The M60, officially the Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62 mm, M60, is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links. There are several types of ammunition approved for use in the M60, including ball, tracer, and armor-piercing rounds. [5]

The M60 remained an infantry mainstay until 1994, when testing began on a possible replacement. Although the gun’s latest variant, the M60E4, is arguably among the most mechanically perfect...

Sep 14, 2021 · The “Pig” was the M60 belt-fed General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG). Back in my day, we used M60’s as SAWs (Squad Automatic Weapons). Nowadays, our 5.56mm SAWs are relatively lightweight, portable and mean. By contrast, the Pig weighed 23 lbs. empty and fired a 7.62x51mm round the size of my little finger.

Aug 16, 2022 · No wonder the M-60 earned an unflattering nickname: The Pig. But one thing is certain. Even with its flaws, a soldier armed with an M-60 can lay down a lot of lead, whether he is fighting in the jungles of Southeast Asia or the badlands of Afghanistan.

May 29, 2013 · These soldiers had to hump everything they carried through a tropical rain forest under some of the worst conditions imaginable, earning it the 24-pound M60 the nickname ‘the pig’—but this ...

Apr 27, 2023 · A Pig Is Born. The gas-operated, belt-fed, air-cooled M60 is actually partly derived from a WWII Wehrmacht machine gun, the fearsome MG-42 AKA “Hitler’s Buzz Saw.”

Jun 12, 2023 · Nicknamed “the Pig” because of its voracious appetite for ammunition, the M60 remained an integral tool for Army and Marine Corps infantry squads until the 1990s. While the M60 was loved for its ability to be carried by a single soldier, the gun still weighed a back-breaking 30 pounds when loaded with a standard 100-round contact belt.

Oct 6, 2021 · A Marine on patrol crosses a rice paddy in Vietnam holding an M60 machine gun in 1966. Nicknamed “the pig” due to its size, weight and sound, the gun struck fear into enemy troops. (Getty Images)

Apr 5, 2020 · Using a mash-up of technology garnered from WWII, the US military selected a compromise general-purpose machine gun in 1957 that remains in limited service to this day. This gun, officially known as the M60, has been carried my many, loved by most, and hated by some.

Jun 21, 2020 · The first of its kind in U.S. military service, the M60 General Purpose Machine Gun replaced at least three other guns. Nicknamed “The Pig,” it saw service on the ground, on the water and in ...