Yeah…about those cardboard boxes the ammo came packed in. It rains a lot in 'nam at certain times of the year, and those cardboard boxes would get soaked with rain water and become a squishy mess. If that happens, some of that soggy cardboard would get dragged into the feed mechanism and cause jams. So those boxes got tossed as soon as we opened them.
Many many years later in a war zone far far away they were still trying that with the M240 then someone in supply discovered they made heavy canvas bags that were made to hold just the ammo and it clips under the rifle in denominations of 50 rounds 100 and 200 rounds, lord it's like someone had a brain and designed something that works
Did you keep the canvas bandoliers for carrying ammo? I'm part of a reenactment group and our MG guy is always getting annoyed with the belts over his shoulder and catching on stuff.
@@huntclanhunt9697 My combat load as a 60 gunner was 100rd attached (no canvas bag) and 200 rounds in the canvas bags crisscrossing over the LBE. This was until they got wet or destroyed on maneuvers. Then it was Rambo style.
My best friend was the Pig handler in our platoon. He loved it and so did we. When he lit that that up, Charlie kept his head down. He was always cleaning and maintaining it. I cannot remember it ever failing us. ‘68-70 1st Cav
We had a great crew on the M60. Several times in night contacts I caught out of the corner of my eye the barrel start to glow red, the quick change of the barrel, and resume firing. The tough part was crawling over with your belt of M60 ammo to keep the feed going. '69 C 1/7 1st Cav.
USAF sent me to basic and advanced M60 Gunner courses in 1983. Advanced course was basically the T&E tripod. We never took apart the gas tube, but we did disassemble the trigger group. A couple of years later I was disassembling one after not seeing one for about a year. With the gun sitting on its nose, I pulled that flat spring and pushed out ... the sear retaining pin! The sear shot forward, the spring and guide both flew into the twilight zone! Several minutes later all the parts had been located and there was a happy ending. Fast forward to 2003, Baghdad. US Army now, our Battery XO gets an M60 for his truck! They had run out of 240Bs and managed to find a pig! He was dismayed because he'd never even seen one before! I told him I had formal training on the weapon and instantly became his gunner. This was a fun trip down memory lane, and like I said, I'd never seen the gas tube apart before so in addition to the development history this was new learning for me. Stay safe!
I had the armorer break it down to clean the piston a few times. But most of the time it was wired shut. I’ll take the M60 any day of the week. I was 11HE9 anti tank and it was our secondary weapon on our track. Preferred it over the M16.
GhostRider Don Here; I was a Huey Crew Chief/Door Gunner with the 195th AHC in 1967-68. On some days during the Tet Counter Offensive I fired up to 10,000 rounds a day through my M-60. Carried 2000 rounds linked together in one belt in a wooden grenade box and fed it over a C-rat Ham & Lima bean meal. We doubled the return spring for an extra 50 rounds. per minute rate of fire. Every night we would liberally lube the bolt. When we noticed the rate of fire dropping due to carbon build up in the gas ports we stripped the gun down for a thorough cleaning. First time we fired it the next day it would jamb. We would clear it and go on without jambs until next port cleaning. When the tracers stopped flying straight we would change barrels. I loved the M-60 it saved my life in several machine gun shoot outs with targets on the ground. That being said anyone who came across those guns in later years would need to rebuild them. Loved this video, thanks Ian
I would take the gas piston to a bench grinder with a wire brush wheel on it one one side and a cloth wheel on the other side. The gas piston after having all the carbon build up removed then highly pollished with the cloth wheel made the 60 run like a champ. Never saw any jams with a clean and shiny gas piston. I always put a little LSA on it.
@blueduck9409 We didn't have access to wire brush wheel. So we used hand power, wire brush and emory cloth safety wire for the port hole. Yes that gun would sing.
Had a 100 round runaway gun when the pistol grip dropped off during a demonstration engagement. Number 2 was so shocked he just sat there stunned for a bit then missed grabbing the belt twice. I just held onto the butt and tried to keep it pointing down range from our spectators. Apparently impressed a few young fellas into signing the dotted line...range officer, not so much.
Had a somewhat similar scenario with an M249 around when they started getting widespread in the army. There’s something beautiful about just holding on for the ride, but I’ll bet your bronco was bucking a LOT harder than mine!
Mine was a slightly different experience, as a Huey gunship crewman in '71. We'd discard the butt plate and remove the bipod legs from the barrels to save weight, since we fired freehand. The guns were not yet worn out, and were (in my experience) outstandingly reliable. The most I've ever fired in a night was about 5,000 rounds, and never had a "normal" jam. The biggest problem was getting the weapon oriented wrong to the airflow, which would blow ejected brass back into the chamber and cause a stovepipe jam. This was normally only a problem for the crew chief, who fired from the left side of the aircraft and the brass ejected forward. Once the barrel got to glowing red the rounds would start cooking off just as the bolt locked, and the resulting change in sound was unmistakable. Time to swap barrels. No need for the asbestos glove - just dump the barrel on the floor of the ship and slip in a new one. We'd normally carry 3 or 4 spare barrels. The only problem I had was one time when the screw holding the cover in place which guides the operating rod handle worked loose and the handle fell out. You can see the screw at the right rear of the receiver, just in front of the butt plate. That was unpleasant. One of the lesser-known skills that crew chiefs developed was a technique for letting the pilot know he was screwing up. When firing to prep an LZ, it was possible to angle the M60 so that the stream of ejected brass would hit the pilot's helmet and some would go down his neck. They jerk like chickens when you do that.
I humped and jumped an M60 while in the 2/75th Rangers at Ft. Lewis in the mid 70s. Mine was a great gun. Watching you take it apart brought back memories of my introduction to it. I was an Assistant Gunner, we came in from training and they took my 45 apart, an M16 apart, and the M60 apart. Mixed up the pieces. Told me to clean them up and put them back together, then I could go eat. Yikes. Fortunately one of the other AGs took pity on me and helped me after everyone left. The next time we went out out, I took the 60 down and put it back together 4 or 5 times a day, sometimes in the dark. But in the field we did not take it completely apart. Just enough to clean and lube it.
Yikes? That sounds like a ten minute job, tops. Nothing from any of those three guns is even remotely like the others, so the jumbled pile of parts doesn't add much challenge. ETA: Oops, missed the "clean them up" part... yeah, being forced to properly clean three guns while precious chow time is ticking away is pretty yikes...
In the late 80s in Oz we had all the Vietnam era weapons. Never fired it enough to have issues but as an infantry soldier I just remembered carrying it miles and miles. Doing a 20km forced march with a 60 breaks you. How those guys did it for weeks in Vietnam impresses me. Add ammunition and back packs they were tough guys.
I was a 0331 ( machine gunner ) in the Marines 86-90 and I carried the M-60 E 3 for 1 year before becoming a team leader on a gun then squad leader ran 2 gun teams loved that pig😁👍🏾👍🏾
For american it not that bad heli lift into combat zone or truck in , on foot patrol they didn't go that far , image being vietnamese soldier like my grandpa we have no truck to drive you to the combat zone or heli , you have to carry a bag of rice and some wood ,beside amunition , if you lucky you will able to catch some wild animal and add meat to the rice if not it dry fish and peanut salt
Being the tallest guy in my platoon I got assigned this for a year. My first day in the field carrying it I jumped off the back of a 2.5 ton with it and, unprepared for the additional weight, spent a few days on my cot recovering from the back pain. I was happy to get my M16 back but they had added an M203 to it just for spite.
@@robertagren9360 It would be pretty awkward for someone else to be helping me carry it. It's not that big and not that heavy. I just didn't take into account how the additional weight over the M16A2 (maybe 25 extra pounds with ammo) would affect me when hitting the ground. I should have bent more at the knees, that's all.
Remembering walking into my 1st Sergeants office just out of training. The first thing he said to me was "You're a big MFr. You look like a 60 gunner." Carry more, get yelled at more, displace more. What fun.
I have to comment about this one. I always had to marvel at "Uncle Sam's" sense of humor. They seemed to pick either the largest guy in the squad or the smallest (as was my case) to be the "Pig gunner." Having said that, when the Pig worked, it kicked more ass than Bruce Lee...When it didn't...well, it could be a miserable bastard.
@@raymondking214 Add me to the list of 60 gunners. I was chosen for my height...twice, in two different units. I never carried it in combat but carried it a lot in training. I hated shooting it simply for the fact that it took forever to get it clean enough to pass the armorer's inspection. Also there was nothing more disappointing than carrying the bastard 10 miles to the range only to have the firing pin break on the first shot!
Navy gator sailor wespac. I noticed that the smallest guys in the squad always had the pig gun or the radio. I asked the Gunny Sgt. why that was. He said that the smallest guys are the hardest for the NVA to hit.
I carried one as an Airborne Infantryman for years......never called it 'the pig'.....loved the damn thing. I do have scars on my right thumb from the operating rod slipping off the bolt during disassembly and cutting me with the sharp, squared end. Always proud to be a 'Sixty Gunner'.🌴🍀
In VietNam, we always disassembled and cleaned the gas piston and cylinder. In fact our gunner's mate tested each reassembled gun by pointing the weapon first at the ground and the piston should fall to the front of the cylinder, and then point the weapon straight up, and the piston should fall to the rear. If it did not move as just stated, he would give the weapon back for more cleaning. He also stressed that the small gas port at the front of the gas cylinder need to be clean and open. A non free piston could also give the single fire. None of our M60's had safety wire on the gas cylinder . I guess they were new enough that that issue had not popped up yet. The M60 I carried as a personal weapon was a seal modified one with the tripods removed and a hard rubber butt plate assembly and modified hand guard with no carrying handle. Was quite a bit lighter. Also had an aluminum box that clipped to the left side to hold the ammo belt.
Hello old friend. Used to carry one of those around way back in the day. Definitely as love-hate relationship. Loved having it for the firepower, hated carrying it around for the weight. I did run into some of the wear problems, but to me that just gave it charm like an old car with some quirks. There’s a couple of reasons the boxes the belts of ammunition came in weren’t that popular in the field. The main one was that it was a thin cardboard box wrapped in cloth. As anyone that’s spent any time in the field knows, it’s wet. The boxes would get wet and nasty fairly quick. The other problem is that you couldn’t link belts together during sustained firing when they’re feeding from the box. So when the belt ran out you would have to swap in a new one instead of you or the AG just snapping another one onto the end. That’s one reason you would often see M60s with C-ration cans stuck over the box hangers. They weren’t used and the can made the belts feed more smoothly without getting hooked on the thing.
Better to be the guy carrying The Pig than the one carrying the ammo and the fucking spare barrel that just loves to smack you in the back of the noggin every fucking time you need to take cover, I assure you!
I've also seen described a "flanged feed adapter" that was apparently issued to helicopter door gunners and crew chiefs for the same purpose as the C-ration can, to simplify feeding of much longer belts directly from ammo cans on the helicopter's deck.
@@DrBunnyMedicinal I was an a gunner in 82. Moved on to gunner for battalion hq security. Always training never combat. This video really took me back. Honestly I forgot most of it. I used to clean it by moonlight. I could do it by feel. For security I would truck in a tripod without the elevation screw. Humping that bag with 2 belts along with my a1 and 6 mags wow to be 19 again.
In 2010 as a snot nosed officer cadet, I had the pleasure of perhaps being one of last groups of US Soldiers to use an M60... in the [simulated] killing fields of JBLM as we strolled through "Ewok Forest" and made the M60 go "CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP".
It was awesome wasn’t it? There’s just something special about the ‘ol pig. The rate of fire makes it so easy to shoot. I initially trained on the M60 in ‘93 and used it until I went to 82nd ABN Division in ‘97. They took our M60’s away and upgraded us to the M240B.
As an old 91B (combat medic before they switched the MOS designation to 68W) attached to an infantry unit, they asked if I wanted to carry the 60. After a couple of miles, jesus christ that thing is heavy. Can't imagine having to IMT with that thing. It definitely is a pig.
We had older M60’s at my airbase in 1988…which we carried or mounted. I was a shorter guy but was still a gunner. We did have newer ones but they were only used during exercises….we had Zero spare parts for new ones…but all kind of parts for the old one….which sucks cause the newer ones handles attached to the barrels and the gun wasnt as rickety or loud as the old ones. BUT the old ones shot great….and if you had an issue…ie runaway gun…you just twisted and broke the belt. Btw if you dont release the spring tension before pulling the yoke and take the butt off…the op rod will get stuck in the ceiling….ahhhh good times.
This video brings back a bad memory. M60 disassembly was the only ding I got in Basic from all of my testing. The M60 kept me from getting a perfect record.
Pros: Only 22 lbs vs the M240B which is a hefty 27 lbs. Slow cyclical rate. Cons: You're right. At the end of the 90s, the guns had outlived their usefulness and certainly broke down a lot.
As a former US infantryman and aviator, I had a lot of experience with the M60. Much of the design made no sense, like the useless carrying handle, that the bipod was attached to the barrel instead of the gun, and you had to wire the gas piston cap to keep it from falling off. To change barrels you had to use an asbestos mitten, as if waving a big white Mickey Mouse glove in combat was a good idea (provided you hadn't lost the mitt). We made the gun work because we had to. That the MG42 (as the MG1 and MG3) continues in service while the M60 is pushed aside, says much about which is the better machine gun.
During the 1980s I was a USAF security policeman. The M60 was our squad automatic weapon. All of our M60s were leftovers from Vietnam and the asbestos mittens had gone MIA a long time ago. We were forced to use regular oven mitts to change the barrels. Ours had pictures of Santa Claus on them.
For me M60 just looks like MG42 (MG3) with extra steps done because of some neat ideas. So many parts more and all in all just not so sleek as MG3 which is easy to use and maintain even in winter conditions. Haven't had opportunity to wield M60 but by my experience it just seems that MG3 is easier to handle overall.... Quick and easy barrel change, not that many small parts to install incorrectly by accident nor did I had to think how this barrel was zeroed. So many similarities and yet the first one to come seems more efficient in many aspects. Yet somehow they made M60 lighter....
@@gwtpictgwtpict4214 The fact that it's physically possible to change the barrel without having put your hand on the hot metal is still a clear advantage for the MG43/MG3, and it's baffling that the M60 didn't include that.
