Headspace and Timing

[Pete]

How many guys here remember how to set the headspace and timing on an M2 Browning .50-caliber machine gun? I had two periods of instruction on it in 1977-78, one in OSUT and the other in OCS. In each case the instructional pitch was, "Gather around and listen up" while an NCO showed how it is done, but in neither case was there actual hands-on for individual students. I wouldn't feel competent at it until until I'd actually done it four or five times to an instructor's satisfaction. Some guys say they can do it by feel without the Go/No-Go Gauge but they're usually people with advanced weapons knowledge.