US Army M2-2

The M2 series was developed by the US Army's Chemical Warfare Service starting in 1940–41, and the improved M2-2 became the standard American portable flamethrower of the Second World War. Roughly 25,000 M2-2 units were produced, and the platform served from the island campaigns of the Pacific through Korea and Vietnam before the US military retired flamethrowers from service in 1978.

The design is a three-tank backpack: two fuel tanks flanking a central pressure sphere, feeding a wand with its own ignition group. At about 45 lbs fueled and roughly 80 feet of reach with thickened fuel, it remains the benchmark that modern units like the Throwflame XL18 are measured against.

Operational examples on the secondhand collector market typically trade between $20,000 and $50,000. Three things drive the spread: condition and completeness (original tank group, wand, regulator, and igniter parts are hard to reassemble from scratch), whether the unit is operational or demilitarized, and provenance — documented theater history commands a premium.

Most surviving M2s are display pieces: deactivated examples with punctured tanks and removed internals sell for far less and are the form most militaria dealers actually stock. A genuinely operational, complete M2-2 is a rare event on the open market, which is exactly why the price band sits where it does.

There is no retail channel. Original units surface through militaria dealers such as International Military Antiques (typically deactivated display examples), through auction houses like Rock Island Auction, and through private collector-to-collector sales. Listings are scarce and move quickly; if you are hunting one, expect to watch the auction calendars for months rather than click a buy button.

Budget context for what modern money buys instead is in our flamethrower price guide — a new XL18 delivers more range than an M2-2 for about a tenth of an operational example's collector price.

Flamethrowers are not classified as firearms federally, so no ATF paperwork applies to buying or selling an M2. State law is the thing to check: Maryland classifies flamethrowers as destructive devices requiring licensing, and California requires a State Fire Marshal permit for any device with a stream of 10 feet or more. The full state-by-state picture is on our safety & legality page.