I put a bunch of rounds thru the M60 while in the Army and loved it. The sound it made was distinct and no mistake on what was being fired. If kept clean and serviced I never had any memorable malfunctions that I can recall. It wasn't light but it was worth it. We were later given the M249 and it was great as well but the Pig and the 7.62 had that extra pen to punch holes the 5.56 couldn't get thru.
Almost my entire 12 years was spent in a weapons squad, most with the M60. Assistant gunner, gunner and Squad Leader. I graduated the 18th Abn Corp Machinegun Leaders course as a PFC. The M60 had it's issues, but it had some good points also. The bipod is great, far better IMHO then that of the 240, 249 and MK48. While the spare barrels were heavy, you got a clean gas system when you swapped barrels. No one zero'd both barrels or would remember or have the time to change the zero everytime you swapped. It has an almost bull pup design, that keeps the gun short and much more assaultable then the 240...which is essentially the equivalent of an 1919A6. It also kept the operating parts close when you manipulated the gun, open the cover and everything is right under your nose. We disassembled the gas system all the time. I never saw the rear plug wired shut, always the front and bottom. I never lost the trigger assembly, but did see one fall off, just bend the spring, some guys would wire it on. The safety is more intuitive then the crossbolt of the FN guns. The gun in the video has the upgraded op rod with two sear notches to alleviate run away guns, there is an upgraded recoil spring and one piece guide rod also. The correct way to remove the butt, is to use a cartridge or other "pointy thing" to depress the latch under the hinged shoulder rest. The extractor would fly out of the gun on occasion, I had my gun detailed stripped at night on an LFX to fix that. The feed lug on the bolt would need to be stoned down often to help feed correctly. It was/is an OK machinegun, I guess by the time they put enough effort into correcting it's flaws, they just figured it was easier to get the FN gun. And Ranger Regt did just that.
"The correct way to remove the butt, is to use a cartridge or other "pointy thing" to depress the latch under the hinged shoulder rest. " That's definitely the correct way to do as per the manual and training, but really, pulling the yoke up&out is just so much faster and easier. Also far less dicking about with fiddly bullshit.
@@DrBunnyMedicinal Oh I did it that way a lot, usually in the field in a hurry. Supposedly, yanking the yoke and wiggling the buffer out, wears out the latch. EIB or other training...use the latch
Am qualified with MAG(240 Israeli) Negev, and the m2. I appreciate the simplicity of operation and ease of use on all of these designs, while It was not my main role, I carried the extra barrel for the MAG, and was squad designated marksman. As long as they are kept clean, oild and covered( when in formation and stacking/laying out for inspection) they run pretty flawlessly. For how many issues the pig has, I always loved the silhouette of it, also the sound!
In the '50s there was no excuse for attaching the bipod to the barrel instead of the receiver. Any quick exchange barrel LMG design already figured at least that out since the late '20s.
We received our M240 summer of 1998 10th Mountain. M-60 was good. M240 is better. Heavier yet very reliable. First time we went to the range during our orientation. The instructor stood on the belt and told the gunner to fire. That MG ate all that belt. M240L is outstanding.
My dad used one of these in Vietnam. He was a helicopter door gunner in the 119th assault helicopter company. His m60 was free mounted on a bungee cord. He says the front sight is not used, at least he never used it. So barrel changes don’t matter as far as hitting your target. You aim by seeing where the tracer rounds are hitting. Full tracer is better than 4 and 1 for this
I was an M60 gunner in my fireteam in the Air Force in the '70's and never had an issue of any kind. Mine ran perfectly. I take some credit for that because I kept it cleaned, lubed and in good condition. MANY thousands of rounds and not a single hiccup.
Back in the day I was a "Pig Gunner". Yes it was a heavy SOB lugging it around all day as an Infantryman. That being said it was AWESOME when it came to equalizing things or changing things in a fight. This video brought a tear to this old soldiers eye.
I began service in 1977, and the M60s we had were in good condition. That puts me on the "pro" side of the coin. That gun was a delight to shoot as the buffering system was good enough to do the job. The first time i fired one, I was scared the recoil was going to hurt, and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't. Carrying that pig and its ammo around wasn't part of the fun, but knowing you had that kind of firepower nearby helped make up for it. That, by the way, was one of the reasons why the belts weren't left in their boxes and bandoleer bags. The straps of the bags were narrow, and the belts were heavy enough to make them cut into your shoulders. If you took the belt out and draped it over your shoulder, the weight was distributed over a wider skin area.
"The straps of the bags were narrow, and the belts were heavy enough to make them cut into your shoulders. If you took the belt out and draped it over your shoulder, the weight was distributed over a wider skin area." Thank you. That explains so much!
Thank you for this video. The one I used was earlier than this 1970-72. One thing was that it was going to cook off every time, break the belt, and I had to use a B-3A C ration can for a feed ramp for awhile until I got the proper part the can wouldn’t last very long. It was my favorite along with the M-2 mounted on a vehicle. Thanks for the video. You nailed the problems with the gun perfectly.
I spent the 80's and 90's working on M60's as a Small Arms Repairer. The biggest failure points I saw and the M60 were the bolt, op rod and barrel extension. The mating surfaces on the op rod yoke and cam groove in the bolt would get marred up terribly causing the roller on the yoke to break. The locking lugs on the bolt also tended to chip, chewing up the barrel extension and locking surfaces. Receiver rivets loosening up weren't super common, and could be re-riveted at depot level maintenance facilities. I only saw a handful of receivers needing this per year. I know at unit level, the armorers replaced alot of hand guards and shoulder stocks. The example you have in the video is a depot rebuild (or rebuilt by a gunsmith). You can tell by the rivets; the are not completely flush to the receiver plates and the welds on the trunnion.
Back in the 60's the jamming we had was caused by a gas piston getting carboned up and seizing. We would periodically raise and lower the gun sharply to see if we could hear the piston clicking, meaning it was still free-falling and not seized. Long time ago; maybe the gun was changed later. I'm an old man now; doubt I'd even remember how to tear one down and put it back together.
@@mnpd3 I'm another "old man" now. I was on orders for Vietnam (Chu Lai) with a report in date of mid November 68. I was stationed stateside at Ft. Detrick, MD so I went to Ft. Mead, MD for my RVN training and qualification with the M16. (Basic I qualified with the M14)
Our M-60's in 1976 Marine Corps were mostly Army hand-me-down's and in a pretty dismal state of repair. Well used is an understatement as all were Vietnam veterans and one Machine Gun Company went out with 10,000 rounds for training and came back with all guns inop and about 6,000 rounds unfired. Not so great. The armorers could only do so much with worn out guns and spare parts being unavailable due to post Vietnam budget cuts. Wasn't a great time to be in. But I've got to say every M-16A1 I was issued was a great shooter...so we did have good guns...just not so many M-60's at that time.
I was in the coast guard in the early 2000s and we must have gotten your guy's hand-me-downs. Our armorers were really good and we had access to spare parts but we were still super happy when we got 240s. Dead on about the 16A1/2 though.
There's a trick there, not too well known. The 60, when worn out, was a piece of crap. This is common knowledge. And ours in the Army were no better than what the Corps had. BUT...minigun ammo. In Panama, for some reason, we used to get a lot of minigun ammo for the pigs. Minigun ammo is near enough to match grade...and it worked even in those worn out POS pigs.
I’m going to be a social hand grenade, sorry. Can’t help think that the BAR and Bren gun didn’t wear out! Perhaps our grandfathers or great grandfathers built things better and used more high quality materials???
@@stephen7571 those firearms were engineered to last forever. However, the design was obsolete long before the firearms themselves wore out. Therefore all that effort and material in making them that durable went to waste.
I carried the pig in Vietnam some 50 years ago. Walked into a clearing and all hell broke lose. I was the 8th man back and i just stepped and starting raining hell fire on those little bastards. All my guys made it out with only me suffering a nasty head wound above my right eye. Since i was an fng at the time i thought i was the "meanest sob in the valley". Then i got to go on my 1st night ambush, i was the trigger man, when the 1st man entered the kill zone i pull the trigger. 50 years later on that still night i can still hear that bolt going forward and hitting that 1st round. The gun went boom and then there was silence for a second or two then all hell broke lose. My gun fired one round, case stuck in the chamber and tried to feed an other round jamming the gun. I was never so scared in my life as i had a jammed pig and no back up!!! From then on i took better care of my pig and carried a 45 cal as a back up for the rest of my tour. That experence was a hugh dose of humble pie!!!
@@Pichouette As a newly minted mg gunner on the 240, more than a decade ago, I told myself that very same thing. To never initiate an ambush with an open bolt system, after learning it the sour way. You’re the only other person who has mentioned this, huge respect to you sir!
Brings back some memories from the 70's and 80's. Everybody liked firing them, nobody liked humping them. Used to compete firing off exactly one round or exactly two. Night fire tracers and white phosphorus to start fires (you had to go put them out). Platoon sergeant was Vietnam vet, taught us to use it like rifle - shoot from the shoulder. OOH-RAH!
Fun fact: I was submariner in the US Navy, and we had some of the last M60's in the Navy's inventory. Obviously small arms weren't really a priority for a submarine (probably why they gave them to us), but we did mount them in the sail while transiting on the surface through the Suez canal etc. We also had M79 grenade launchers lol. Why? I have no idea. We did get to train with them at Camp Pendleton during pre-deployment workups though, so that was a lot of fun.
I mean throwing 40mms at shore targets or maybe small boats approaching your surfaced sub could be pretty useful. I wonder if normal HE rounds would detonate on the surface of water or if they would skip/not trigger the pressure. If not, it'd be cool if they made rounds that would detonate on the surface so you could fire them at or near boats to tell them to fuck off or maybe even to damage them if they got too close.
I always love when you do videos on not forgotten guns. This way we can see what they used from old gunsq and made it better/simpler. Also vss video when?
He has said that he’s wanted to do a deep dive into all exotic/modern Russian small arms, but that it’d likely require an actual trip to Russia to get hands-on content. And with recent events, that might become difficult to do.
I can’t believe I still remember how to take it apart while you demonstrated it. I would go through the steps in my head before you showed the step. Carried the pig my first 2 yrs in the Army 91 to 93. Loved its firepower and strength. Wasn’t always pleasant carrying it in the field all the time 😂😂. But still loved it when it was time to rock. We use to do insane battle drills with it on the HMMWV and tripod battle drills in fixed positions with range cards.
Thanks for the video, I was a 60 gunner (3/172 MT inf) and I loved my pig. I also fired the MG 42 during training in Italy with their mountain troops. and yes we used a lot of safety wire but it had a very good feeling. we were still caring them up to the second Gulf War when my unit finally started to get the 240B's. That was also when we changed our M21s for M24s. Ours were older and we would have to do a lot of maintenance on them but they were very good at laying down fire. Nothing sounds so great as 3 of these talking to each other in a support by fire position.
I have laid next to the M60 in the dark in the jungle on ambush and felt comforted by knowing how reliable and how much firepower they put out. I don't remember one of them ever having a problem but that was 53 years ago and I might just not remember.
It's very weird how diverse the opinions are regarding this weapons's reliability. Some people say it's awesome, others claim it's a jam-o-matic, still others say it starts off reliable and then turns into a single-shot when the bolt cam starts wearing and mushrooming.
I was a 60 gunner early in my Army infantry career. We switched to the M240 a few years later. Although I never personally experienced the malfunctions you mention, which were prevalent in the older examples, I did hear of them happening. Mine worked fine.
This was our squad machine gun during my military service. Even in line Infantry units by the early and mid 80's they were worn out. We had one fire out of battery at Ft.Knox ... that's a hell of an introduction to the gun.
When I joined my department in 2009, we had ar15s from the early 70s. Still had screw-in take down pins. I work for a really big and well funded department, too, which made it even funnier.
Thanks for this, it brings back some memories of going to M60 school after basic and carrying this on fireteams during my time in service in the 80's. On a fun note: my first base in England and post was during a NATO exercise on a parameter post with the M16 and of all things an M79.
Thanks for the deep dive, I always remember my local gun shop had 2 of these, one was the helicopter mount the other was infantry. Both were for sale, never asked the price, but no doubt far less than they are worth some 40 years later.
If memory serves, a gun show outside Tucson had one for sale in 1992, '93, or '94 for $6500. If I had had that much in my pocket, getting it might have been high on my bucket list. They ain't $6500 today, that's for sure.
I was a M60 gunner in an infantry squad in the mid to late 80's. I loved the 'pig'. Carrying it through the woods could be a pain, but in contact it was great. I kept it clean and rarely had any issues with it.
I was in one of the last active duty army units to carry the M60. Mine was not only highly reliable, but it was also extremely accurate. I routinely hit man sized targets at 800m with a 2-3 round burst. I was sad to see it replaced.
My experience with the M60 is that when it was working properly it was very accurate. That was in the late 90's to '01. I also agree that the M240 was much better
The grip spring fell off a lot. When speed assembling/disassembling, the two-part roter bolt assembly would sometimes cut your knuckles. It was good for what it was. The links would drop into the mechanism sometimes when trying to clear it or when using blanks. The centered firing pin design could easily shatter. After shooting 200+ rounds, if you touched the barrel it would give you a nice brand burn. The one on my palm has faded out in the last 25 years.
Fun fact: when the leaf spring falls off you don't necessarily notice it right away. It always happens at night during a movement. Then the front pin on the trigger assembly works it's way out. Once that pin falls out, then you have a runaway gun....and you have to decide to either a) open the feed tray cover and risk blowback in your face b) break the belt or c) aim the muzzle into the dirt and let it run. We typically safety bail wired the front pin too, and didn't conduct movement with the bolt charged. I am among those who hated this gun. We had to scavenge to keep them operable, and ended up sending them off to depot. The 240 was a far superior gun.
I would put thousands of rounds through my M60 on a daily basis and it would just keep on firing. In a year of heavy daily firing I had two failure to fire, just two!!!...
I was assigned an M60 1989-90. Having been a unit armorer before my assignment with 9 of them to maintain. I knew what parts needed replacement and some TLC to make it run like a top. Many unit armorers would tell the M60 gunners not to clean the gas piston unless there was a problem. Because they did not want to re lace the safety wire. This caused lots of issues on the range. Especially if the M60s had been used extensively for shooting blanks during training.
