if memory serves me correctly the m60 was based on three ww2 mgs. the ammo feed system was a copy of the mg42, the barrel was taken from the bren gun and i think the bolt and operating rod was from a czech mg. interestly the germans still used the mg42 in the 80s when i was in nato. it was called the mg3 it had very minor changes: 8mm to 7.62 nato, the barrel shroud was slightly different, but most important the rate of fire was reduced from a barrel burning 1200 rounds per min. to i think 800-850 rpm. what set this gun apart from the other mgs of this time was apart from the barrel and bolt it was made from stamped metal which made it very cheap to produce. the m2hbar(ma duece) .50, m1919 .30, bar, thompson sub were all made from a forged chunk of steel and then milled out to form the major parts. that made them rather expensive to make. with exception of the thompson those were all john browning designed weapons and thats just the way he built them, to last and work well. from what i have seen the m60 is being more or less phased out in favor of the fn 240c and the saw(squad automatic weapon). i think fabrique nationale was a john browning started company too. his belgium browning shotguns still are much sought after.
bigsky
