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General-purpose machine gun

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An American M60 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.

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

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Some examples of general-purpose machine guns are:

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References

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  1. British Army. "British Army weapons". British Army. British Army.
  2. Bishop, Chris (2002). Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. ISBN 9781586637620. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  3. Bishop, Chris (2002). Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. ISBN 9781586637620. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  4. Cutshaw, Charles W. "Tactical Small Arms of the 21st Century: A Complete Guide to Small Arms From Around the World". Retrieved July 24, 2012.[permanent dead link]