.5 Vickers

The .50 Vickers cartridge emerged in 1921, as a new type of ammunition for heavy machine guns, intended for AA and ant-armor work. It was adopted by British army for use in AA (ground- and naval use) role and in light tanks. In tank use it became obsolete by the middle of WW2, and in Naval AA use it served a bit longer. Version of this cartridge, but with semi-rimmed case, was known as .5 Vicker export or .5V/565, and it was also used by several other European countries for aircraft and ground-based heavy machine guns (hence the alternative designation 12.7mm Breda, as the Italy was a major user of 12.7x81SR ammunition). It was used in a number of a heavy machie guns, mostly of British and Italian origin, and became obsolete soon after WW2.