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F-12. The M2 .50-caliber heavy machine gun is not organic to the Infantry platoon or squad, but as there are many times when Infantry Soldiers use it, it is described in this appendix. (See figure F-5.)
F-13. The available M2 .50-caliber heavy machine gun ammunition is classified as follows (see table F-5):
- M2 .50-Caliber Ball. For use against enemy personnel and light materiel targets.
- M1/M17 .50-Caliber Tracer. Aids in observing fire. Secondary purposes are for incendiary effect and for signaling.
- M1 .50-Caliber Incendiary. For incendiary effect, especially against aircraft.
- M2 .50-Caliber AP. For use against armored aircraft and lightly-armored vehicles, concrete shelters, and other bullet-resisting targets.
- M8 .50-Caliber API. For combined armor-piercing and incendiary effect.
- M20 .50-Caliber API Tracer. For combined armor-piercing and incendiary effect, with the additional tracer feature.
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