Lion Roar have now released the metal .50cal Machine gun barrel that came with the full M2/M2A1 Update set (#LAS35002) as a seperate set which consists of just the two metal parts for the barrel and the perforated cooling jacket.

Barrel parts with close up of bore hole


The turned brass barrel has a drilled out muzzle with the correct size bore hole and captures the subtle taper of the barrel nicely with the cooling jacket as another machined brass part with the cooling holes as well as the indented ridges either side of the jacket.

The cooling holes are cleaning drilled with only one hole having a little excess brass which was easily removed with the tip of a #11 blade while the side indentations are not as well defined on both sides but this is hardly noticeable.

There is small rim at the back of the barrel that fits neatly inside the cooling jacket for precise location and this makes aligning the parts easy without any hassles.

Fitting the metal barrel to the Tasca .50cal MG receiver


For this excercise I have fitted the barrel to the Tasca .50cal MG as this has an excellent receiver and adding the metal barrel adds that final touch.

To fit the barrel, simply cut off the Tasca cooling jacket, drill a small hole in the front of the receiver for the pin on the barrel and glue in place, this same procedure can be used to fit the barrel to any available plastic or resin .50cal receiver. One thing to note is the barrel does not include the etched barrel changing handle that came with the full update set and as most WWII guns had this fitted I salvaged the handle from the Tasca barrel, carefully drilled a hole though the barrel bracket and fitted this over the metal barrel.

You could also use any of the etched changing handles included in most .50cal update sets but the Tasca handle is very fine for plastic with the proper rounded profile.

Assembled gun with metal barrel with plastic barrel changing handle added
on the lower image as per text.

Close up of the cooling jacket and image of the real cooling jacket for comparison

Conclusion:
This is an excellent metal .50cal barrel with well executed details on the barrel and cooling jacket although the lack of barrel changing handle means you will have to find your own handle if you want to add this.

Assembly is quick and easy as is fitting to any available .50cal MG receiver to improve the look considerable.

Highly recommended 8/10

See a comparison of the available M2 Cal.50 metal barrels

Thanks to me Credit Card and for the review set.