Brown-Lipe Chapin in World War Two

Brown-Lipe-Chapin Division of General Motors Corporation in World War Two
Syracuse, NY
1936-1961
(In 1961 it became part of Ternstedt Division.)

This page updated 10-18-2022.

A Brown-Lipe-Chapin Division initiated operations for General Motors on January 13, 1936, when it began making automotive components for GM vehicles being produced on the east coast. Included were many of the same items being produced by the Guide-Lamp Division of Anderson, IN which included headlights, taillights, hubcaps and bumper guards. With the U.S. military beginning to re-arm, Brown-Lipe-Chapin took on its first military contract on September 14, 1940 for the Browning .30 caliber M2 aircraft machine gun.

Original plans called for the Division to switch to the .30 caliber water cooled machine gun from the M2 air cooled aircraft machine gun. Tooling started for this conversion when the Army Air Forces decided that Brown-Lipe-Chapin was to produce the M2 .50 caliber aircraft machine gun for the rest of the war. New tooling started in September of 1942, and the Division started volume production of the .50 caliber M2 aircraft machine gun in March of 1943.

Brown-Lipe-Chapin Division won the Army-Navy "E" Award three times during World War Two.

Brown-Lipe-Chapin World War Two Production Statistics: The Brown-Lipe-Chapin Division of General Motors produced a total of 215,208 machine guns for the war effort. 95,419 were Browning .30 caliber M2 aircraft machine gun and 119,789 were Browning .50 caliber M2 aircraft machine gun. The division also made .30 caliber M1 carbine barrels.

The contract value the division had for the .30 caliber M2 aircraft machine guns was $22,684,000. The .50 caliber M2 aircraft machine gun contract was worth $143,089,000.

Brown-Lipe-Chapin World War Two World War Two Machine Gun Production by Year
Type	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	Total
Browning M2 .30 calber aircraft	982	24,262	8,007	62,168	0	95,419
Browning M2 .50 calber aircraft	0	0	33,213	62,168	24,408	119,789
Total	982	24,262	41,220	124,336	24,408	215,208

Here is an interesting and little known application for .30 M2 machine guns built by the Brown-Lipe-Chapin Division of General Motors. Goodyear-built airships had one .30 M2 mounted in the front of the gondola. This is the only fully restored gondola of the 134 K-ships built during World War Two and is from Airship K-28. Author's photo from the New England Air Museum added 11-14-2017.

Author's photo from the New England Air Museum added 11-14-2017.

The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was the last of the US Navy's dedicated dive bombers, and the last aircraft with rear protection provided by Browning .30 caliber M2 aircraft machine guns. Author's photo from the 2014 Tico Airshow.

The .30 M2 had a rate of fire of 1,000 rounds per minute. That was twice the rate of fire of the infantry version of the weapon. It was also one third lighter. Author's photo.

Author's photo.

This SBD-3 is on display at the Air Zoo Aerospace and Science Museum, Kalamazoo, MI. Author's photo.

It also had rear protection provided by Browning .30 caliber M2 aircraft machine guns. Author's photo.

Author's photo.

This was not to be. After six months of tooling effort in 1942, this weapon was cancelled before it went in to production with Brown-Lipe-Chapin. Author's photo from the US Army Basic Combat Training Museum at Fort Jackson, SC.

A cutaway of a .30 caliber machine gun used for training purposes during World War Two Author's photo added 11-16-2017.

The cutaway gives an excellent view of the internal workings of the .30 caliber machine gun built by the Brown-Lipe-Chapin in World War Two. Author's photo added 11-16-2017

The first .50 caliber M2 aircraft machine guns started coming off the Brown-Lipe-Chapin assembly lines in March of 1943 with a production rate three times of the previous weapon. The .50 M2 was used extensively on US World War Two aircraft and this photo demonstrates its diverse use on B-25 "Old Glory". One can see two "cheek" guns along with two fixed and one flexible gun in the glass nose. The top turret has another two. Author's photo from the 2012 Doolittle Reunion gathering at Urbana, OH.

"Georgie's Gal" is armed in a similar manner. Author's photo from the 2013 Doolittle Reunion gathering at Urbana, OH.

An excellent example of using both the .30 and .50 aircraft flexible machine guns built by Brown-Lipe-Chapin in World War Two is this Army Air Force version of the Consolidated PBY Catalina, the OA-10A. This example at the National Museum of the US Air Force has two of the different types of machine guns. The Navy's PBY versions would be similarly armed. Author's photo added 1-4-2015.

The nose turret had one .30 flexible machine gun. Note the offset aiming site. Author's photo added 1-4-2015.

The aircraft also had side blisters, each armed with one .50 M2 aircraft machine gun. Author's photo added 1-4-2015.

This close-up of the side blister shows how .50 M2 machine guns built by Brown-Lipe-Chapin would be mounted in the aircraft. When not in use, the machine gun folded back inside, and the Plexiglas blister rolled over the opening. Author's photo added 1-4-2015.

This tail, or "stinger" gun, is in the back of the hull. It is yet another application for the .30 Brown-Lipe-Chapin flexible aircraft machine gun. Author's photo added 1-4-2015.

This cut-away of a .50 caliber Browning machine gun was found in the maintenance shop of the National Armor and Cavalry Museum at Fort Benning, GA. Author's photo added 10-7-2018.

Author's photo added 10-7-2018.

Brown-Lipe-Chapin Division built barrels for the World War Two M1 Carbine. Author's photo from the Patton Museum at Fort Knox, KY.

Brown-Lipe Chapin Division, General Motors Corporation "Goes to War"
Below are selected pages from the 1944 Division's publication on its participation in World War Two.