My experience with the M60 was in 66&67 as a crew chief/door gunner on a "C"" model Huey. We had six M60s on board. One at each door and four flex guns on the wing stores. Our door guns and flex guns were heavily modified with the flex gun stock cans in place of the regular stocks, no sights or bipods. All this to reduce weight as much as possible as our guns were held in place with bungee cords and not fixed mounted. In addition we had a mettle box called an assault pack that clipped to the side that held 200 rounds of ammunition with a mettle rod that swong over the top. It allowed us to fire the weapon in any way we needed, even inverted. I had to learn on the job so to speak and had my trigger housing fall off because of a weak spring clip, and an out of battery discharge do to worn parts,you name it and it happened to me. All In all I wouldn't trade it for any reason. We would fire 200 round bursts at a time when the gun run out we would put 200 more rounds in and do it all over again. I literally fired tens of thousands of rounds through that gun. At night the barrel would get so hot it would glow white and you could see the bullets go down the barrel, but those guns kept right on firing.
I carried an M60 in the late 80s as an MP in Germany. (Only for field problems, of course.) I never had to go into combat, and I loved my 60. It worked great with live ammo but jammed every burst with blanks. We worked from vehicles, so the extra barrel's bipod and gas tube weight weren't a problem. This video brings back some memories. Thank you for making it! I love seeing an old friend like this, and enjoy obscure older guns that you detail as well. Keep up the great work!
Btw: Having to lock the bolt backwards to operate and being unable to close the cover with the bolt forward are also things that apply to the MG42 and later MG3. They also can't be put on safe then the bolt is forward. /edit: The point Ian raises at 25:50 is very valid, the German army currently sees how much the MG3s have aged. SOme so much that the stamped receiver became a few mm longer for the most used guns. At my time in the army I had the opportunity to shoot two types of MG3. One, very old MG3, which was originally an MG1A3 (you could see the letters 1A crossed out) and a relatively new (still produced in the late 1980s) MG3. The former was just plain horrible -- stoppages every few rounds. The gun (presumably) found it's unceremonious end when I broke it's old Bakelite buttstock while diving into cover in an exercise. The gun after that was miles better, but according to our armourer it only had a few thousand rounds on the counter since production and then had been stored away as reservists equipment. It's currently so bad with the MG3 (since Rheinmetall has sold all the dies for the receiver) that new receivers for old guns are MILLED by HK...
MG3 can have the cover closed with the bolt forward, the operating roller has a spring and is pushed down by the feed parts in the cover. When the bolt is pulled back it pops into the track. (At least thats true for Norwegian MG3s)
@@PhilanderingBastard No. Machines were sold in the early 90's to Tukey and Parkistan because we didn't need them anymore. The Bundeswehr had enough MG3 for more than a million soldiers and was just in the process of being reduced from 600k to 250k as per the 4+2 agreement. At that point in time there really was no need to keep them. The consensus in NATO was that Russia wouldn't be a threat anymore and even if, they would know an attack well in advance (which the current Ukraine crisis confirmed, NATO knew exactly where Russian troops were, it was politics who didn't want to believe in an attack), and thus they could create new dies if needed. After all Rheinmetall still has the drawings, but the MG3 that need to be replaced are so few in number that creating them is far costlier than just milling new ones. Especially since the units who use the MG3 the most are also getting new MG5 at the moment. That's a thing that people often forget: Stamping weapons is only more cost effective if the number of guns goes in the millions, before that milling is more cost effective. Modern CnC machining shifts this even harder towards milling as you now can have one operator for multiple machines and you don't even need to manually swap tools or rotate the workpiece. All in all the MG3 only has it's nostalgia factor going for it. The rate of fire is too high for infantry use, but far too low for anti-aircraft use. Barrel change is a pain in the ass and because of the stamped sheet metal construction you can't mount optics on it that reliably hold zero. Also, the sling is just utter shit and the box hanging off from the left side (a problem the M60 also has) makes it unwieldy. The MG5 is more reliable, has a better rate of fire, better ergonomics overall. It's just the better gun.
@@Ruhrpottpatriot Thanks. I got out in 1995 so the MG5 wasn’t on the cards yet. Agree about the sling, the MG3 definitely wasn’t much fun to lug around.
@@PhilanderingBastard Seemingly a ton of extra weight to carry, but ... ooh yes, I loved it. And mine ran just so smoothly. Of course I always took good care of it - not like the guy before me who left the whole gas block covered in 1mm baked powder smoke 😆 And seeing what the Americans ‘made out of it’ ... honestly, they should have simply copied the whole thing. Fielt maintenance and barrel exchange is just so easy and simple with the 42 and 3. Also that you can put the bipod to the center of the MG for less accuracy but a larger angle of coverage.
This was such an excellent, well-researched video. Ian hit the mark on all points: I was in a Marine M-60 section from 1979-1983. I loved shooting the gun, and it was easy to maintain, too. We had equipment for six teams in my section, but I don't think all six guns were functioning at the same time while I was with the section. However, we were always short-handed, so that wasn't a problem. The leaf spring holding the pistol grip could be a problem, but it was one we understood and generally were able to deal with it. Likewise, training addressed the proper sequence in pulling the bolt assembly to the rear before releasing the receiver cover. The issue with the gas cylinder was almost never encountered because we were prohibited from disassembling it (and not only was it wired shut, it had a lead seal that would show tampering). Thanks for the great video, Ian, it really brought back some great times.
My dad was an Army machine gunner in the 50s and 60s. He definitely didn’t like the M60. In his experience they were unreliable, issues with the firing pins and ejection. He said he preferred the 1919 and BAR.
@@Allumik Something like it. They both have a very satisfying and tactile mechanical operation and sound. Plus of course, they have interesting mechanisms and sometimes histories!
@@Chyrosran22 You can add another similiarity to that list - using both of them in a office environment will make your coworkers hate you. ps. getting replied by Chyrosran22 is probably the internet highlight of my life.
I remember the 1979 Spring FTX in the Belgian Ardennes where the 82nd Abn Div was dropped all over the Saint-Hubert area. With our Belgian GPMG (The MAG), we were playing the opposing force … we hunted. Yet, seeing the 82nd air dropping was awesome, if a little upsetting for they dropped the heavy stuff over a DZ where a whole regiment had just landed …
Being a veteran, and the operator of the PIG. I am letting them know when these are being put out to pasture I am willing to adopt and give it a loving home for the rest of our days!
Your take at the end is spot on. Even with modern MGs like the M240 or M249 you hear "love it or hate it" comments from Service Members which usually can be attributed to how much that MG was used and abused as it related to that particular Service Member.
Finally, I get to see exactly how and why this iconic gun has gotten its reputation. I have finally seen the guts of The Pig. This is why I love this channel. Thank you Ian.
Great to see the old Pig up close and personal. As for aiming, the sights just let you know your pointing it in the right direction. Most gunners just walked it in using the tracers for the fine tuning. Area Suppression weapon.
One thing I thought was interesting is that the official procedure to disassemble the gun is to lift the butt plate/shoulder brace, and insert the tip of a round through the hole to detach the butt from the buffer. Then you pull the yoke up to take the buffer out, but no one does it that way, not even you, Ian. It's easier to do what you did and give the buffer a little wiggle to get it out of the butt after you take it off. The safety wire didn't just keep 3 parts screwed into the gas cylinder, it kept grunts from taking the piston out then putting it back in backward. MOST of the time. I had at least one come into the shop that way, with the explanation, "It doesn't work." I worked on a LOT of M60s in the '80s and don't recall there ever being burrs on the sears causing problems, unlike the M85 machine gun sears I often had to file smooth. I was supposed to stone them but never had a stone. I just had "receipts" in m,y toolbox saying the stones were on order. So I filed them with Swiss pattern files AKA needle files. One of the armorers brought an M60 in that was the only runaway gun I remember having to work on. Someone took it apart and put the sear in upside down and backward. I didn't know it was possible to put it in wrong until that day. When they held the bolt back and loaded a belt, then let the bolt fly home, there was nothing to stop it from firing a whole 200 round belt. I assume the assistant gunner or the gunner twisted the belt to break it off or jam the gun, so they didn't fire it all. On some of the most heavily used guns, the 2 main parts of the receiver started coming apart in the middle. You could camp the front in a vise so it didn't move and the back end could flop around when you put any pressure on it. Before i got out of the army I ended up ordering so many barrel assemblies, bolt assemblies, and op rod assemblies that I still remember the national stock numbers for them over 40 years later. Before that incident, we never had too many problems with them. I can't remember if it was an M60 or another machine gun, that when I looked down the barrel I could see where the Stellite liner ended. There was a visible ring in the middle of the bore with a gap at the end of the liner. When the bullet passed from the lined to unlined portions of the bore, it was kind of like it shot out of one barrel into another.
@@highjumpstudios2384 oh I will do, can go to a firing range in poland and shoot full auto aks and all sorts at cars for less than it costs for a train ticket here. Just been a bit...hot....travelling to that part of the world lately.
I was an M60 gunner when stationed in Ft Ord. Both the M60 and the 1911 I was issued had seen better days. But overall, truth be told, I loved them both. Those 15 click marches with a full ruck and that M60 were brutal.
suck it up buttercup, you could be wearing 45lbs of body armor as well or carrying half a 120mm mortar system or be a forward observer without an rto, or an entire javelin system.
I think your explanation of why some loved it and some hated it was spot on. Talking to a few people who served during or right after Vietnam, they loved this weapon, nothing but positive things to say about it. Where as, talking to people who served in the late 80's they absolutely hated this weapon, couldn't think of one positive thing to say about it.
I was in a rifle company at LeJeune. 3 rifle platoon and a weapons platoon. Weapons had 6 M-60 MG crews and 6 3.5 rocket crews, so each rifle platoon could have 2 rockets and 2 M-60s attached when we went to the field. We often heard the M-60 people gripe about the pistol grip because it had a rubberized cover on it, and if you got solvent on it when cleaning the gun, it turned into "putty" that you could mold with your hand. I got a chance to fire a 3.5, but never an M-60. I carried an M-14 with a full-auto selector on it for awhile.
We didn't use the hanger method for the tissue box bandolier belts because, inevitably, the damn cardboard would be half turned into damp mush about 4 minutes after you reach the field or the ambient humidity was anything more moist than a dry-roasted Kuwaiti afternoon.
This really brings back memories! We never removed the safety wires so had no problems with putting it back together wrong. An amusing story: On the machine gun range at Fort Ord in the fall of 1967 someone spotted a few deer way out beyond the targets. The NCOs replaced us in the cement "foxholes" and began to fire on the animals. Even with several guns firing they could not hit the deer! What a day!
You were at Fort Ord 20 years before I was there. My dad was there in 65. If you don't know about it now, Fort Ord in certain places has become California State University Monterey Bay. My old building's cafeteria was turned into a college laboratory.
M-60D user in the SH-60B Seahawk in 87-94 - a run-away once during training . It was exciting to use and a chore to maintain, was a fan when the Navy replaced it with the GAU-16 in the late 1990s.
Thanks for the flash backs! Carried the pig in the mid 80's down at Ft. Polk, LA (Dco. 4/6 INF MECH). Such a great weapon system. Also note, the 60 is the reason why breakfree came in a 16oz squirt bottle. They ran so much better when generously lubricated. Especially with the BFA.
I carried the pig in Vietnam about half of my 1st tour and the first one I had was absolutely wore out , the second one I was issued was great. Yeah it was a pain to carry but let me tell you what, when shtf it sure gave you a warm fuzzy feeling be able to Snugle down behind it and rain all kinds of Hell down on your opponent's. Later on I pulled quite a bit of door gunner Duty as well as driving trucks hauling munitions to firebases. My truck had twin 60s mounted where the passenger seat normally was inside of two different size Steel drain pipes filled in between with sand and a second one inside the Box set up the same way. That was our own DIY armor plating, which worked pretty darn well! We also each carried the short barrel M16s normally issued to helicopter Pilots. Sadly after the r t o you were the next target when in the field!
I carried the M-60 in the eighties. The only other machineguns that I had fired was the .50 cal in AIT at Fort Benning, and the MG 3 when we did familiarization of foreign weapons at Fort Lewis. The M-60 was my favorite. Yes, it was 23 pounds (10.4 kg), but it was so much fun to shoot when you went to the range. I also carried the 90mm recoilless rifle. Unloaded, that beast weighed in at 32 pounds (14.5 kg). That one was a blast to shoot. (No pun intended.) Also, there are field expedient fixes that you can do with wires that'll keep the leaf spring from falling off and the castle nut from unscrewing itself. As for the barrel change, if for some reason you don't have your glove handy (why wouldn't you?) You can always use the bipod as a handle. It doesn't heat up as much as the barrel and the gas piston do.
Ditto, they certainly had lots of wear and tear on them, Got one at our local RSL that has been welded up to the point even the feed cover is welded, makes me sad.
ARes in the late 70's to early 80's. Lots of time carrying and very little time firing ... Fewer than 200 rds to qualify as gunner (just watch fall of shot and follow instinct) ... The qualified as sigs and ended up carry M60 along with AN/PRC-77 on patrol through the scrub at high speed to make up for the officer candidate's inability to plan. In 6 years, I reckon that I fired fewer than 1000 live and 200 blank rds from an M60. I did carry one for a total of about ... 500km or so. Not enough to really build up some muscles. ☹️🤔
@@BerndFelsche Can relate being the number 2 carrying the spare barrel, ammo etc and being gunner at times humping it all back with not firing a shot or very small amount. The 77 was a great set but also a pig of a thing to hump around.
Great video, as always! Slight correction: Denmark does not *still* use the M60A6 but has actually recently decided to adopt it. There is a little controversy around it simply because it is by now an old weapon system, even in its most modern configuration, and it was significantly heavier than every other competitor they tested, among other issues. But the benefit is obviously that it is extremely well-tested and reliable and fires the good 7,62 NATO round while many of the lighter guns it competed against fire 5,56 NATO and therefore lack the punch.
Range is also a consideration. If the army expects frequent engagement at ranges greater than 200m, 7.62 becomes almost required as 5.56 was not designed to reach out that far.
