[MeatshieldActual]

The FN MAG is certainly reliable, but its too heavy for leg use. 50 plus years and we cant come up with anything better than the MAG? Apparently the Poles use a 7.62 NATO MG based on the PKM design, the UKM-2000. Do you know if it is any good?

[Chainmail]

From what I have seen, the PKM is an excellent machine gun - Reliable like all of the Kalashnikov family and quite light (16.4 lbs) and a lot lighter than the M240.

I had not heard of the Polish version in 7.62mm NATO, I am embarrassed to say (so much for being an "expert") but I would think that it could be an important contender if it is as accurate and controllable as he M240.

I don't believe that the RTD&E folks in the army would even entertain the idea, but I think acquiring some of the Polish guns for comparison testing would be a valuable experiment.

I always had an open mind for examining other countries' weapons against ours: I once acquired a Soviet D-30 howitzer for evaluation for conversion to 5 inch/38 Navy (127mm)ammo instead of the LW 155 for a direct support howitzer for the Marine Corps. Even got to the point of training a Marine crew and getting the weapon and ammo safety approved before I was shut down firmly by higher headquarters..