PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-687
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 687
FEBRUARY 2010
26
PS 687
27
PS 687
FEB 10
Dear Half-Mast,
Here at the Ft Leonard Wood DOL,
we’re running into Soldiers who think
they’ve found a faster way to time their
M2 machine guns. Unfortunately, they’re
not saving time but instead shortening
the life of their M2s.
The mistake they’re making is running
the timing wheel all the way up instead
of all the way down, like you’re supposed
to. Then when the M2 doesn’t fire with
the NO FIRE gage end inserted and
does fire with the FIRE end inserted
they think the M2’s ready for action.
It’s not. It’s timed too fast.
Another mistake Soldiers are making
during headspacing and timing is not pulling the charging handle back to the
3/8-in hole in the receiver while another Soldier screws in the barrel. When
you don’t do that, the barrel won’t screw in completely. That means bad
headspacing and timing. If the barrel is screwed in all the way, its locking
notches will touch the barrel extension. That’s a good way to check that
the barrel is screwed in completely.
Gary Becker
DOL
Ft Leonard Wood, MO
M2 Machine Gun…
No Time to Skip Timing Steps
Roscoe Ripley, PS Writer!
Pull charging
handle back to
3
/
8-in hole before
screwing in barrel
Barrel locking notches should
touch barrel extension
Timing wheel should be turned
all the way down, not up
Your points
are well timed,
Gary. Let’s hope
Soldiers use their
headspace and
follow them.
Another good check with the
barrel is to try to turn it with
the bolt forward. if it turns at
all, either the barrel or barrel
locking spring is shot. The M2
shouldn’t be fired.
It’s a sunny day
at Ft Knocks…
now tell me
again…
why
are
we straightening
up our area?
today’s the
day
roscoe
ripley,
the
legendary
ps
writer,
is coming to
visit us!
but-but
none
of the articles
in
ps
are ever
signed. so…
how do you
know that he is
‘legendary’?
well… because
he
told
me so
on the phone!
he’ll be
here any
minute.
687.26-27.indd
1-2
12/28/09
10:06:11 AM
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