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You're the first person that I ever heard of that liked the M-60. I'm happy to hear that they changed all of the mistakes they made with it. Those mistakes were the bipod attached to the barrel so if you changed the barrel the bipod had to be changed also. There was one part that could be installed backwards. The belt was loose without any bag or drum to keep the rounds out of the mud. There was no asbestos glove that was issued to replace the barrel. This is what I had read and I don't have any experience with one.

You're the first person that I ever heard of that liked the M-60.

Make that two. I like the hog all right. My favorite weapon was the Ma Deuce 50 CAL Machine Gun but the 60 was a nice one too. I liked it better than the SAW.

There was no asbestos glove that was issued to replace the barrel. This is what I had read and I don't have any experience with one.

There was a glove in every barrel bag, at least in my experience. The ammo was packed with two 100 round card board feed boxes. Because of the weight and the down sizing of the platoon the boxes and the ammo can were tossed, no ammo humpers everyone carried 200 rounds, my gunner was a mad man, humper two extra barrles, loved the'60.

The M-60.

Most people don't know but the Army team that designed it, were trying to copy the mechanism of the German FG42 paratroop rifle with a modified version of the MG42 feed cover.

They didn't know that the mechanism of the FG42 was based on the WWI Lewis Gun. I am quite serious -- the Lewis on a 1916 Nieuport is the granddaddy of the 60.

One change they made from the MG42feed mechanism made it so you can only close the feed tray cover if the bolt is to the rear (on the '42, it works either way). No idea why they did that.

The MAG 58 outperformed the 60 in tests, but it was Not Invented Here. AFAIK the only foreign nation that bought it was Australia (and they have since binned it, I think). The M240 is the US version of the MAG 58.

The MAG 58 is essentially the locking mechanism of the BAR turned upside down so it can work with belt feed. John M. Browning would recognise the internal parts as his own work.

You can definitely talk to a crowd with an M240.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F