The Best GPMG's of all time

FN MAG: Probably the best selling GPMG in the world, It was licenced made in the UK and now has replaced M60s in the US Forces.

MG34:This was a reliable weapon with Semi/Full Auto trigger, but was hard to manufacture in large quantities, Any 7.62 NATO kits avaliable for it?.

MG42/3: This would probably be the best GPMG ever to exist in history, The only drawbacks are its lengh and its EXTREMELY RAPID rate of fire.

M60: The M60 is not as good as the MG34/42/3 but it does look nicer to handle, It derived from the MG/FG42 and even uses some parts from them.

I had the absolute pleasure to test fire a Bren gun whilst in the Infantry. Oh and how it made me smile.... its like having a fully auto sniper rifle....its ability to lay down accurate automatic fire is amazing..... the testiment to its ability was a modified version that served with the royal Marines in the Falklands war in 1982....

a beautiful weapon capable of immense stopping power ....only down side was it was quite heavy....

superb stuff.

Wasnt the Bren Gun a unique calibre, something only made in England, like .303 or something. The Enfield No. 4 used the same round didnt it?

Back then almost every nation had their own calibers of choice. The commonality only began with NATO/WP and the need for streamlined logistics.

I dont think the M60 is one of the best gpmg's ever.

PK and such are much better.

I do think the Mg34/42/3 design is the best off all.

To add my $.02 I would have to go with the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) and the M2 .50 cal Machine gun. One of the members of the sportsman's club I belong to has a BAR and a Thompson machine gun. The Thompson is hard to keep on target while with the BAR I can shoot groups that you can cover with a CD at over 200 yards. I had to qualify with the M-60 and the M2 when I was in the Navy and there was no compairison. It was like shooting a BB gun versus a high powered rifle. It was a shame that the structure of our helicopters couldn't handle the recoil of the M2, there were a few times I watched the rounds from the M-60 just bounce off of what I was shooting at.

Actually the MG42/3 with its´ length of 1.23m is only 2 cm longer than the M-60, and even 2cm SHORTER than the FN MAG

The ROF of the MG42 was desired that way and also serves a purpose. The ROF can be reduced (or even accelerated!) rather easily with a different bolt and spring, and this was also done with many MG42 incarnations after the war. Mounted on the dedicated tripod, an experienced gunner can use it effectively at distances of more than 2500m.

BTW, we already had a topic on this a few weeks ago.

Im not saying its a bad thing, Its actually a good thing but i meant it as a bit of a drawback becouse it would run out of bullets quicker

Isnt the Bren gun more of a support weapon rather than a GPMG since its magazine fed? There is also a Czechoslovakian version called the VZ57 that takes Magazines and Belts too.

The Browning M1919A4/A6 is a boss gun, The A6 was a poor attempt to convert the '1919' to a GPMG so the users stripped the stock and bipod off them so they went back to its A4 configuration

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Didnt some Mercenary units carry the '1919'A4 hand held during the Congo in the 1960s? I seen an image of a man carrying it like a rifle

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Howabout the old Lewis/Vickers K types?

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[edit on 29-4-2006 by Browno]

Oh My God - another LMG fan like me. I was a troop gunner for 10 years, firing the LMG and of course The General.

I have had the pleasure of firing the MG 34S, the MG 34 (production) light Role and mounted on Lafette 42 (sustained fire role) and the ubiquitous MG 42. All three were utter beauties to fire. All in all, I fired about 1,000 through each in Sheepcote Valley during the early 70s and, considering they were all WWII vintage, I was surprised at the lack of stoppages.

One other WWI/II machinegun I have fired, is the Vickers .303. A of a gun to fire - poetry in motion.

All are beaten hands down by The General. 7.62 milly Full Metal Jacket, FN MAG and if Carlsberg made machineguns, the 'Gimpy' would 'probably be the best machinegun in the world!'