It would be for the caliber. A BAR at least had the oomph to hurt something, despite the mag fed disability. But I am a bit old school, having carried the M-60 (with ALL its problems, at least it put a world of hurt downrange). It would deny the enemy the ground in front of it. And that is the point of a light machinegun.
Yeh and the M60 makes a lot of noise and scares the heck out of the people down range. 5.56 sounds wimpy.
I never used the M60 in combat, but I can say that without a doubt, one of the best days I had in AIT was firing familiarization with the M60.
The Drill Sergeants had to drag us all of the range that day, and the target vehicles they put downrange were never the same.