I have a Browning 1919 in 308 that I've never fired because I was waiting on a tripod. During the wait time for the tripod I acquired 20,000 rounds of Magtech 7.62x51 factory linked ammo. The Magtech uses M13 links. I didn't realize that the 1919 isn't designed for the M13 style link.  Are there any modifcations that could be made to the 1919 that wont require me to re-link the ammo?

Unfortunately to the best of my knowledge your only option to use M13 links in a 1919A4 would be to  find a Canadian 1919A4 C5A1 parts kit and then find somebody knowledgeable enough to install it on your 1919.   I am not sure if there are any permanent mods required to the gun but I do know that C5A1 parts are rare as hell (and expensive) when I was looking for them.

When I got my 1919 I initially wanted to try and maintain link commonality with my 21E and M60 which both use M13 links and it was basically a fools errand to find a complete C5A1 kit.   I ended up spending the money to convert my 1919 to 7.62x39 and that is primarily what I shoot through it.

In your situation the best option would be to find some cheap labor to delink and relink it in Israeli I919A4 308 metallic links or sell/trade the Magtech for unlinked 308 ammo and then relink the new ammo into Izzy 308 links.

Good luck and maybe there is somebody else with better news on how to use M13 links in a 1919A4.

He covered everything above. You can use a small block of wood and sit around pushing the ammo out of the M-13 links. They have a small resale value when I did it in the past.

Thank you for the information! Quite a bummer.

I haven't tried loading the ammo in the gun yet to see how things fit/align, but if I rigged up a jig to cut off the peice of the M13 link that sits in the rim of the brass, do you think that would work?

The issue isn't just the cartridge rim/tail of the M13 link.  The big issue is that the M13 link sits so much farther back on the cartridge.  See picture below of the M13 linked ammo overlaying 308 1919 linked ammo.



So even if you say cut off the tail of the  M13 link so that it will no longer interfere with the 1919 extractor arm which grabs the round at the same spot.  The bigger issue is the cutout in the right receiver sideplate where the link is "ejected" is now no longer in the correct spot so the right rear cartridge stop that is riveted to the right side plate is now in the way of the M13 link from being ejected from the receiver.  You would maybe yank one cartridge in the belt and then the whole thing would lock up as the spent link can't get out of the receiver.

Maybe you could cut the receiver for more link egress but I suspect that is super unappealing as the right sideplate is the registered part. (not that its easy to swap out the unregistered left one)

You might be able to cut the tail off the link and then slide the M13 forward on the round so that the front "hoop" of the M13 link is now right in line with the cartridge case mouth. (similar to where the front of the 1919 link sits)

This might allow the link to then be ejected properly as its now positioned in roughly the same spot on the cartridge. (see below)




The issue is that the round orientation in the link this way is pretty unstable as there isn't much link holding the cartridge anymore. The link front loop and part of the center loop from the following link is now over the bottleneck portion of the cartridge, so whether this idea would even function at all much less what would happen in the reliability department is hard to say as you are pretty far off the reservation in terms of supported configuration. I suspect this arrangement is probably even more unstable once you cut the tail off as the tail is also  helping to hold the cartridge (along with the rear loop)

I guess you could try it out on some limited samples but the effort to cut the tail off the link and then reposition the round in the link with no index mechanism sounds like a lot more work (with potentially dubious results) than just unlinking and relinking the ammo into a known good configuration.   1919 308 links are pretty cheap so material cost isn't a huge factor either.

Good luck and let us know if you find something that works.

The Navy had a M1919 variant called the MK21 that took M13 links, with a modified feed tray and top cover. They used the links upside down, with the link towards the trunion vs on top like in all the other M13 link guns.

Still a permanent modification, and not a easy one to track down

https://www.warboats.org/stonerordnotes/Mk%2021%20Mod%200%20R4.html