M-60 - The M-60 machine gun is a "crew served" weapon, which means that it is operated by two soldiers: the gunner and one the assistant gunner. The ammo came in 500 round belts each round connected to the next by a black steel metal link, the ones seen flying around when the gun is firing. This allowed the assistant gunner to attach a new 500 round belt to the one being fired by snapping it's open link onto the last round of the active belt, providing continuous fire support. It could fire over 500 rds per minute, but practically only about 200 rds per minute. It came with an extra barrel and in hot combat, it could be changed out quickly when the first barrel began to overhear...glow red. It had a maximum range of 3,750 meters, but with a bipod, really only effective out to 1,000 meters. It weighed a little over 23 lbs. The assistant gunner usually carried two belts of ammo across his chest like bandoliers and one around his waist. Many other men in the unit also carried extra belts of machine gun ammo. That weapon was our personal heavy weapons support, so we all looked out for them.
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