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From: swilliam@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Steve Williams)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Who designed & produced the M60 GPMG?
Message-ID: <1991Mar4.210152.6660@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 4 Mar 91 21:01:52 GMT
References: <1991Feb27.020649.21181@cbnews.att.com> <1991Feb28.051925.9607@cbnews.att.com>
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Organization: David Taylor Research Center, Bethesda, MD
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From: swilliam@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Steve Williams)

>> Who designed the M60 General Purpose Machine Gun?
>> Who produced the M60 GPMG?

The M60 is the US Army general-purpose machine gun and it came into
service in the late 1950s.  The prime producer has been Saco Defense
Inc., a subsidiary of the Chamberlain Manufacturing Corporation.

The M60 is a gas-operated weapon.  The M60 is designed to fire full
automatic only, at a cyclic rate of 550 rounds per minute.  This is
a slow enough rate for an accomplished firer to get off a single round.
The tactical rate 'rapd' is 200 rds/min.

Five versions of the M60 are distinguished by separate designations.
In addition to the basic M60 and M60E3 infantry weapons there are:

M60C:  Remotely fired, for external mounting on helicopter.  No longer
       in production.
M60D:  Helicopter and vehicle weapon, pintle-mounted in helicopter doorways,
       vehicle platforms, etc.  Current and in production.
M60E1: A development to overcome undesirable features of first production
       guns (bipod and gas cylinder permanently attached to barrel).
       None was introduced into service, but improvements were incorporated
       in the lightweight M60E3 design.
M60E2: Armor weapon for internal mounting in armored fighting vehicles.
       Current and in production.
M60E3: (see M60E1)  Current and in production.

Weights:   Gun: 10.51 kg
	   Barrel (including bipod and gas cylinder): 3.74 kg
Lengths:   Gun: (overall) 1105 mm
	   Barrel: (excluding flash hider) 560 mm
Firing Characteristics:
	   Muzzle velocity: 855 m/s
	   Remaining velocity: (at 500 m) 492 m/s
			       (at 3700 m) 108 m/s
	   Rate of fire: (cyclic) 550 rds/min
	   Effective range: (bipod) 1000 m
			    (tripod) 1800 m

Manufacturer:  Saco Defense Inc.
	       a subsidiary of Chamberlain Manufacturing
	       291 North Street
	       Sago, Maine 04072

In Service with:  US forces. Australia, South Korea, Taiwan and many
		  other countries.

Steve Williams               |  "An expert is a person who has made all the
Department of the Navy       |  mistakes which can be made in a very narrow
David Taylor Research Center |  field."     -- Niels Bohr, Danish Scientist