Someone in the comments mentioned having a runaway gun when their pistol grip fell off. In my experience, this would suggest that the leaf spring that held the takedown pins for the pistol grip had fallen off and the takedown pins had worked their way out. To keep that from happening, we would wrap a length of tripwire around both of the takedown pins over the leaf spring. This would both keep the leaf spring in place, and keep the takedown pins from moving. Also, if you get a runaway gun, keep the gun pointed up, and down range; then, just break the belt.
Great video, your conclusions at the end are spot on! Wish I'd known about using the buffer and spring rod to disassemble the gun further when I was in - would have made cleaning that much easier! In the Australian Army we had a different bracket that was designed to hold a semi-circular metal magazine for a 40 rd(?) 'taster' - mostly they were discarded as being impractical and belts just hung down. I did love their deep, heavy cyclic rhythm on ambushes, you certainly knew you were kicking ass!
I served in Denmark 2000-2010 and we used the MG3 when I started. I loved it and loathed it. When it ran it was fun shooting, but my limited experience was mostly hauling it around and realising it was broken. The MG3 was simply to worn down and the army needed a replacement. First they used the Diemaco LSW, but its another beast entirely. The remaining functional MG3 was devoted to the fighting units, and as serving in support we didn't have them the rest of my service time. A couple of weeks ago during a train drive, I talked with some privates and they told me about their experience with M60 - apparently they echoed my own experience with MG3, amazing weapon when functional, but so sad when it does not.
Very nice knowledgeable presentation. I was a 60 gunner in the 70s and we used a cleaning rod for disassembly. Bolt forward and pulling the yolk is the easiest way for disassembly, but we were trained to use a cleaning rod under the shoulder plate on the butt stock and use the cleaning rod into the hole in the butt stock. Qualified expert at the range on the tombstone style targets and used the tripod and T&E mechanism to make range cards, played a role as a door gunner in a Huey and I loved the weapon for its superior fire power, adaptability, and other capabilities as plunging fire and dropping rounds down onto targets
I had a love-hate relationship with the Pig. Didnt really mind carrying it (esoecially if the AG was humping the spare barrel), hated zeroing it (knowing the zero would only last.until the first barrel change, so why bother?), and loved the ROF (about *perfect* for an infantry GPMG, IMNSHO). *Provided* the gun was working and not worn out. But even when I was loving it, there were a handful of things I wanted changed. Change the leaf spring on the pistol grip to one or two captured pins, a fully adjustable front sight (so each barrel could be zeroed to the *gun* and the rear sight on the gun could be served to the *gunner*), move the carrying handle to the barrel for barrel swaps (and to reduce stress on the receiver - we were told to not carry it further than, I believe it was 50 or.100 meters, to avoid breaking it clean off), and move the gas system and bipod to the receiver. Would have liked a little more oomph in the operating system to improve belt pull, but only if the nice low ROF could be kept. The issue of the fact that the White gas system was the Blish lock of its day was unknown by me until I was about to get out. (Yeah, it turns out the extra complexity of the gas expansion cutoff on both this and the M14 are futile - long before the system has moved enough to cut off the gas, the bullet has left the muzzle and port pressure has dropped to near ambient anyway... something the US Army knew at least as far back as WWII...) The service life issues were caused by pure penny pinching BS. Like the "disposable" aluminum magazine Stoner designed the AR15 around, the bean counters refused to accept that this was intended to be used for a specific amount of service and then replaced. It was accordingly only built for that limited service - as opposed to something like the M240 (which is built like a tank, and the weight of the gun is the result). Trying to "stretch" theblife.of the gun and parts well beyond their design life was shortsighted and the epitome of "stupid cheap". I'm glad they've fixed most of the issues (albeit too late to save the gun in major US service) - including as I understand it making the gas pistol so you can't put it in backwards anymore - with later variants.
My experience was the clapped out version that had done a couple of tours of Vietnam, but was now put together with the worn parts, a safety switch with no detent spring pressure left that would rub on your belt buckle and keep flicking to fire and pistol grip retaining spring that would fall off. Its understandable as it was the early '90's and they were being replaced. I had the pistol grip fall off, but it only went through around 10 rounds of blank before stopping. They were still great at the range where you could keep them clean and full of oil, but is the bush in the dust they were a bit of a pain to live with. I was very happy when their replacements arrived, but if you wanted to shoot through cover, 5.56 just didn't do it the same as 7.62
I carried this baby in multiple times and places loved it! I did do an unauthorized modification to several... and that was I’d bend the normal single crease in the flat spring that secured the Trigger group to the MG, into a “W”of sorts made the disassembly a tad bit more difficult but I never lost the flat spring for any reason after that was done! It shortens the spring a bit and makes it Bind harder but it would never fall off!
Another great presentation. The memories come flooding back. The buffer stock which really worked well...plus that gas piston that could be put in the wrong way. Lack of a handle on the barrel, which meant an asbestos mit had to be carried for barrel changes (though rarely carried on exercise). Each barrel coming with legs which added to the weight. Demanding of maintenance in the field (the ones we used were definitely clapped out, all ex Vietnam I would guess). Additional stripping and assembly could be very demanding in field conditions. Which they almost certainly required to keep them reliable. As Ian so rightly points out, worn bits would have the potential to cause other bits to fall off. Very embarrassing when in close country. We still had the Bren in reserve, so I had the privilege of receiving training on that as well. In hindsight, the Bren was a superior LMG at section level, very ergonomic, excellent to maintain, with a gas regulator if I recall correctly. Just not belt fed. The M60 was replaced in Australian service in due course by the GPMG Mag 58. Which makes us in the con camp.
I carried one of these with bipod and shoulder strap/sling in the Australian Army Reserves as a section gunner in the late 90's. I had a blank round detonate in the open breach one night as you mentioned, with a spectacular shower of sparks out of the ejection port. I was stunned for a moment not able to think what to do until my no.2 gunner told me to recycle it, which set me back in action as my training instilled in me and after recycling the action off we went again firing away without any further issues.
"can snap forward and cause a nasty blood blister" i call things like that "finger pinchin bastards" Thank you for revisiting the M60! Such a neat firearm!
Was a 60 gunner during my deployment in Germany in the mid 80s. Loved the weapon and its ability. Could really tear up some crap. One day at the qualification range a duce and a half pulled up full of boxes of ammo. It was about to expire and needed to be used, so we were given the task. Shot for hours, switched off back and forth between my 60 and M16 A1. Had a blast, that is till I had to clean them back at the unit. Spent as much time cleaning as shooting. I know the Army uses the SAW now but am skeptical on how much firepower you have with the 5.56 versus the 7.62.
In 1982 my battalion was very understrength. Late that year, we began to be beefed up with new Marines and some very good NCOs. As weapons platoon cmdr. I never had much luck getting the M-60s to run well. All of a sudden I get this new machine gun section leader. He tells me one afternoon he needs to leave for a few hours. When he returns, he has some parts which we had always had a problem getting. I think they were something to do with the sears. He also had some barrels with the flash suppressers welded up and small holes drilled in them to use as blank barrels. He said he would not put BFAs on good barrels. Naturally I say "where did you get that stuff?" and, of course, he says "don't ask sir" or words to that effect. The next time we go for a shoot he had them rockin. We always used the tri-pods in defensive positions. I ended up loving the M-60 after seeing his competence make them function so well. He would have the teams make range cards. They took links apart and put tracer rounds all in a row. Then at night he would show me how they could use the T&E mechanism to dial into pre arranged targets in the impact area and put the rounds right on the money. I made sure the skipper knew I had nothing to do with the success of the machine gun section. All credit goes to the section leader. However, still made me look good. I always did love great NCOs and Staff NCOs. Just stay out of their way. Thanks for the video!
I remember reading in 'The Battle for Coral' about the Australians in Vietnam, General Wesrmoreland (sp ?) visited the Australians and came across an Australian soldier cleaning an M.60. Westmoreland asked the Aussie what he thought of the M.60. 'It's a piece of shit' was the reply. The Australian soldier then proceeded to tell the general exactly why it was a piece of shit. There was a photo of the incident, with the Aussie making an emphatic point to a gobsmacked looking general, and behind the general an Australian officer laughing his arse off! Got to love the Australians, no respecters of rank!
It was a piece of shit, our gun teams cleaned the shit out of them, they still would malfunction, but, we had M-14's, so, it was not so bad, then we changed out to the M-16, after about a month, in any engagement, less lead was going out than before.
@Rodney 1984 Australia makes the US look like a libertarian paradise compared to Australia. Especially since the unspecified virus, y'all went full jackboot on your population.
I only got to fire 50 live rounds from an M60 in basic at Ft. Knox in 1976. About 2 years later in the field in Hawaii, I was on perimeter guard with one of our M60 gunners as his swamper. One night we had an aggressor attack and even though we were only firing blanks, that M60 was lighting the dark jungle up until the blank adapter literally melted off the end of the barrel and shot away like a tracer round. We were lucky it didn’t hit anyone. We didn’t have another so I just switched over to my M16. I still have an old photo of my 20 year old self holding an M60 with a belt of ammo wrapped around my neck. Very iconic weapon and a great memory. I wish I could have fired more live rounds from it.
Yeah…about those cardboard boxes the ammo came packed in. It rains a lot in 'nam at certain times of the year, and those cardboard boxes would get soaked with rain water and become a squishy mess. If that happens, some of that soggy cardboard would get dragged into the feed mechanism and cause jams. So those boxes got tossed as soon as we opened them.
Even just carting the box's about there going to get chewed up in short order.
Many many years later in a war zone far far away they were still trying that with the M240 then someone in supply discovered they made heavy canvas bags that were made to hold just the ammo and it clips under the rifle in denominations of 50 rounds 100 and 200 rounds, lord it's like someone had a brain and designed something that works
From a friend that served 68-69 and loved the M 60 some creative re-engineering of a lima bean can would give you a 50 rd holder , nicer to carry ..
Did you keep the canvas bandoliers for carrying ammo? I'm part of a reenactment group and our MG guy is always getting annoyed with the belts over his shoulder and catching on stuff.
@@huntclanhunt9697 My combat load as a 60 gunner was 100rd attached (no canvas bag) and 200 rounds in the canvas bags crisscrossing over the LBE. This was until they got wet or destroyed on maneuvers. Then it was Rambo style.
My best friend was the Pig handler in our platoon. He loved it and so did we. When he lit that that up, Charlie kept his head down. He was always cleaning and maintaining it. I cannot remember it ever failing us. ‘68-70 1st Cav
50 years ago? Wow cool
You boys put in some work if i ain’t mistaken on my history….
@@charlesmullins3238 yes. You could say that😉work I’ll never forget
We had a great crew on the M60. Several times in night contacts I caught out of the corner of my eye the barrel start to glow red, the quick change of the barrel, and resume firing. The tough part was crawling over with your belt of M60 ammo to keep the feed going. '69 C 1/7 1st Cav.
@@pretzelogic2689 2/12 C company 1st Cav. Welcome home brother
USAF sent me to basic and advanced M60 Gunner courses in 1983. Advanced course was basically the T&E tripod. We never took apart the gas tube, but we did disassemble the trigger group. A couple of years later I was disassembling one after not seeing one for about a year. With the gun sitting on its nose, I pulled that flat spring and pushed out ... the sear retaining pin! The sear shot forward, the spring and guide both flew into the twilight zone! Several minutes later all the parts had been located and there was a happy ending.
Fast forward to 2003, Baghdad. US Army now, our Battery XO gets an M60 for his truck! They had run out of 240Bs and managed to find a pig! He was dismayed because he'd never even seen one before! I told him I had formal training on the weapon and instantly became his gunner.
This was a fun trip down memory lane, and like I said, I'd never seen the gas tube apart before so in addition to the development history this was new learning for me. Stay safe!
you must of went to camp bullis.. been there. done that.. 1981
@@hankjones2975 Yes, followed by ABGD, in July and August! Good times! Stay safe.
I had the armorer break it down to clean the piston a few times. But most of the time it was wired shut. I’ll take the M60 any day of the week. I was 11HE9 anti tank and it was our secondary weapon on our track. Preferred it over the M16.
GhostRider Don Here; I was a Huey Crew Chief/Door Gunner with the 195th AHC in 1967-68. On some days during the Tet Counter Offensive I fired up to 10,000 rounds a day through my M-60. Carried 2000 rounds linked together in one belt in a wooden grenade box and fed it over a C-rat Ham & Lima bean meal. We doubled the return spring for an extra 50 rounds. per minute rate of fire. Every night we would liberally lube the bolt. When we noticed the rate of fire dropping due to carbon build up in the gas ports we stripped the gun down for a thorough cleaning. First time we fired it the next day it would jamb. We would clear it and go on without jambs until next port cleaning. When the tracers stopped flying straight we would change barrels. I loved the M-60 it saved my life in several machine gun shoot outs with targets on the ground. That being said anyone who came across those guns in later years would need to rebuild them. Loved this video, thanks Ian
I would take the gas piston to a bench grinder with a wire brush wheel on it one one side and a cloth wheel on the other side. The gas piston after having all the carbon build up removed then highly pollished with the cloth wheel made the 60 run like a champ. Never saw any jams with a clean and shiny gas piston. I always put a little LSA on it.
@blueduck9409 We didn't have access to wire brush wheel. So we used hand power, wire brush and emory cloth safety wire for the port hole. Yes that gun would sing.
Had a 100 round runaway gun when the pistol grip dropped off during a demonstration engagement. Number 2 was so shocked he just sat there stunned for a bit then missed grabbing the belt twice. I just held onto the butt and tried to keep it pointing down range from our spectators. Apparently impressed a few young fellas into signing the dotted line...range officer, not so much.
Finally we found the moment that created the Iconic Rambo (1) Machine Gun scene.
Had a somewhat similar scenario with an M249 around when they started getting widespread in the army. There’s something beautiful about just holding on for the ride, but I’ll bet your bronco was bucking a LOT harder than mine!
Some days you just have to ride the lightning!
Had my mag operator have a runaway, we are taught to use our feet as the stopper, had a friend geta few cuts on his hand from it.
@@GetTheFO I'm shocked the 249 didn't jam, ngl! Every time I've seen a 249 run, it has had stoppage after stoppage, and that's just using belts!
