We use to up the RPMs by putting quarters in the buffer tube to shorten the recoil stroke. I don’t know origins of it but we had 1 BAR. It stayed in 4/60 bunker on FB Blackhawk. The only other BARs I saw were in civilian contractors office in Chu Lai. They were hosting MARS calls for married men and was there with buddy. His call went pretty fast, didn’t give me time to figure out how to boost a BAR.
The M60 machine gun - a classic summary
- Thread starter PALADIN85020
- Start date
Filipinos say the BAR (and the M-14), "...speak with authority."
I had the misfortune of being instructor on M60 for ROTC orientation small arms. Much more dangerous that a stretch in RVn. Ambulance was keep parked at class room at Ft.Bliss, no firing there. Never failed to get casualties in class room. Firing was at a White Sands, no casualties there, but you had to stay on your toes and be in position to twist off belt.
dsf
Member
Another reason that the M60 was so loved, was that it was possible to do
the "Rambo" thing with it.
If you tried that with the old air cooled Browning 30-06 machine gun,
that was replaced by the M60, you would have your hands full , since it was
98% easier on the shooter when placed on it's tripod, to take care of business !! ( 8-9 lbs. heavier )
When on Guam, our "Stat team" had a few guys that did the "Rambo" thing while going through the jungle on exercises, while we were repairing the Island from a Hurricane that crossed it, with our CB Battalion of workers.
Back them most preferred the lighter M14 to carry around all day,
Since it's been mentioned a few times I figure a photo of the BAR might be OK -
It's a Ohio Ordnance semi version. Close as I can come for now.
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My now deceased father in law, was with the 32nd Infantry division when they took back Buna, with terrible casualties. He told me he was at first a BAR gunner, but could not keep it running in all the muck and mud of that swamp. So gave it up for a Garand.
In training, I found the bipod legs of the "pig" would catch on vines and such, and pull the legs all the way out. And night range firing with it would have the barrel begin a dull red glow, and when about the time the tracers would begin to "pop" in the barrel, the barrel would become almost white hot.
Here, something I have posted in my early Snubby thread are two buddy MACV advisors at Kein Van cleaning their firearms. Later, this M60 saved their life when their compound was over-run one night, and they retreated to their inner bunker, and just held the trigger down and ran at least some thousands of rounds thru it in one long burst.
All the best.. SF VET
In training, I found the bipod legs of the "pig" would catch on vines and such, and pull the legs all the way out. And night range firing with it would have the barrel begin a dull red glow, and when about the time the tracers would begin to "pop" in the barrel, the barrel would become almost white hot.
Here, something I have posted in my early Snubby thread are two buddy MACV advisors at Kein Van cleaning their firearms. Later, this M60 saved their life when their compound was over-run one night, and they retreated to their inner bunker, and just held the trigger down and ran at least some thousands of rounds thru it in one long burst.
All the best.. SF VET
Scharfschuetzer
Member
I used the M60 in VN and I can't recall any issues with the gun. I enjoyed its accuracy (when it was properly zeroed) and even with tracer burn out at about 900 meters, I engaged targets at over a kilometer with it at times while in I Corps. As with all combat weapons that are used extensively, good Dash 10 (user manual) PM kept it running like a clock. By the way, I sometimes used the C ration can trick to aid is smooth belt feed.
After using the Pig for many years, I never could cotton to the M240 when it replaced the M60.
After using the Pig for many years, I never could cotton to the M240 when it replaced the M60.
Sistema1927
US Veteran
Humped the Pig as part of the QRF while in Korea. One Saturday afternoon in August I spent four hours positioned behind my M60 in MOP4 when a Chinese fighter pilot defected and everyone thought we were under attack. The KATUSA's kept bringing cans of ammo up to my location, and the two extra barrels were stacked nearby with the asbestos glove.
The tripod was in place, but since we had never marked out fields of fire I kept it on the bipod and laid prone behind it. The Korean civilians took the air raid warning seriously, the streets outside the camp were empty, but fortunately the DPRK paratroopers never appeared.
The tripod was in place, but since we had never marked out fields of fire I kept it on the bipod and laid prone behind it. The Korean civilians took the air raid warning seriously, the streets outside the camp were empty, but fortunately the DPRK paratroopers never appeared.
ironhead7544
Member
The M60 is a good weapon but needs regular maintenance.
The canvas side belt pack was done away with due to reliability problems. The C-rats can was done as a quick fix and was replaced with a permanent plate that just let the belt dangle.
This machine gun really has no recoil. It just sits there vibrating and allows you to steer the tracers into your target.
I was in the Army 69-72 as a 45b20 in a depot shop.
The canvas side belt pack was done away with due to reliability problems. The C-rats can was done as a quick fix and was replaced with a permanent plate that just let the belt dangle.
This machine gun really has no recoil. It just sits there vibrating and allows you to steer the tracers into your target.
I was in the Army 69-72 as a 45b20 in a depot shop.
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My only experience was firing 50 rounds at MP AIT at Fort Gordon in 69. I remember the sgt who was running the range could not get the one to work he was demonstrating with. It would only fire as a single shot. It had been reassembled incorrectly and he was extremely frustrated.
I don't know about C-ration cans, but I saw a few in VN with Bud cans on the side to assist in feeding.
