General-purpose machine gun

A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is a machine gun which gets its ammunition from a belt. It can be used in many different roles: it can support infantry from a bipod or tripod or be put onto a helicopter or armoured vehicle.^[1] It can provide fire support for vehicles or infantry from a variety of mounts.

An American M60 machine gun

A general-purpose machine gun is generally a medium machine gun. It also fires rifle cartridges like the 7.62×51mm NATO or 7.92x57mm Mauser. It is usually used from a bipod, tripod or on a vehicle. This is because it is usually too powerful and heavy to be fired well on foot or while moving.

Examples

Some examples of general-purpose machine guns are:

• German Maschinengewehr 34.^[2]
• German Maschinengewehr 42.^[3]
• American M60.^[4]

Gallery

• 
  A general-purpose machine gun in Australian service.
• 
  A GPMG on a tripod.
• 
  On a vehicle, in Dutch service.
• 
  A GPMG on a U.S. Navy destroyer.
• 
  On a helicopter.

Related pages

• Light machine gun
• Heavy machine gun
• Squad automatic weapon