Mine was a slightly different experience, as a Huey gunship crewman in '71. We'd discard the butt plate and remove the bipod legs from the barrels to save weight, since we fired freehand. The guns were not yet worn out, and were (in my experience) outstandingly reliable. The most I've ever fired in a night was about 5,000 rounds, and never had a "normal" jam. The biggest problem was getting the weapon oriented wrong to the airflow, which would blow ejected brass back into the chamber and cause a stovepipe jam. This was normally only a problem for the crew chief, who fired from the left side of the aircraft and the brass ejected forward. Once the barrel got to glowing red the rounds would start cooking off just as the bolt locked, and the resulting change in sound was unmistakable. Time to swap barrels. No need for the asbestos glove - just dump the barrel on the floor of the ship and slip in a new one. We'd normally carry 3 or 4 spare barrels. The only problem I had was one time when the screw holding the cover in place which guides the operating rod handle worked loose and the handle fell out. You can see the screw at the right rear of the receiver, just in front of the butt plate. That was unpleasant.
One of the lesser-known skills that crew chiefs developed was a technique for letting the pilot know he was screwing up. When firing to prep an LZ, it was possible to angle the M60 so that the stream of ejected brass would hit the pilot's helmet and some would go down his neck. They jerk like chickens when you do that.
I carried two m60s in my sog team
Interesting if true
@@AJPMUSIC_OFFICIAL i held one in each arm like rambo
@@martytom7141 Rambo didn't hold one in each arm
@@AJPMUSIC_OFFICIAL if i say he did,HE DID BETA MALE ...IM THE ALPHA!!!!!!! your the beta.
I humped and jumped an M60 while in the 2/75th Rangers at Ft. Lewis in the mid 70s. Mine was a great gun. Watching you take it apart brought back memories of my introduction to it. I was an Assistant Gunner, we came in from training and they took my 45 apart, an M16 apart, and the M60 apart. Mixed up the pieces. Told me to clean them up and put them back together, then I could go eat. Yikes.
Fortunately one of the other AGs took pity on me and helped me after everyone left. The next time we went out out, I took the 60 down and put it back together 4 or 5 times a day, sometimes in the dark. But in the field we did not take it completely apart. Just enough to clean and lube it.
Great video
RLTW
Yikes? That sounds like a ten minute job, tops. Nothing from any of those three guns is even remotely like the others, so the jumbled pile of parts doesn't add much challenge. ETA: Oops, missed the "clean them up" part... yeah, being forced to properly clean three guns while precious chow time is ticking away is pretty yikes...
In the late 80s in Oz we had all the Vietnam era weapons. Never fired it enough to have issues but as an infantry soldier I just remembered carrying it miles and miles. Doing a 20km forced march with a 60 breaks you. How those guys did it for weeks in Vietnam impresses me. Add ammunition and back packs they were tough guys.
I was under the impression the vast majority of operations in Vietnam (besides a handful of major ones) were counted in days at most.
@@VitaKet Depended on your assignment.
I was a 0331 ( machine gunner ) in the Marines 86-90 and I carried the M-60 E 3 for 1 year before becoming a team leader on a gun then squad leader ran 2 gun teams loved that pig😁👍🏾👍🏾
For american it not that bad heli lift into combat zone or truck in , on foot patrol they didn't go that far , image being vietnamese soldier like my grandpa we have no truck to drive you to the combat zone or heli , you have to carry a bag of rice and some wood ,beside amunition , if you lucky you will able to catch some wild animal and add meat to the rice if not it dry fish and peanut salt
@@jerryle379 that's very interesting
Being the tallest guy in my platoon I got assigned this for a year. My first day in the field carrying it I jumped off the back of a 2.5 ton with it and, unprepared for the additional weight, spent a few days on my cot recovering from the back pain. I was happy to get my M16 back but they had added an M203 to it just for spite.
There's no technicalities why to carry around with this gun all alone. They did it because you did what them told you to do.
@@robertagren9360 It would be pretty awkward for someone else to be helping me carry it. It's not that big and not that heavy. I just didn't take into account how the additional weight over the M16A2 (maybe 25 extra pounds with ammo) would affect me when hitting the ground. I should have bent more at the knees, that's all.
Legend. See you in Valhalla.
I mean... You got a grenade launcher... I'd call having a Nade Launcher a win...
I love the 60 762 full auto v 556 piece of shit. I had it down Zeroed .
Remembering walking into my 1st Sergeants office just out of training. The first thing he said to me was "You're a big MFr. You look like a 60 gunner." Carry more, get yelled at more, displace more. What fun.
I have to comment about this one. I always had to marvel at "Uncle Sam's" sense of humor. They seemed to pick either the largest guy in the squad or the smallest (as was my case) to be the "Pig gunner." Having said that, when the Pig worked, it kicked more ass than Bruce Lee...When it didn't...well, it could be a miserable bastard.
@@raymondking214 Add me to the list of 60 gunners. I was chosen for my height...twice, in two different units. I never carried it in combat but carried it a lot in training. I hated shooting it simply for the fact that it took forever to get it clean enough to pass the armorer's inspection. Also there was nothing more disappointing than carrying the bastard 10 miles to the range only to have the firing pin break on the first shot!
Navy gator sailor wespac. I noticed that the smallest guys in the squad always had the pig gun or the radio. I asked the Gunny Sgt. why that was. He said that the smallest guys are the hardest for the NVA to hit.
I carried one as an Airborne Infantryman for years......never called it 'the pig'.....loved the damn thing. I do have scars on my right thumb from the operating rod slipping off the bolt during disassembly and cutting me with the sharp, squared end. Always proud to be a 'Sixty Gunner'.🌴🍀
In VietNam, we always disassembled and cleaned the gas piston and cylinder. In fact our gunner's mate tested each reassembled gun by pointing the weapon first at the ground and the piston should fall to the front of the cylinder, and then point the weapon straight up, and the piston should fall to the rear. If it did not move as just stated, he would give the weapon back for more cleaning. He also stressed that the small gas port at the front of the gas cylinder need to be clean and open. A non free piston could also give the single fire. None of our M60's had safety wire on the gas cylinder . I guess they were new enough that that issue had not popped up yet. The M60 I carried as a personal weapon was a seal modified one with the tripods removed and a hard rubber butt plate assembly and modified hand guard with no carrying handle. Was quite a bit lighter. Also had an aluminum box that clipped to the left side to hold the ammo belt.
Hello old friend. Used to carry one of those around way back in the day. Definitely as love-hate relationship. Loved having it for the firepower, hated carrying it around for the weight. I did run into some of the wear problems, but to me that just gave it charm like an old car with some quirks.
There’s a couple of reasons the boxes the belts of ammunition came in weren’t that popular in the field. The main one was that it was a thin cardboard box wrapped in cloth. As anyone that’s spent any time in the field knows, it’s wet. The boxes would get wet and nasty fairly quick. The other problem is that you couldn’t link belts together during sustained firing when they’re feeding from the box. So when the belt ran out you would have to swap in a new one instead of you or the AG just snapping another one onto the end. That’s one reason you would often see M60s with C-ration cans stuck over the box hangers. They weren’t used and the can made the belts feed more smoothly without getting hooked on the thing.
Better to be the guy carrying The Pig than the one carrying the ammo and the fucking spare barrel that just loves to smack you in the back of the noggin every fucking time you need to take cover, I assure you!
I've also seen described a "flanged feed adapter" that was apparently issued to helicopter door gunners and crew chiefs for the same purpose as the C-ration can, to simplify feeding of much longer belts directly from ammo cans on the helicopter's deck.
@@DrBunnyMedicinal
I was an a gunner in 82. Moved on to gunner for battalion hq security. Always training never combat. This video really took me back. Honestly I forgot most of it. I used to clean it by moonlight. I could do it by feel. For security I would truck in a tripod without the elevation screw. Humping that bag with 2 belts along with my a1 and 6 mags wow to be 19 again.
@@michaelvangundy226 Ahh, to be as invulnerable as 19 again, wouldn't that be something? ;)
Heard about the c-rat hack from a river rat that ran with the SEALS in nam.
In 2010 as a snot nosed officer cadet, I had the pleasure of perhaps being one of last groups of US Soldiers to use an M60... in the [simulated] killing fields of JBLM as we strolled through "Ewok Forest" and made the M60 go "CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP".
It was awesome wasn’t it? There’s just something special about the ‘ol pig. The rate of fire makes it so easy to shoot. I initially trained on the M60 in ‘93 and used it until I went to 82nd ABN Division in ‘97. They took our M60’s away and upgraded us to the M240B.
Tom Cruise in TAPS said it the best, ain't it fucking beautiful man?!?!
Cool. What’s the JBLM and the Ewok forest?
@@bobross4886 Joint base Lewis McCord, the Ewok forest is all of fucking western Washington state.
As an old 91B (combat medic before they switched the MOS designation to 68W) attached to an infantry unit, they asked if I wanted to carry the 60. After a couple of miles, jesus christ that thing is heavy. Can't imagine having to IMT with that thing. It definitely is a pig.
We had older M60’s at my airbase in 1988…which we carried or mounted. I was a shorter guy but was still a gunner. We did have newer ones but they were only used during exercises….we had Zero spare parts for new ones…but all kind of parts for the old one….which sucks cause the newer ones handles attached to the barrels and the gun wasnt as rickety or loud as the old ones. BUT the old ones shot great….and if you had an issue…ie runaway gun…you just twisted and broke the belt. Btw if you dont release the spring tension before pulling the yoke and take the butt off…the op rod will get stuck in the ceiling….ahhhh good times.
This video brings back a bad memory. M60 disassembly was the only ding I got in Basic from all of my testing. The M60 kept me from getting a perfect record.
Pros: Only 22 lbs vs the M240B which is a hefty 27 lbs. Slow cyclical rate.
Cons: You're right. At the end of the 90s, the guns had outlived their usefulness and certainly broke down a lot.
based on your opinion what is the best replacement for m60 in 7.62 NATO?
@@milkyyanks765 are we allowed to choose the pkm?
@@baker90338 The very reason why I specified 7.62 Nato is because I want to exclude PKM(Even tho I know there's pkm in 7.62 nato)
@@baker90338 I know that PKM is a great LMG but I want the West or atleast the Allied LMG
@@RonJohn63 Flimsy. It takes a tons of work just to keep them functional.
As a former US infantryman and aviator, I had a lot of experience with the M60. Much of the design made no sense, like the useless carrying handle, that the bipod was attached to the barrel instead of the gun, and you had to wire the gas piston cap to keep it from falling off. To change barrels you had to use an asbestos mitten, as if waving a big white Mickey Mouse glove in combat was a good idea (provided you hadn't lost the mitt). We made the gun work because we had to. That the MG42 (as the MG1 and MG3) continues in service while the M60 is pushed aside, says much about which is the better machine gun.
During the 1980s I was a USAF security policeman. The M60 was our squad automatic weapon. All of our M60s were leftovers from Vietnam and the asbestos mittens had gone MIA a long time ago. We were forced to use regular oven mitts to change the barrels. Ours had pictures of Santa Claus on them.
For me M60 just looks like MG42 (MG3) with extra steps done because of some neat ideas. So many parts more and all in all just not so sleek as MG3 which is easy to use and maintain even in winter conditions. Haven't had opportunity to wield M60 but by my experience it just seems that MG3 is easier to handle overall.... Quick and easy barrel change, not that many small parts to install incorrectly by accident nor did I had to think how this barrel was zeroed. So many similarities and yet the first one to come seems more efficient in many aspects. Yet somehow they made M60 lighter....
MG42 teams were also issued with an asbestos glove for barrel changes.
@@gwtpictgwtpict4214 The fact that it's physically possible to change the barrel without having put your hand on the hot metal is still a clear advantage for the MG43/MG3, and it's baffling that the M60 didn't include that.
Australian Infantry we just used our giggle hat to change barrels
I put a bunch of rounds thru the M60 while in the Army and loved it. The sound it made was distinct and no mistake on what was being fired. If kept clean and serviced I never had any memorable malfunctions that I can recall. It wasn't light but it was worth it. We were later given the M249 and it was great as well but the Pig and the 7.62 had that extra pen to punch holes the 5.56 couldn't get thru.
cant beat that 762 for bang
Carried one thru my 1st tour with 3/60inf all good except schlepping Ammo
I had no idea that the M60 was a derivative of the FG42. Sweet video as always. Thanks, Ian!
Almost my entire 12 years was spent in a weapons squad, most with the M60. Assistant gunner, gunner and Squad Leader. I graduated the 18th Abn Corp Machinegun Leaders course as a PFC. The M60 had it's issues, but it had some good points also.
The bipod is great, far better IMHO then that of the 240, 249 and MK48. While the spare barrels were heavy, you got a clean gas system when you swapped barrels. No one zero'd both barrels or would remember or have the time to change the zero everytime you swapped.
It has an almost bull pup design, that keeps the gun short and much more assaultable then the 240...which is essentially the equivalent of an 1919A6. It also kept the operating parts close when you manipulated the gun, open the cover and everything is right under your nose.
We disassembled the gas system all the time. I never saw the rear plug wired shut, always the front and bottom.
I never lost the trigger assembly, but did see one fall off, just bend the spring, some guys would wire it on. The safety is more intuitive then the crossbolt of the FN guns.
The gun in the video has the upgraded op rod with two sear notches to alleviate run away guns, there is an upgraded recoil spring and one piece guide rod also.
The correct way to remove the butt, is to use a cartridge or other "pointy thing" to depress the latch under the hinged shoulder rest.
The extractor would fly out of the gun on occasion, I had my gun detailed stripped at night on an LFX to fix that.
The feed lug on the bolt would need to be stoned down often to help feed correctly.
It was/is an OK machinegun, I guess by the time they put enough effort into correcting it's flaws, they just figured it was easier to get the FN gun. And Ranger Regt did just that.
"The correct way to remove the butt, is to use a cartridge or other "pointy thing" to depress the latch under the hinged shoulder rest.
"
That's definitely the correct way to do as per the manual and training, but really, pulling the yoke up&out is just so much faster and easier. Also far less dicking about with fiddly bullshit.