I don't know about C-ration cans, but I saw a few in VN with Bud cans on the side to assist in feeding.
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From LoboGunLeather:-
Another memory: Some of the M60 parts I saw in Vietnam were marked as made by Rock-O-La (the juke box company). That seemed appropriate because we commonly referred to automatic weapons use as "rock-n-roll".
Coincidentally, one of the first 3 3/4" 1981 Action Figures was Codenamed "Rock n Roll" who was the Machine Gunner of the team.
Another memory: Some of the M60 parts I saw in Vietnam were marked as made by Rock-O-La (the juke box company). That seemed appropriate because we commonly referred to automatic weapons use as "rock-n-roll".
Coincidentally, one of the first 3 3/4" 1981 Action Figures was Codenamed "Rock n Roll" who was the Machine Gunner of the team.
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During Desert Storm a 2LT, another Sgt and I were tasked with re-qualifying Inactive Ready Reserve who had been reactivated. Most were not happy to be reactivated and not happy to be qualifying on the M60. At one point the young LT was getting visibly frustrated with all the complaints about how hard the M60 was to shoot and what I suspect was deliberate failures to qualify. Finally Jim and I went to the LT and said "Sir, you need to go get a cup of coffee, take a smoke break or something. Let us handle the problem, this is Sgts business." He reluctantly agreed and went out of sight. The targets were timed pop ups at various ranges out 400 yds, IIRC. We made everyone set on the firing line and I shoulder fired the M60 while Jim ran the targets. To my mild surprise I actually shot a qualifying score. I laid the M60 down and in my best Sgt voice said "If I can qualify off hand you should be able to qualify laying on your bellies. Anyone who can't qualify probably needs remedial PT to work on your upper body strength, and I can help with that too". At least that is the version of what was said I told my kids years later.
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jag312
Member
I was offered an M60E back in early 1980s for $3500. What do they bring now? I had to pass on it due to one major problem; I was living in The People's Republic of California.
About 18 months ago I saw a Maremont for sale in my home state. $65,000
Ah yes, the M60. Wonderful GPMG. There were plenty of advantages when mounted on a helicopter, as there are with any machine gun but my experience is with the Pig. First of all the air flow helps keep the barrel a little cooler, although I seen several barrels thrown over board. That white asbestos glove does come in handy. Airflow is a double edge sword though. On the right side the air is pushing the belted ammo against the gun which disrupts feeding. The issue feed ramp had a bad habit of falling off, hence the use of the C-rat can or modified Coke can. There were plenty of those. On the left side of the ship the airflow helped with the feeding, most of the time. Spent casings and links could be a problem on either side, but occasionally (FNG pilot initiation) the right side gunner would aim his brass, instead of his bullets, to smack the back of the new guy's helmet, and maybe some down the back of the flight suit. Big fun.
The hard points and pintals were designed to limit traverse and elevation so the guy behind the gun could not shoot the pilot or the main rotor, theoretically. Our smoke ship, which also doubled as a low ship (Super Loach) when supporting the 25ID CRIP had Free 60s. No hard point mounts, suspended by bungi chords. Occasionally a hole would end up in the skid or main rotor blade, but that was rare. CRIP=Combined Recon/Intelligence Platoon. Free 60s were configured without the butterfly grips.
Aviation units also had the advantage of a fixed base with a shack for the gunners with hot tanks to get those 60s really clean after each day. Quarters behind the buffers were really used as mentioned earlier.
Photos from my camera, 1969/70.
The hard points and pintals were designed to limit traverse and elevation so the guy behind the gun could not shoot the pilot or the main rotor, theoretically. Our smoke ship, which also doubled as a low ship (Super Loach) when supporting the 25ID CRIP had Free 60s. No hard point mounts, suspended by bungi chords. Occasionally a hole would end up in the skid or main rotor blade, but that was rare. CRIP=Combined Recon/Intelligence Platoon. Free 60s were configured without the butterfly grips.
Aviation units also had the advantage of a fixed base with a shack for the gunners with hot tanks to get those 60s really clean after each day. Quarters behind the buffers were really used as mentioned earlier.
Photos from my camera, 1969/70.
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The M60 could use standard stock, shovel handles or a solenoid trigger system. I could never figure out why we didn’t have Quad M60s for anti personnel weapons. A rig like that might not be as good as a mini gun but in RVN conditions the electronics in mini guns on ground vehicles didn’t hold up well. I know they ran some on APCs but they didn’t work out well.
The old UH-1B did have a Quad 60 set-up of sorts. The M6 (XM6E3) consisted of 4 M60Cs, two on each side. Commonly referred to as the Flex Gun, it had a plus 9 to minus 66 degree elevation and and 12 degrees inboard to 70 outboard defecting axis. It carried 12 ammo boxes of 500 rounds each and was fed by chutes. Two 7 shot rocket pods were added to the 4 M60Cs to form the XM16 Machinegun and rocket subsystem. GE's mini-gun made the M6 obsolete.
This information comes from my TM 55-1520-219-10, Operators Manual, Jan 1968, and from using all these subsystems, plus the nose mounted 40mm Chunker.
This information comes from my TM 55-1520-219-10, Operators Manual, Jan 1968, and from using all these subsystems, plus the nose mounted 40mm Chunker.
ldausmc1369
US Veteran
USMC MOS 0311/0331…. The Pig and I!
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