Bucksnort1
New member
Will someone tell me the advantages of an auto weapon firing from the open bolt position like the Thompson sub? Seems to me the open bolt would lend itself to a dirty weapon.
Interesting. In the Marine Corps we were taught to always fire our machine guns from a tripod if possible, otherwise we used the bi-pod. Hip-firing an M240 was almost never done, it was something you would only do in an extreme close-quarters situation. And firing it from the shoulder is never done (except for fun); due to the 240's length, weight, and the location of the ejection port it's just not practical at all.Machineguntony said:BTW, I know you might say this is why you should shoot the M60 on the ground, but the M60 civilian owners guide states to specifically NEVER shoot using the gun mounted bipod, as, long term, it will cause damage to the trunnion.
I don't know as much about the M60, but I know they're not as robust as the M240. But, unless your M60 is very used, I doubt it will have anywhere near as many rounds through it as our M240s did. We took good care of our guns, but we shot the heck out of them. That, combined with the Marine Corps' crappy budget before 9/11, contributed to our runaway gun problems.Machineguntony said:The idea of a runaway machine gun, especially a 308, scares the heck out of me. Even in my m16s, if I do not employ a proper stance, I get pushed back and up by the gun. If a 308 started to runaway, and I was shooting in the standing position, that could be a very dangerous situation for the people around me.
BTW, I know you might say this is why you should shoot the M60 on the ground, but the M60 civilian owners guide states to specifically NEVER shoot using the gun mounted bipod, as, long term, it will cause damage to the trunnion.
Will someone tell me the advantages of an auto weapon firing from the open bolt position like the Thompson sub?
And there's the rub. It was designed to be used by grunts and still "perform" but that design concept also included spare parts and repair services. No, it won't break if you look at it cross eyed, but it will break and wear from normal use. Parts of the gun are intended to be replaced regularly, because they don't last a long time, even when not abused.Also, don't worry too much about babying your M60. Yeah it is irreplaceable, but it's still a designed to be humped around all day by someone who scored a bottom-percentile on the ASVAB and still perform. I wouldn't abuse it, but I also wouldn't stay up at night worrying about breaking it.
Good point. It's been almost 14 years since I fired a 240, but I distinctly remember doing both. Maybe I didn't always twist it hard enough and it didn't always break, and instead it just jammed up. I honestly can't remember exactly.44 AMP said:And fwiw, since the beginning of disintegrating link belts, we have known that twisting the belt (to the point of breaking it) is the fast way to stop a runaway gun. With a non disintegrating belt, you have to twist it, and hold it twisted until the gun jams.
The 240 is a great gun. My only hands-on experience with the M60 was using one of the SeaBee's M60s with blanks during a training exercise (we were the aggressors during a SeaBee training exercise). But our 240s seemed a lot better made and a lot more solid. The 240 is a lot heavier and longer though.44 AMP said:The M240 was just coming into service (replacing the M219 coax gun on M60 series tanks) when I got out of the service. I got to see the gun, and see some very impressive demonstrations, but have no personal experience with it as a repairman. But I know the M60, M2, and several others well.