@@DrBunnyMedicinal
Oh I did it that way a lot, usually in the field in a hurry. Supposedly, yanking the yoke and wiggling the buffer out, wears out the latch. EIB or other training...use the latch
Am qualified with MAG(240 Israeli) Negev, and the m2. I appreciate the simplicity of operation and ease of use on all of these designs, while It was not my main role, I carried the extra barrel for the MAG, and was squad designated marksman. As long as they are kept clean, oild and covered( when in formation and stacking/laying out for inspection) they run pretty flawlessly. For how many issues the pig has, I always loved the silhouette of it, also the sound!
In the '50s there was no excuse for attaching the bipod to the barrel instead of the receiver. Any quick exchange barrel LMG design already figured at least that out since the late '20s.
We received our M240 summer of 1998 10th Mountain. M-60 was good. M240 is better. Heavier yet very reliable. First time we went to the range during our orientation. The instructor stood on the belt and told the gunner to fire. That MG ate all that belt. M240L is outstanding.
My dad used one of these in Vietnam. He was a helicopter door gunner in the 119th assault helicopter company. His m60 was free mounted on a bungee cord. He says the front sight is not used, at least he never used it. So barrel changes don’t matter as far as hitting your target. You aim by seeing where the tracer rounds are hitting. Full tracer is better than 4 and 1 for this
He has nothing but good things to say about the m60
I ran stoner M 42'S IN MY HUEY
Did he yell "git sum! git sum!" while shooting it?
I used the M-60 from 79-83 and you are right, the age and condition of the gun made all of the difference.
I was an M60 gunner in my fireteam in the Air Force in the '70's and never had an issue of any kind. Mine ran perfectly. I take some credit for that because I kept it cleaned, lubed and in good condition. MANY thousands of rounds and not a single hiccup.
Ya they ran great when they were taken care of. I never had any problems with it.
Back in the day I was a "Pig Gunner". Yes it was a heavy SOB lugging it around all day as an Infantryman. That being said it was AWESOME when it came to equalizing things or changing things in a fight. This video brought a tear to this old soldiers eye.
The machine gunner "angriest man on patrol, happiest man in the fire fight!" So very true.
@@Bear10174 Absolutely. It was a PITA dragging it around, but it had one hell of an impression when you let er rip!
Did that bush just speak Vietnamese?
@@imadrifter lemme fire a burst and make sure
@@imadrifter Quite possible. Lets dede maou.
I began service in 1977, and the M60s we had were in good condition. That puts me on the "pro" side of the coin. That gun was a delight to shoot as the buffering system was good enough to do the job. The first time i fired one, I was scared the recoil was going to hurt, and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't. Carrying that pig and its ammo around wasn't part of the fun, but knowing you had that kind of firepower nearby helped make up for it.
That, by the way, was one of the reasons why the belts weren't left in their boxes and bandoleer bags. The straps of the bags were narrow, and the belts were heavy enough to make them cut into your shoulders. If you took the belt out and draped it over your shoulder, the weight was distributed over a wider skin area.
"The straps of the bags were narrow, and the belts were heavy enough to make them cut into your shoulders. If you took the belt out and draped it over your shoulder, the weight was distributed over a wider skin area."
Thank you. That explains so much!
OMFG... so it was YOU who finally figured out that the drapes matched the carpet!!!
Thank you for this video. The one I used was earlier than this 1970-72. One thing was that it was going to cook off every time, break the belt, and I had to use a B-3A C ration can for a feed ramp for awhile until I got the proper part the can wouldn’t last very long. It was my favorite along with the M-2 mounted on a vehicle. Thanks for the video. You nailed the problems with the gun perfectly.
As a machine designer this channel is like a seminar! Great stuff and thanks
I spent the 80's and 90's working on M60's as a Small Arms Repairer. The biggest failure points I saw and the M60 were the bolt, op rod and barrel extension. The mating surfaces on the op rod yoke and cam groove in the bolt would get marred up terribly causing the roller on the yoke to break. The locking lugs on the bolt also tended to chip, chewing up the barrel extension and locking surfaces. Receiver rivets loosening up weren't super common, and could be re-riveted at depot level maintenance facilities. I only saw a handful of receivers needing this per year. I know at unit level, the armorers replaced alot of hand guards and shoulder stocks. The example you have in the video is a depot rebuild (or rebuilt by a gunsmith). You can tell by the rivets; the are not completely flush to the receiver plates and the welds on the trunnion.
Back in the 60's the jamming we had was caused by a gas piston getting carboned up and seizing. We would periodically raise and lower the gun sharply to see if we could hear the piston clicking, meaning it was still free-falling and not seized. Long time ago; maybe the gun was changed later. I'm an old man now; doubt I'd even remember how to tear one down and put it back together.
@@mnpd3 I'm another "old man" now. I was on orders for Vietnam (Chu Lai) with a report in date of mid November 68. I was stationed stateside at Ft. Detrick, MD so I went to Ft. Mead, MD for my RVN training and qualification with the M16. (Basic I qualified with the M14)
I was a pig gunner and I never had a problem with the M 60 . Yes , the M240 is a better weapon but we didn't have the M240 then .
Damn, an arms room guy who knows his shit. Hats off.
@@feedyourmind6713 Not an arms room guy. I'm the guy that repaired the stuff the arms room guy couldn't.
Our M-60's in 1976 Marine Corps were mostly Army hand-me-down's and in a pretty dismal state of repair. Well used is an understatement as all were Vietnam veterans and one Machine Gun Company went out with 10,000 rounds for training and came back with all guns inop and about 6,000 rounds unfired. Not so great. The armorers could only do so much with worn out guns and spare parts being unavailable due to post Vietnam budget cuts. Wasn't a great time to be in. But I've got to say every M-16A1 I was issued was a great shooter...so we did have good guns...just not so many M-60's at that time.
I was in the coast guard in the early 2000s and we must have gotten your guy's hand-me-downs. Our armorers were really good and we had access to spare parts but we were still super happy when we got 240s.
Dead on about the 16A1/2 though.
My parents said their 1976 M16A1s were brand new out of the packaging.
There's a trick there, not too well known.
The 60, when worn out, was a piece of crap. This is common knowledge. And ours in the Army were no better than what the Corps had. BUT...minigun ammo. In Panama, for some reason, we used to get a lot of minigun ammo for the pigs. Minigun ammo is near enough to match grade...and it worked even in those worn out POS pigs.
I’m going to be a social hand grenade, sorry. Can’t help think that the BAR and Bren gun didn’t wear out! Perhaps our grandfathers or great grandfathers built things better and used more high quality materials???
@@stephen7571 those firearms were engineered to last forever. However, the design was obsolete long before the firearms themselves wore out. Therefore all that effort and material in making them that durable went to waste.
I carried the pig in Vietnam some 50 years ago. Walked into a clearing and all hell broke lose. I was the 8th man back and i just stepped and starting raining hell fire on those little bastards. All my guys made it out with only me suffering a nasty head wound above my right eye. Since i was an fng at the time i thought i was the "meanest sob in the valley". Then i got to go on my 1st night ambush, i was the trigger man, when the 1st man entered the kill zone i pull the trigger. 50 years later on that still night i can still hear that bolt going forward and hitting that 1st round. The gun went boom and then there was silence for a second or two then all hell broke lose. My gun fired one round, case stuck in the chamber and tried to feed an other round jamming the gun. I was never so scared in my life as i had a jammed pig and no back up!!! From then on i took better care of my pig and carried a 45 cal as a back up for the rest of my tour. That experence was a hugh dose of humble pie!!!
As an old 0331, I never forgot being taught by Viet Nam veterans to Never initiate an ambush with a weapon that fires from the open bolt position.
At least you got a sidearm! The only time I got to carry an M9 as a SAW gunner was to chow when my team leader went on leave haha!
@@AtreideSardaukar my grampa was in Vietnam as well, his unit didn't even have ammunition and in his unit only officers could have a sidearm.
@@sorrenblitz805 medics were issued 45's and anyone could carry them, they were too heavy for me.
@@Pichouette As a newly minted mg gunner on the 240, more than a decade ago, I told myself that very same thing. To never initiate an ambush with an open bolt system, after learning it the sour way. You’re the only other person who has mentioned this, huge respect to you sir!
Brings back some memories from the 70's and 80's. Everybody liked firing them, nobody liked humping them. Used to compete firing off exactly one round or exactly two. Night fire tracers and white phosphorus to start fires (you had to go put them out). Platoon sergeant was Vietnam vet, taught us to use it like rifle - shoot from the shoulder. OOH-RAH!
Fun fact: I was submariner in the US Navy, and we had some of the last M60's in the Navy's inventory. Obviously small arms weren't really a priority for a submarine (probably why they gave them to us), but we did mount them in the sail while transiting on the surface through the Suez canal etc. We also had M79 grenade launchers lol. Why? I have no idea. We did get to train with them at Camp Pendleton during pre-deployment workups though, so that was a lot of fun.
I can only imagine what kind of SHTF scenario where a sub might have need for a 60. Bet it would make for a good there I was story, lol.
We have MK48s, M4s, and m500s now. No more grenade launchers though, that would be pretty cool to qualify with.
@8-Bit Andy did they all clap
@@davidmcleod6032 subs aren't always sub surface. Coming into harbour or transiting somewhere like the suez canal u could need small arms
I mean throwing 40mms at shore targets or maybe small boats approaching your surfaced sub could be pretty useful. I wonder if normal HE rounds would detonate on the surface of water or if they would skip/not trigger the pressure. If not, it'd be cool if they made rounds that would detonate on the surface so you could fire them at or near boats to tell them to fuck off or maybe even to damage them if they got too close.
I always love when you do videos on not forgotten guns. This way we can see what they used from old gunsq and made it better/simpler. Also vss video when?
When AK Guy will lend him one.
@@marvindebot3264 my thoughts exactly Forgotten Weapons+Ak guy colab
Yeah we need a video about the As Val and Vss Vintorez
He has said that he’s wanted to do a deep dive into all exotic/modern Russian small arms, but that it’d likely require an actual trip to Russia to get hands-on content. And with recent events, that might become difficult to do.
Its going to be quite difficult for Ian to get his hands on a VSS. The cartridge on its own costs your life savings for every bullet.
I can’t believe I still remember how to take it apart while you demonstrated it. I would go through the steps in my head before you showed the step. Carried the pig my first 2 yrs in the Army 91 to 93. Loved its firepower and strength. Wasn’t always pleasant carrying it in the field all the time 😂😂. But still loved it when it was time to rock. We use to do insane battle drills with it on the HMMWV and tripod battle drills in fixed positions with range cards.
Thanks for the video, I was a 60 gunner (3/172 MT inf) and I loved my pig. I also fired the MG 42 during training in Italy with their mountain troops. and yes we used a lot of safety wire but it had a very good feeling. we were still caring them up to the second Gulf War when my unit finally started to get the 240B's. That was also when we changed our M21s for M24s. Ours were older and we would have to do a lot of maintenance on them but they were very good at laying down fire. Nothing sounds so great as 3 of these talking to each other in a support by fire position.
I have laid next to the M60 in the dark in the jungle on ambush and felt comforted by knowing how reliable and how much firepower they put out. I don't remember one of them ever having a problem but that was 53 years ago and I might just not remember.
It's very weird how diverse the opinions are regarding this weapons's reliability. Some people say it's awesome, others claim it's a jam-o-matic, still others say it starts off reliable and then turns into a single-shot when the bolt cam starts wearing and mushrooming.
@@hunterbidensaidslesion1356 it really boils down to how well the gun has been and is being taken care of.
I was a 60 gunner in the Army...As an MP I was also issued a .45 so lucky me had to carry the 60, an M-16 and a .45
You had to carry the M16 and M60 both at all times?
How many grid squares did you have to carry?
Pig with a pig
@@ac1dP1nk thats just rude but the bacon of it
RIP your back and knees
I was a 60 gunner early in my Army infantry career. We switched to the M240 a few years later. Although I never personally experienced the malfunctions you mention, which were prevalent in the older examples, I did hear of them happening. Mine worked fine.
Is M240 real good?
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE M60…
Carried it for years in the U S Army Infantry…👍👍👍
This was our squad machine gun during my military service. Even in line Infantry units by the early and mid 80's they were worn out. We had one fire out of battery at Ft.Knox ... that's a hell of an introduction to the gun.
We were using Vietnam era guns in the early 2000s in the coast guard. I was damn happy when we switched to the 240.
When I joined my department in 2009, we had ar15s from the early 70s. Still had screw-in take down pins. I work for a really big and well funded department, too, which made it even funnier.
@@Solnoric Jesus that’s just sad
@@jason200912 Line infantry in todays terminology just means regular infantry.
The gun just radiates incessant amount of Fortunate Son.
I cannot picture this gun without a helicopter door
Me = RAMBO!
@@HappiKarafuru Murdock!
I imagined you saying that with Quagmire's voice.
God dammit i love it
Thanks for this, it brings back some memories of going to M60 school after basic and carrying this on fireteams during my time in service in the 80's. On a fun note: my first base in England and post was during a NATO exercise on a parameter post with the M16 and of all things an M79.
Thanks for the deep dive, I always remember my local gun shop had 2 of these, one was the helicopter mount the other was infantry. Both were for sale, never asked the price, but no doubt far less than they are worth some 40 years later.
If memory serves, a gun show outside Tucson had one for sale in 1992, '93, or '94 for $6500. If I had had that much in my pocket, getting it might have been high on my bucket list.
They ain't $6500 today, that's for sure.
I was a M60 gunner in an infantry squad in the mid to late 80's. I loved the 'pig'. Carrying it through the woods could be a pain, but in contact it was great. I kept it clean and rarely had any issues with it.
I was in one of the last active duty army units to carry the M60. Mine was not only highly reliable, but it was also extremely accurate. I routinely hit man sized targets at 800m with a 2-3 round burst. I was sad to see it replaced.
240 is waaaaaaaay better
We should have just bought MG3s and called it a day.
This is my m60. There are many better than it, but this one is mine.
Glad to see it was replaced. The M60 was a dumpster trying to be a gun.
