Rolls Royce .50 Cal Experimental Machine Gun

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Rolls Royce .50 Cal Heavy machine gun
Type	Heavy machine gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	Unknown
Used by	See text
Wars	World War II?
Production history
Designed	1930s?
Produced	Unknown
Specifications
Caliber	.50 in (12.7 mm)
Effective range	1,800 m (2,200 yd)

British experimental Heavy Machine Gun, Probably designed around World War 2, Need more info.

Although their design was never finally developed as a service weapon, the fact that the Rolls-Royce once made the venture into the machine-gun field is felt to be of sufficient interest to warrant a mention here.

In 1941 Rolls-Royce began to develop a gas-operated machine-gun for use in aircraft turrets; it was intended to fire the standard American .50 Browning catridge. In order to reduce weight and size to a level suited to aircraft use, the barrel was some 5 inches (126mm) shorter than that of the Browning, and the body and cover of the gun were to be made from RR50 aluminium alloy. As finally developed, the gun was recoil-operated and used a breech-locking system based on the Friberg-Kjellman-Degtyarev system with refinements by Rolls-Royce. As the barrel and breechlock recoiled, a pair of accelerator levers carried back a wedge-like balance-piece and retracted the striker The withdrawal of this balance piece allowed the bolt-lock arms to fold in and unlock the breech, after which, the accelerators threw the block back at high speed to strike an oil buffer at the rear of the body. At the same time, a feed claw withdrew the next round from the belt and this was guided down and back to rest on guide lips ready to be rammed into the chamber. The barrel returned into battery under the power of it return spring, while the bolt was returned not by a spring, but by the pressure of the oil in the buffer, collecting the fresh round en route and loading it. As the mechanism went forward, the balance piece opened out the breech locks and then carried the firing pin on to the cap to fire the round.

In March 1941, the gun was delivered for trial at the Proof and Experimental Establishment, Pendine. Owing to the short barrel, a long flash-hider had to be used - which rather detracted from the original intentions - and the trial was bedeviled by minor stoppages, culminating in the breaking of the extractors. A month later, Rolls-Royce decided to redesign the gun around the high-velocity belted 55-caliber round from the Boys anti-tank rifle, the result of which would have produced a very formidable weapon. The Ordance Board agreed that the idea showed promise, and furnished 2,000 rounds for use in preliminary trials, but it would seem that shortly after this Rolls-Royce decided that they had enough to occupy their minds in the matter of making aircraft engines, and in 1942 came notification that the development had been dropped.