it was an American version of the MG-42
The M249 is a better weapon in Battlefield 3.
:: M-60 general purpose machine gun ::
Is it still OK to use the term “machine gun” given today’s political climate?
I would think that the term “fully automatic assault rifle” would be more readily acceptable to the media.
/snark
The 240 was a big improvement, imho. The barrel change was/is so much more easier, and other advantages. The M60 just had so many parts[lol, Colt 45 similar] compared to ‘modern’ tools today.
Gimme an M79. Personal artillery.
Right after a we had been in a firefight in Nam everyone in my rifle platoon wanted to carry the M-60. Of course as time passed and it got heavier and heavier they would be ready to give it up.
Great weapon with devastating fire power.
A few oddities about the M60.
1) It was an impressively accurate machine gun, and a good gunner could “write his name” with it at some distance.
2) Prior to its adoption, it would have been classified as a “light” machine gun, since it primarily would operate on an attached bipod. But it could also be mounted on a tripod. And it was also relatively lightweight. But because of its role as a “squad automatic weapon”, it was officially designated a “medium” machine gun, confusing everyone.
3) There are endless arguments about which machine gun ammunition are prohibited by the Geneva Conventions for use against people, but not objects. And this affects the M60 as it could fire not only ball ammo, but tracer and armor piercing rounds.
4) It had many design flaws that were pestiferous, and though some of them required rear area repair, soldiers quickly learned how to do them, so that the gun would be operable until it could be maintained.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M60_machine_gun#Design_flaws
I knew a guy who had asbestos mittens and would change the M60 barrels in firefights in Vietnam. He said the barrel would start to glow at night and eventually slump down if they didn’t get a break in the action to change it.
In the 90s I worked in a shop that made lots of small parts for M60s that got sent to East Asia Trading Company, whatever that was.