My experience with the M60 is that when it was working properly it was very accurate. That was in the late 90's to '01. I also agree that the M240 was much better
The grip spring fell off a lot. When speed assembling/disassembling, the two-part roter bolt assembly would sometimes cut your knuckles. It was good for what it was. The links would drop into the mechanism sometimes when trying to clear it or when using blanks. The centered firing pin design could easily shatter. After shooting 200+ rounds, if you touched the barrel it would give you a nice brand burn. The one on my palm has faded out in the last 25 years.
lol sigh.....
"if you touch the barrel after 200+ rounds you'll get a nice burn"
Literally natural selection, no wonder you guys couldnt take Vietnam.
Perfectly paced, incredibly informative, and just the right length. Thank you for taking the time to do these.
Fun fact: when the leaf spring falls off you don't necessarily notice it right away. It always happens at night during a movement. Then the front pin on the trigger assembly works it's way out. Once that pin falls out, then you have a runaway gun....and you have to decide to either a) open the feed tray cover and risk blowback in your face b) break the belt or c) aim the muzzle into the dirt and let it run. We typically safety bail wired the front pin too, and didn't conduct movement with the bolt charged. I am among those who hated this gun. We had to scavenge to keep them operable, and ended up sending them off to depot. The 240 was a far superior gun.
Seems to be par for the course for folks who served with old guns, instead of new guns.
Everyone who had new guns seems to have loved them.
a brand new 240 is superior to a 100,000 plus round used 60...
That's not saying much. 60 is better. Just don't try to run broke assed 60s.
I would put thousands of rounds through my M60 on a daily basis and it would just keep on firing. In a year of heavy daily firing I had two failure to fire, just two!!!...
I was assigned an M60 1989-90.
Having been a unit armorer before my assignment with 9 of them to maintain.
I knew what parts needed replacement and some TLC to make it run like a top.
Many unit armorers would tell the M60 gunners not to clean the gas piston unless there was a problem.
Because they did not want to re lace the safety wire.
This caused lots of issues on the range.
Especially if the M60s had been used extensively for shooting blanks during training.
I remember the yellow barrels.
My experience with the M60 was in 66&67 as a crew chief/door gunner on a "C"" model Huey. We had six M60s on board. One at each door and four flex guns on the wing stores. Our door guns and flex guns were heavily modified with the flex gun stock cans in place of the regular stocks, no sights or bipods. All this to reduce weight as much as possible as our guns were held in place with bungee cords and not fixed mounted. In addition we had a mettle box called an assault pack that clipped to the side that held 200 rounds of ammunition with a mettle rod that swong over the top. It allowed us to fire the weapon in any way we needed, even inverted. I had to learn on the job so to speak and had my trigger housing fall off because of a weak spring clip, and an out of battery discharge do to worn parts,you name it and it happened to me. All In all I wouldn't trade it for any reason. We would fire 200 round bursts at a time when the gun run out we would put 200 more rounds in and do it all over again. I literally fired tens of thousands of rounds through that gun. At night the barrel would get so hot it would glow white and you could see the bullets go down the barrel, but those guns kept right on firing.
I carried an M60 in the late 80s as an MP in Germany. (Only for field problems, of course.) I never had to go into combat, and I loved my 60. It worked great with live ammo but jammed every burst with blanks. We worked from vehicles, so the extra barrel's bipod and gas tube weight weren't a problem.
This video brings back some memories. Thank you for making it! I love seeing an old friend like this, and enjoy obscure older guns that you detail as well. Keep up the great work!
Yay, a new episode of Misremembered Shootems. Sorry, Ian, Othias made me say it.
@@kowell 🤣🤣🤣
@@kowell I could very well hear his voice in the broken English 🤣
Unrecalled Boomsticks
Poorly Recollected Pewpews
cringe
Btw: Having to lock the bolt backwards to operate and being unable to close the cover with the bolt forward are also things that apply to the MG42 and later MG3. They also can't be put on safe then the bolt is forward.
/edit: The point Ian raises at 25:50 is very valid, the German army currently sees how much the MG3s have aged. SOme so much that the stamped receiver became a few mm longer for the most used guns.
At my time in the army I had the opportunity to shoot two types of MG3. One, very old MG3, which was originally an MG1A3 (you could see the letters 1A crossed out) and a relatively new (still produced in the late 1980s) MG3. The former was just plain horrible -- stoppages every few rounds. The gun (presumably) found it's unceremonious end when I broke it's old Bakelite buttstock while diving into cover in an exercise.
The gun after that was miles better, but according to our armourer it only had a few thousand rounds on the counter since production and then had been stored away as reservists equipment.
It's currently so bad with the MG3 (since Rheinmetall has sold all the dies for the receiver) that new receivers for old guns are MILLED by HK...
Let me guess, Bundes Uschi had something to do with this state of affairs?
I loved , loved , loved the MG3 during my time.
MG3 can have the cover closed with the bolt forward, the operating roller has a spring and is pushed down by the feed parts in the cover. When the bolt is pulled back it pops into the track. (At least thats true for Norwegian MG3s)
@@PhilanderingBastard No. Machines were sold in the early 90's to Tukey and Parkistan because we didn't need them anymore. The Bundeswehr had enough MG3 for more than a million soldiers and was just in the process of being reduced from 600k to 250k as per the 4+2 agreement.
At that point in time there really was no need to keep them. The consensus in NATO was that Russia wouldn't be a threat anymore and even if, they would know an attack well in advance (which the current Ukraine crisis confirmed, NATO knew exactly where Russian troops were, it was politics who didn't want to believe in an attack), and thus they could create new dies if needed. After all Rheinmetall still has the drawings, but the MG3 that need to be replaced are so few in number that creating them is far costlier than just milling new ones. Especially since the units who use the MG3 the most are also getting new MG5 at the moment.
That's a thing that people often forget: Stamping weapons is only more cost effective if the number of guns goes in the millions, before that milling is more cost effective. Modern CnC machining shifts this even harder towards milling as you now can have one operator for multiple machines and you don't even need to manually swap tools or rotate the workpiece.
All in all the MG3 only has it's nostalgia factor going for it. The rate of fire is too high for infantry use, but far too low for anti-aircraft use. Barrel change is a pain in the ass and because of the stamped sheet metal construction you can't mount optics on it that reliably hold zero. Also, the sling is just utter shit and the box hanging off from the left side (a problem the M60 also has) makes it unwieldy.
The MG5 is more reliable, has a better rate of fire, better ergonomics overall. It's just the better gun.
@@Ruhrpottpatriot Thanks. I got out in 1995 so the MG5 wasn’t on the cards yet. Agree about the sling, the MG3 definitely wasn’t much fun to lug around.
@@PhilanderingBastard Seemingly a ton of extra weight to carry, but ... ooh yes, I loved it.
And mine ran just so smoothly.
Of course I always took good care of it - not like the guy before me who left the whole gas block covered in 1mm baked powder smoke 😆
And seeing what the Americans ‘made out of it’ ... honestly, they should have simply copied the whole thing.
Fielt maintenance and barrel exchange is just so easy and simple with the 42 and 3. Also that you can put the bipod to the center of the MG for less accuracy but a larger angle of coverage.
This was such an excellent, well-researched video. Ian hit the mark on all points: I was in a Marine M-60 section from 1979-1983. I loved shooting the gun, and it was easy to maintain, too. We had equipment for six teams in my section, but I don't think all six guns were functioning at the same time while I was with the section. However, we were always short-handed, so that wasn't a problem. The leaf spring holding the pistol grip could be a problem, but it was one we understood and generally were able to deal with it. Likewise, training addressed the proper sequence in pulling the bolt assembly to the rear before releasing the receiver cover. The issue with the gas cylinder was almost never encountered because we were prohibited from disassembling it (and not only was it wired shut, it had a lead seal that would show tampering). Thanks for the great video, Ian, it really brought back some great times.
Isn’t it crazy that we’ve used the M2 as our staple HMG for so long, now that’s something the M60 can’t replace
My dad was an Army machine gunner in the 50s and 60s. He definitely didn’t like the M60. In his experience they were unreliable, issues with the firing pins and ejection. He said he preferred the 1919 and BAR.
Thanks for revisiting the M60, it's such a cool and interesting gun :D .
glad to see you sweary keyboard man
ayy, how are you doing Tom?
The only similiarity that I can see in old loud keyboards and old loud machine guns is the sound.
@@Allumik Something like it. They both have a very satisfying and tactile mechanical operation and sound. Plus of course, they have interesting mechanisms and sometimes histories!
@@Chyrosran22 You can add another similiarity to that list - using both of them in a office environment will make your coworkers hate you.
ps. getting replied by Chyrosran22 is probably the internet highlight of my life.
I remember the 1979 Spring FTX in the Belgian Ardennes where the 82nd Abn Div was dropped all over the Saint-Hubert area. With our Belgian GPMG (The MAG), we were playing the opposing force … we hunted. Yet, seeing the 82nd air dropping was awesome, if a little upsetting for they dropped the heavy stuff over a DZ where a whole regiment had just landed …
Being a veteran, and the operator of the PIG. I am letting them know when these are being put out to pasture I am willing to adopt and give it a loving home for the rest of our days!
Your take at the end is spot on. Even with modern MGs like the M240 or M249 you hear "love it or hate it" comments from Service Members which usually can be attributed to how much that MG was used and abused as it related to that particular Service Member.
oth everyone apparently loved The Bren/L4/ZB26 etc
Finally, I get to see exactly how and why this iconic gun has gotten its reputation. I have finally seen the guts of The Pig. This is why I love this channel. Thank you Ian.
Great to see the old Pig up close and personal. As for aiming, the sights just let you know your pointing it in the right direction. Most gunners just walked it in using the tracers for the fine tuning. Area Suppression weapon.
One thing I thought was interesting is that the official procedure to disassemble the gun is to lift the butt plate/shoulder brace, and insert the tip of a round through the hole to detach the butt from the buffer. Then you pull the yoke up to take the buffer out, but no one does it that way, not even you, Ian. It's easier to do what you did and give the buffer a little wiggle to get it out of the butt after you take it off. The safety wire didn't just keep 3 parts screwed into the gas cylinder, it kept grunts from taking the piston out then putting it back in backward. MOST of the time. I had at least one come into the shop that way, with the explanation, "It doesn't work." I worked on a LOT of M60s in the '80s and don't recall there ever being burrs on the sears causing problems, unlike the M85 machine gun sears I often had to file smooth. I was supposed to stone them but never had a stone. I just had "receipts" in m,y toolbox saying the stones were on order. So I filed them with Swiss pattern files AKA needle files. One of the armorers brought an M60 in that was the only runaway gun I remember having to work on. Someone took it apart and put the sear in upside down and backward. I didn't know it was possible to put it in wrong until that day. When they held the bolt back and loaded a belt, then let the bolt fly home, there was nothing to stop it from firing a whole 200 round belt. I assume the assistant gunner or the gunner twisted the belt to break it off or jam the gun, so they didn't fire it all. On some of the most heavily used guns, the 2 main parts of the receiver started coming apart in the middle. You could camp the front in a vise so it didn't move and the back end could flop around when you put any pressure on it. Before i got out of the army I ended up ordering so many barrel assemblies, bolt assemblies, and op rod assemblies that I still remember the national stock numbers for them over 40 years later. Before that incident, we never had too many problems with them. I can't remember if it was an M60 or another machine gun, that when I looked down the barrel I could see where the Stellite liner ended. There was a visible ring in the middle of the bore with a gap at the end of the liner. When the bullet passed from the lined to unlined portions of the bore, it was kind of like it shot out of one barrel into another.
I'm from the UK, never held a gun and seen one a handful of times. Loved this channel though! Excellent pieces of engineering.
The Crabs (RAF) had a few. Fired it in Vietnam of all places.
That's so sad James. You should really see if you can fire one at least once.
@@highjumpstudios2384 oh I will do, can go to a firing range in poland and shoot full auto aks and all sorts at cars for less than it costs for a train ticket here.
Just been a bit...hot....travelling to that part of the world lately.
@@jamesjohnston9319 im sure they'd appreciate some volunteers there atm
@@jamesjohnston9319 and firing a gun could have annoying consequences. 😉
I was an M60 gunner when stationed in Ft Ord. Both the M60 and the 1911 I was issued had seen better days. But overall, truth be told, I loved them both. Those 15 click marches with a full ruck and that M60 were brutal.
Loving Monterey.
suck it up buttercup, you could be wearing 45lbs of body armor as well or carrying half a 120mm mortar system or be a forward observer without an rto, or an entire javelin system.
@@salvadorebertolone lol, there's always someone that has it worse than you!
I think your explanation of why some loved it and some hated it was spot on.
Talking to a few people who served during or right after Vietnam, they loved this weapon, nothing but positive things to say about it.
Where as, talking to people who served in the late 80's they absolutely hated this weapon, couldn't think of one positive thing to say about it.
I was in a rifle company at LeJeune. 3 rifle platoon and a weapons platoon. Weapons had 6 M-60 MG crews and 6 3.5 rocket crews, so each rifle platoon could have 2 rockets and 2 M-60s attached when we went to the field. We often heard the M-60 people gripe about the pistol grip because it had a rubberized cover on it, and if you got solvent on it when cleaning the gun, it turned into "putty" that you could mold with your hand. I got a chance to fire a 3.5, but never an M-60. I carried an M-14 with a full-auto selector on it for awhile.
We didn't use the hanger method for the tissue box bandolier belts because, inevitably, the damn cardboard would be half turned into damp mush about 4 minutes after you reach the field or the ambient humidity was anything more moist than a dry-roasted Kuwaiti afternoon.
This really brings back memories! We never removed the safety wires so had no problems with putting it back together wrong. An amusing story: On the machine gun range at Fort Ord in the fall of 1967 someone spotted a few deer way out beyond the targets. The NCOs replaced us in the cement "foxholes" and began to fire on the animals. Even with several guns firing they could not hit the deer! What a day!
You were at Fort Ord 20 years before I was there. My dad was there in 65.
If you don't know about it now, Fort Ord in certain places has become California State University Monterey Bay. My old building's cafeteria was turned into a college laboratory.
We nailed a lot of boars with m60 in Germany
@@jpmangen heh you killed boars with pigs :P
M-60D user in the SH-60B Seahawk in 87-94 - a run-away once during training . It was exciting to use and a chore to maintain, was a fan when the Navy replaced it with the GAU-16 in the late 1990s.
