[Future Snake Eater]

When you set a M240 in position, it’s more or less staying there until a real deliberate move is made. A SAW is to stay with the rifle squad as they maneuver, and there is no AG, so that means no linking of rounds. It’s there for overwhelming suppressive fire by a standard light squad and being able to move quickly. The SAW does have the ability to take M4 30-rd magazines, but it doesn’t work. The weapon malfunctions almost every single time before it can get through a single mag. The SAW’s also a maintenance nightmare. It needs to go, but I don’t see the advantage of dropping the belt-fed capability. The SAW was right to go for both, but it needs to work.

[Brad from Tennessee]

I got out in 1969—way before the SAW or the M240. The M-60 was 23 pounds and moved with the squad but it was hard to keep it stable except in the prone position. They had a canvas container with a 250-round belt called an “assault pouch” you could attach to the gun but these things always jammed. But if you were prone with somebody laying next to you feeding the belt it was smooth. When the barrel got hot enough you flipped up a lever and pulled it off with an asbestos mitt and put another barrel in. The only problem with the M-60 was that the distinctive sound and the tracers would draw a lot of fire. We used to have a three-man gun team, the gunner, A-gunner and an ammo humper.