General-purpose machine gun

An American M60 machine gun

A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is a machine gun which gets its ammunition from a belt. It can be used in many different roles: it can support infantry from a bipod or tripod or be put onto a helicopter or armoured vehicle. It can provide fire support for vehicles or infantry from a variety of mounts.

A general-purpose machine gun is generally a medium machine gun. It also fires rifle cartridges like the 7.62×51mm NATO or 7.92x57mm Mauser. It is usually used from a bipod, tripod or on a vehicle. This is because it is usually too powerful and heavy to be fired well on foot or while moving.

Examples

Some examples of general-purpose machine guns are:

References

  1. ↑ British Army. "British Army weapons". British Army. British Army.
  2. ↑ Bishop, Chris (2002). Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. ISBN 9781586637620. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  3. ↑ Bishop, Chris (2002). Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. ISBN 9781586637620. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  4. ↑ Cutshaw, Charles W. "Tactical Small Arms of the 21st Century: A Complete Guide to Small Arms From Around the World". Retrieved July 24, 2012.[permanent dead link]