History

The Browning M1919 was introduced after the end of the First World War and soldiered on for several decades. It saw action in WWII, the Korean Conflict as well as in Viet Nam. It was used as a light infantry support weapon, mounted in aircraft and vehicles as a self-defense weapon and used as an anti-aircraft machine gun. It was used by several countries. It can be seen sticking out the frontal armor on all US tanks, as well as being the common coaxial gun alongside the main gun in US built armored fighting vehicles. These sets will be a welcome addition to modelers wanting to update their .30 caliber crew serviced machine guns. Each set includes two turned brass barrels with perforated cooling jackets. Set 35-004 has the two piece conical shaped muzzle and 35-005 has the one piece cylindrical shaped muzzle. Set 35-004 represents the early gun muzzle and 35-005 the later type. Each set comes with two turned barrels and cooling jackets.

The Update

This was a simple and quick update. All that is necessary is to cut the kit barrel off at the end of the receiver group, drill a hole using a #76 (.020) bit. Then, slide the cooling jacket over the barrel and seat it. Then, using Cyanoacrylate, glue the barrel into the previously drilled hole in the end of the receiver. Just use care in drilling the hole to be sure the drill stays straight with the centerline of the receiver group. Whole update took me less than 5 minutes.

Conclusion

This newest addition to the Model Master “Ground Master Series” will be a welcome addition. The perforated cooling jackets are beautiful and the turned barrel is first rate. I was in the finishing stages of building a USMC M3 75mm Half Track. I had added a .30 caliber Browning as a self-defense weapon. When this set came in for review I removed the kit gun from the model and updated it with this set. These barrels would look nice as a co-axial for a tanks main gun as well as in the glacis. This set quickly updates any Browning M1919 machine gun and because of the ease in use I can strongly recommend it to modelers of any skill level. In addition, getting two complete barrels in a pack makes it a bit more affordable. Go to the Model Master website and check out their full line of update sets. The have sets for aircraft, armor and ships. They also have a list of dealers that handle their full line. Thanks to Model Master for the review samples and to IPMS for allowing me the chance to review this fine item. Highly recommended.