircraft, and anti-aircraft machine gun by the U.S. and many other countries, especially during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War...

 infantry machine gun. Since then, it has seen several redesigns, but remained largely the same. In this fashion, the M2 tripod has seen combat service in every conflict the U.S. Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 and Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 has been involved in since World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. It has also been widely used by numerous other nations, such as U.S. Allies in various wars, especially those countries that used the same machine guns as the United States military.

Modern U.S. machine guns, such as the M60

M60 machine gun

The M60 is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links...

, M249 and M240 series machine guns, use slightly updated versions of the M2, designated the M122 tripod

M122 tripod

The M122 tripod is a weapon mount used on the M60, M240 and M249 series machine guns. The M122 weighs 7.3 kilograms . The M122 tripod has started to be replaced by the M192 Lightweight Ground Mount, an advanced lightweight tripod fielded in the early 2000s....

. The M60 was originally going to be used on an experimental M91 tripod, but the M122 was selected over it in 1950s.

The differences between the M2, M122 are found in the types of mounting pintles and traverse & elevation mechanisms. The actual tripod is referred to as the "tripod leg assembly" and is essentially identical among all models. Many current issue M122 tripods in fact were originally M2 tripods, and had new markings applied when refurbished and matched with mounting pintles for M60, M240 or M249 machineguns.

External links

• http://www.armystudyguide.com/content/army_board_study_guide_topics/m249/m122-tripod.shtml