Yum Yum Get Some

John Browning was an American, and a true mechanical genius. The guns he designed 100 years ago are still being used today, like the Colt 45 semi-auto pistol, the Hi-Power 9mm, and the .50-cal machine gun, seen to the left. The US military has been using the large-bore M2 machine gun since 1921, and you can find them mounted to humvees in Iraq to this day.

Our succession of machine-gun classes continued with the M2 .50-cal, Browning's longest lasting design. Army machine gunners are trained to fire in 5-7 round bursts, approximately the time it takes to say "Yum Yum Get Some". This prevents overheating of the barrel, which is difficult to replace in battle.

Next came the M9 pistol class. I own a civilian version of this gun (the Beretta 92FS) and have trained on it frequently. I hit a perfect "30" on the indoor laser-qualifying range.