Editing American WWII Military Equipment (section)

===Machineguns===
* '''M1917 Browning''': Mainly used as a static gun, the M1917 was a traditional water-cooled gun that looks superficially like the Maxim, but operated differently. Compared to the M1919 it was more of a pain to move around, but much less likely to overheat in battle. Most famously was used by Marine Sergeant John Basilone on Guadalcanal in 1942, hefting the gun up without a tripod and firing thousands of rounds at the onrushing Japanese even while the overheating barrel burned his hands, earning him the Medal of Honor.
* '''M1918A2 BAR''': The B.A.R was not the best LMG, though still better than the likes of the Type 11, Breda, or Type 99. Not necessarily because the BAR was bad mechanically like the Breda or the Type 99, (it was created by John Browning after all), but more so of its implementation as a squad LMG. When it was introduced in WWI it was. . .well arguably already out of date. The Bar was designed in ww1 to facilitate a tactic known as "Marching Fire", you basically shoot without aiming as you advance to suppress the enemy before you get into close quarters. Of course In WW1 the German's solved the solution of advancing against an enemy position via there Storm Trooper Tactics, so the BAR was arguably the best weapon at what it was designed to do: it just was a thing that was very good. The Panda of guns as it were. By WWII it was very outdated, and military thinkers failed to give it even basic design upgrades like a pistol grip, muzzle brake, or interchangeable barrel - features that plenty of foreign copies and non-military versions of the BAR all had. This was in large part because the Army spent most of its small arms budget on the Garand; since they couldn't make many BARs, any changes to the design had to fit the many 1918A2 pattern BARs in inventory. It was still highly valued by American G.I.s because come on, twenty automatic shots of .30-06 is awesome.
* '''M1919 Browning''': The air-cooled version of the M1917. The design was solid, rugged, reliable, and could carry over 200 .30-06 rounds of pure American freedom. The design saw use on everything from fighters and bombers to tanks and warships for primarily anti-personnel/anti-aircraft duty. Some of the most recognized vehicles equipped with the M1919 were the Jeep and the Sherman, the latter of which had two of the things in addition to an M2. While the M1919 was far outclassed compared to the MG34/42, it was a far better crew mounted weapon than the Japanese equivalents, making it a particularly ruthless opponent for Japanese soldiers, who often favored madly charging at their enemies when they ran out of ammo. Later variants were so light that they could awkwardly, but feasibly hip fired by a single man as shown in some occasional footage, though contrary to the movies, this was not as common as you'd expect.
:* '''AN/M2 "Stinger"''': Troops looking for a proper portable machine gun sometimes took matters into their own hands and made modified versions of the M1919; the most famous example was the so-called “Stinger” variant, an AN/M2 salvaged from aircraft with an M1 Garand buttstock, a BAR bipod and carry handle, and an insanely high rate of fire. Six of these were built for the battle of Iwo Jima, with one user posthumously given the Medal of Honor for his frankly insane but effective use of this frankengun in combat. Ultimately the army decided at first copy the German Idea of a universal machine gun and made the M60, but eventually they returned to this 'light man portable machinegun' concept with the M249 SAW, which also is a bit like the BAR in that it also shot the same ammo as the main infantry rifle in service at the time.

* '''M1941 Johnson LMG''': not to be confused with the Johnson Rifle, but made with the same action. This gun was coincidentally the Americans' version of the FG42, in that is was a paratrooper gun with a side-loading magazine, and could operate in both open bolt and closed bolt. And like the FG42, this overcomplicated setup was less than ideal and eventually dropped.
* '''M2 Browning''': [[Meme|Ma Deuce! Protecting Freedom since 1933, one half-inch at the time!]] The famous heavy machinegun chambered in .50 BMG, used on literally EVERY vehicle the Americans had. Intended mainly as an anti-aircraft gun, it was just as devastating against infantry and light armor. And its still being used today almost a hundred years later, just with fancier ammunition and some add-ons like remote turrets or optics. The only real improvement that it has seen since being made is better materials and a quick change barrel, and some electrically fired aircraft variants to shoot quicker. That's how good it is.