Please help me identify this barrel and then figure out what to do with it.

[bourndl]

Long time listener, first time caller.

My dad bought or acquired this 15 years (?) ago. It has now ended up in my possession. All I know is that it is supposed to be for a 50 BMG that he was going to build. He ran a machine shop and had the tools and prints to do it back then. Now, all of that is gone and only the barrel remains. There are a few proof marks on it. One looks like a ring with a flame or feather coming out of the top followed by the numbers D28253A-9. There is also a stamp "A" and "244". Any help with identifying it, or suggestions on what can be done with it would be appreciated.

 

[bourndl]

Additional Pictures

Here are some more pictures.

 

[BuzzBoss915]

That stamp is the symbol of US Army Ordinance. WAG- perhaps used in an aviation application, like a wing mount, on a P51? BB

 

[338RUM runner]

Here are some more pictures.

what ya want for it

 

[Trigger Monkey]

It looks like the regular .50 BMG barrels we had for the gun trucks. That being said it's my understanding that several companies make or have made the 50 BMG barrels from FN to Sabre Defense so unless the barrel is marked somehow it could be hard to tell. A quick search has turned up that some used M2 barrels go for a few hundred bucks or more and brand new ones are $1000+.

Good luck.

 

[eodcam]

It looks like the regular .50 BMG barrels we had for the gun trucks. That being said it's my understanding that several companies make or have made the 50 BMG barrels from FN to Sabre Defense so unless the barrel is marked somehow it could be hard to tell. A quick search has turned up that some used M2 barrels go for a few hundred bucks or more and brand new ones are $1000+.

Good luck.

Looks like an M2 barrel to me too

 

[eodcam]

That stamp is the symbol of US Army Ordinance. WAG- perhaps used in an aviation application, like a wing mount, on a P51? BB

"Ordnance"

 

[Sum Ting Wong]

Definitely ma deuce.

 

[biffj]

It is an M2 heavy barrel used by all the ground guns since just before WWII. Not sure of the date of manufacture. I use these barrels as blanks to build barrels for the .55 cal Boys anti-tank rifle so as to remove the requirement to register them as destructive devices. In .50 cal they're ok, 55 cal requires registration. In any case the barrels are still in use, there are guys with registered M2 machineguns out there who use them and others who use them to build rifles. I haven't bought any of the barrels for a while but last I saw the pricing was in the $450-650 range for a good barrel and the price drops toward the lower end if the throat is worn. There are ordnance guages to check throat erosion. I've used a couple of these barrels to make other .50 cal rifle barrels as well. Twist rate is 1-15". If the barrel has a stellite liner its worth a bit more as an M2 barrel but worth less as a blank. The liner is a cast and ground stellite piece that is threaded into the first 8 inches of barrel. You can usually see a small gap when you look down the bore from the chamber end. Its about 8" from the breech end. Looking at the markings you listed I don't think its stellite.

Here is a pic of the Boys rifle. Barrel length is 36" where the Heavy M2 barrel is 48". The second photo shows the progression from heavy to Boys barrel with an original .55 cal Boys rifle barrel at the bottom.
The finned barrel at the top of the picture is for a DShK russian 12.7mm heavy machinegun.



Hope that helps

Frank

 

[bourndl]

Thanks everyone for helping to identify the barrel.

It's definitely an M2 heavy barrel. I email US Ordnance to see if they could help me with age or a better description from the serial number. I don't think that it is the stellite version, but I really can't tell because the bore is still packed with grease.

 

[bourndl]

Well that was a bust. US Ordnance said that it was not one of their barrels.

"Our corporate logo is based on the FLAMING BOMB ordnance mark that has been in use for 100s of years.
You can find this mark on a variety of US Military weapons and cannons going back into the 1800s.
I would imagine that mark was applied by one of the US Military arsenals (most likely Anniston Army Depot).
The might have done this when they put the barrel into service or might have done when came back from service.
Without gauging your barrel it would be difficult to determine if the chamber and headspace is correct.
If you can tell new barrel then should be OK but if used who knows."

I guess it's off to the for sale section now.