M1919A4 Light Machine Gun
The air-cooled Browning M1919A4 light machine gun was modified from the earlier water-cooled M1917 heavy machine gun. Although the M1919A4 had a slower rate of fire and was less accurate than the M1917 models, the significantly lower weight made it an ideal crew-served infantry weapon.
The fully-automatic M1919A4 was normally employed by infantry companies, and was mounted on the M2 tripod.
Approximately 439,000 M1919A4's were produced during World War II. The M1919 was employed by the U.S. Army in World War II and Korea, and is still in use today in other countries.
Notes
The M1919A4 can be seen during the Ramelle battle. It is the weapon used by Parker in the belltower, as well as by Private Mellish and Corporal Henderson. The ammo belt used by Parker is made of metal, while the ones used by Henderson and Mellish (as supplied by Upham) are made of cloth. The production crew used 8 M1919A4s for the movie.
Fact vs. Fiction
One commonly noted error is the method that Upham uses to carry the ammo belts. As seen in the film, this can cause rounds to fall out, and this is not the best way to carry an ammunition belt. However, there is photographic evidence of real soldiers doing just this, so while it may be something that a soldier should not do, it was a method of carrying ammo that was used.