Thanks for the flash backs! Carried the pig in the mid 80's down at Ft. Polk, LA (Dco. 4/6 INF MECH). Such a great weapon system. Also note, the 60 is the reason why breakfree came in a 16oz squirt bottle. They ran so much better when generously lubricated. Especially with the BFA.
I knew someone who had to lug one around during ROTC summer camp; they put in the gas system backwards, making it bolt action
I carried the pig in Vietnam about half of my 1st tour and the first one I had was absolutely wore out , the second one I was issued was great. Yeah it was a pain to carry but let me tell you what, when shtf it sure gave you a warm fuzzy feeling be able to Snugle down behind it and rain all kinds of Hell down on your opponent's. Later on I pulled quite a bit of door gunner Duty as well as driving trucks hauling munitions to firebases. My truck had twin 60s mounted where the passenger seat normally was inside of two different size Steel drain pipes filled in between with sand and a second one inside the Box set up the same way. That was our own DIY armor plating, which worked pretty darn well!
We also each carried the short barrel M16s normally issued to helicopter Pilots.
Sadly after the r t o you were the next target when in the field!
I did my basic infantry training with this in ‘71 and have fond memories of it as the section machine gunner.
I carried the M-60 in the eighties. The only other machineguns that I had fired was the .50 cal in AIT at Fort Benning, and the MG 3 when we did familiarization of foreign weapons at Fort Lewis. The M-60 was my favorite. Yes, it was 23 pounds (10.4 kg), but it was so much fun to shoot when you went to the range. I also carried the 90mm recoilless rifle. Unloaded, that beast weighed in at 32 pounds (14.5 kg). That one was a blast to shoot. (No pun intended.)
Also, there are field expedient fixes that you can do with wires that'll keep the leaf spring from falling off and the castle nut from unscrewing itself. As for the barrel change, if for some reason you don't have your glove handy (why wouldn't you?) You can always use the bipod as a handle. It doesn't heat up as much as the barrel and the gas piston do.
The mighty Pig! I used these in my time as an infantryman in the Australian Army in the 90's. Love them 😉❤
Its a fine machine that like slice fingers when removing bolt assembly spings and what nots.
Ditto, they certainly had lots of wear and tear on them, Got one at our local RSL that has been welded up to the point even the feed cover is welded, makes me sad.
OMG just remembered the horrors of training with the belts of plastic blank rounds, worn out pigs and those belts were the worst!
ARes in the late 70's to early 80's. Lots of time carrying and very little time firing ... Fewer than 200 rds to qualify as gunner (just watch fall of shot and follow instinct) ... The qualified as sigs and ended up carry M60 along with AN/PRC-77 on patrol through the scrub at high speed to make up for the officer candidate's inability to plan.
In 6 years, I reckon that I fired fewer than 1000 live and 200 blank rds from an M60. I did carry one for a total of about ... 500km or so. Not enough to really build up some muscles. ☹️🤔
@@BerndFelsche Can relate being the number 2 carrying the spare barrel, ammo etc and being gunner at times humping it all back with not firing a shot or very small amount. The 77 was a great set but also a pig of a thing to hump around.
Great video, as always! Slight correction: Denmark does not *still* use the M60A6 but has actually recently decided to adopt it. There is a little controversy around it simply because it is by now an old weapon system, even in its most modern configuration, and it was significantly heavier than every other competitor they tested, among other issues. But the benefit is obviously that it is extremely well-tested and reliable and fires the good 7,62 NATO round while many of the lighter guns it competed against fire 5,56 NATO and therefore lack the punch.
Range is also a consideration. If the army expects frequent engagement at ranges greater than 200m, 7.62 becomes almost required as 5.56 was not designed to reach out that far.
Someone in the comments mentioned having a runaway gun when their pistol grip fell off. In my experience, this would suggest that the leaf spring that held the takedown pins for the pistol grip had fallen off and the takedown pins had worked their way out.
To keep that from happening, we would wrap a length of tripwire around both of the takedown pins over the leaf spring. This would both keep the leaf spring in place, and keep the takedown pins from moving.
Also, if you get a runaway gun, keep the gun pointed up, and down range; then, just break the belt.
Great video, your conclusions at the end are spot on! Wish I'd known about using the buffer and spring rod to disassemble the gun further when I was in - would have made cleaning that much easier! In the Australian Army we had a different bracket that was designed to hold a semi-circular metal magazine for a 40 rd(?) 'taster' - mostly they were discarded as being impractical and belts just hung down. I did love their deep, heavy cyclic rhythm on ambushes, you certainly knew you were kicking ass!
I served in Denmark 2000-2010 and we used the MG3 when I started. I loved it and loathed it. When it ran it was fun shooting, but my limited experience was mostly hauling it around and realising it was broken. The MG3 was simply to worn down and the army needed a replacement. First they used the Diemaco LSW, but its another beast entirely. The remaining functional MG3 was devoted to the fighting units, and as serving in support we didn't have them the rest of my service time.
A couple of weeks ago during a train drive, I talked with some privates and they told me about their experience with M60 - apparently they echoed my own experience with MG3, amazing weapon when functional, but so sad when it does not.
I would like to see video about M60B used by UH-1 door gunners before M60Ds.
That's the real forgotten variant of this weapon.
Or a video looking at the evolution of the M60 in its different roles.
Very nice knowledgeable presentation. I was a 60 gunner in the 70s and we used a cleaning rod for disassembly. Bolt forward and pulling the yolk is the easiest way for disassembly, but we were trained to use a cleaning rod under the shoulder plate on the butt stock and use the cleaning rod into the hole in the butt stock. Qualified expert at the range on the tombstone style targets and used the tripod and T&E mechanism to make range cards, played a role as a door gunner in a Huey and I loved the weapon for its superior fire power, adaptability, and other capabilities as plunging fire and dropping rounds down onto targets
It is very important that the bolt must be forwarded before the yolk is removed for disassembly
had these in our inventory in 1978. older Marines who had been to Vietnam talked well of them. great vid, watched it for the memories
I had a love-hate relationship with the Pig. Didnt really mind carrying it (esoecially if the AG was humping the spare barrel), hated zeroing it (knowing the zero would only last.until the first barrel change, so why bother?), and loved the ROF (about *perfect* for an infantry GPMG, IMNSHO). *Provided* the gun was working and not worn out.
But even when I was loving it, there were a handful of things I wanted changed. Change the leaf spring on the pistol grip to one or two captured pins, a fully adjustable front sight (so each barrel could be zeroed to the *gun* and the rear sight on the gun could be served to the *gunner*), move the carrying handle to the barrel for barrel swaps (and to reduce stress on the receiver - we were told to not carry it further than, I believe it was 50 or.100 meters, to avoid breaking it clean off), and move the gas system and bipod to the receiver. Would have liked a little more oomph in the operating system to improve belt pull, but only if the nice low ROF could be kept.
The issue of the fact that the White gas system was the Blish lock of its day was unknown by me until I was about to get out. (Yeah, it turns out the extra complexity of the gas expansion cutoff on both this and the M14 are futile - long before the system has moved enough to cut off the gas, the bullet has left the muzzle and port pressure has dropped to near ambient anyway... something the US Army knew at least as far back as WWII...)
The service life issues were caused by pure penny pinching BS. Like the "disposable" aluminum magazine Stoner designed the AR15 around, the bean counters refused to accept that this was intended to be used for a specific amount of service and then replaced. It was accordingly only built for that limited service - as opposed to something like the M240 (which is built like a tank, and the weight of the gun is the result). Trying to "stretch" theblife.of the gun and parts well beyond their design life was shortsighted and the epitome of "stupid cheap".
I'm glad they've fixed most of the issues (albeit too late to save the gun in major US service) - including as I understand it making the gas pistol so you can't put it in backwards anymore - with later variants.
Your AG, had it easy lol Mine also had to carry the tripod and T&E. Flipping platoon leader always wanted them with us.
@@SomeoneDK oh, half the time the AG had the tripod - but the gunner *always* kept.the T&E if we took the tripod.
My experience was the clapped out version that had done a couple of tours of Vietnam, but was now put together with the worn parts, a safety switch with no detent spring pressure left that would rub on your belt buckle and keep flicking to fire and pistol grip retaining spring that would fall off. Its understandable as it was the early '90's and they were being replaced.
I had the pistol grip fall off, but it only went through around 10 rounds of blank before stopping. They were still great at the range where you could keep them clean and full of oil, but is the bush in the dust they were a bit of a pain to live with. I was very happy when their replacements arrived, but if you wanted to shoot through cover, 5.56 just didn't do it the same as 7.62
Carried one, loved it. Preferred it to the 240B. Took one to SW Asia in 2000. It worked well. Good maintenance and a good and armorer helped a lot.
I carried this baby in multiple times and places loved it! I did do an unauthorized modification to several... and that was I’d bend the normal single crease in the flat spring that secured the Trigger group to the MG, into a “W”of sorts made the disassembly a tad bit more difficult but I never lost the flat spring for any reason after that was done! It shortens the spring a bit and makes it Bind harder but it would never fall off!
As an Huey crew chief/door gunner in early 70's the M-60 (aerial version) work well and it didn't take long to get accurate.
It’s cool to see the stories of all of you that carried these. Thank you for your service!
Another great presentation. The memories come flooding back. The buffer stock which really worked well...plus that gas piston that could be put in the wrong way. Lack of a handle on the barrel, which meant an asbestos mit had to be carried for barrel changes (though rarely carried on exercise). Each barrel coming with legs which added to the weight. Demanding of maintenance in the field (the ones we used were definitely clapped out, all ex Vietnam I would guess). Additional stripping and assembly could be very demanding in field conditions. Which they almost certainly required to keep them reliable. As Ian so rightly points out, worn bits would have the potential to cause other bits to fall off. Very embarrassing when in close country. We still had the Bren in reserve, so I had the privilege of receiving training on that as well. In hindsight, the Bren was a superior LMG at section level, very ergonomic, excellent to maintain, with a gas regulator if I recall correctly. Just not belt fed. The M60 was replaced in Australian service in due course by the GPMG Mag 58. Which makes us in the con camp.
I carried one of these with bipod and shoulder strap/sling in the Australian Army Reserves as a section gunner in the late 90's.
I had a blank round detonate in the open breach one night as you mentioned, with a spectacular shower of sparks out of the ejection port. I was stunned for a moment not able to think what to do until my no.2 gunner told me to recycle it, which set me back in action as my training instilled in me and after recycling the action off we went again firing away without any further issues.
We going to see the new M60s that the Danes currently have as their machine gun?
Big fan of the channel and a big fan of the M60
"can snap forward and cause a nasty blood blister" i call things like that "finger pinchin bastards"
Thank you for revisiting the M60!
Such a neat firearm!
Was a 60 gunner during my deployment in Germany in the mid 80s. Loved the weapon and its ability. Could really tear up some crap. One day at the qualification range a duce and a half pulled up full of boxes of ammo. It was about to expire and needed to be used, so we were given the task. Shot for hours, switched off back and forth between my 60 and M16 A1. Had a blast, that is till I had to clean them back at the unit. Spent as much time cleaning as shooting. I know the Army uses the SAW now but am skeptical on how much firepower you have with the 5.56 versus the 7.62.
In 1982 my battalion was very understrength. Late that year, we began to be beefed up with new Marines and some very good NCOs. As weapons platoon cmdr. I never had much luck getting the M-60s to run well. All of a sudden I get this new machine gun section leader. He tells me one afternoon he needs to leave for a few hours. When he returns, he has some parts which we had always had a problem getting. I think they were something to do with the sears. He also had some barrels with the flash suppressers welded up and small holes drilled in them to use as blank barrels. He said he would not put BFAs on good barrels. Naturally I say "where did you get that stuff?" and, of course, he says "don't ask sir" or words to that effect. The next time we go for a shoot he had them rockin. We always used the tri-pods in defensive positions. I ended up loving the M-60 after seeing his competence make them function so well. He would have the teams make range cards. They took links apart and put tracer rounds all in a row. Then at night he would show me how they could use the T&E mechanism to dial into pre arranged targets in the impact area and put the rounds right on the money. I made sure the skipper knew I had nothing to do with the success of the machine gun section. All credit goes to the section leader. However, still made me look good. I always did love great NCOs and Staff NCOs. Just stay out of their way. Thanks for the video!
My friend was issued one in ROKA (this was in 2018). Always made fun of him when we had to carry it around, like when we had to do marching.
I remember reading in 'The Battle for Coral' about the Australians in Vietnam, General Wesrmoreland (sp ?) visited the Australians and came across an Australian soldier cleaning an M.60. Westmoreland asked the Aussie what he thought of the M.60. 'It's a piece of shit' was the reply. The Australian soldier then proceeded to tell the general exactly why it was a piece of shit. There was a photo of the incident, with the Aussie making an emphatic point to a gobsmacked looking general, and behind the general an Australian officer laughing his arse off! Got to love the Australians, no respecters of rank!
It was a piece of shit, our gun teams cleaned the shit out of them, they still would malfunction, but, we had M-14's, so, it was not so bad, then we changed out to the M-16, after about a month, in any engagement, less lead was going out than before.
@LabRat Knatz he literally used it dude.
I know any number of Australian army m6 gunners who loved the things and I never had any problems myself...keep em clean they work fine..
Nothing to do with respect for rank. The General asked for an opinion and he got what he asked for. That's just proper military discipline.
@Rodney 1984 Australia makes the US look like a libertarian paradise compared to Australia. Especially since the unspecified virus, y'all went full jackboot on your population.
I was a 60 gunner on a fire team in the USAF. I loved the weapon. It was a lot of fun on the range, and it had a great psychological impact.
I only got to fire 50 live rounds from an M60 in basic at Ft. Knox in 1976. About 2 years later in the field in Hawaii, I was on perimeter guard with one of our M60 gunners as his swamper. One night we had an aggressor attack and even though we were only firing blanks, that M60 was lighting the dark jungle up until the blank adapter literally melted off the end of the barrel and shot away like a tracer round. We were lucky it didn’t hit anyone. We didn’t have another so I just switched over to my M16. I still have an old photo of my 20 year old self holding an M60 with a belt of ammo wrapped around my neck. Very iconic weapon and a great memory. I wish I could have fired more live rounds from it.