Quote:
Originally Posted by Hufflepuff
M-60 and MG-42:
Similarities:
A: Both have a pistol-style hand grip underneath a bipod mounted barrel.
B: Both are fully automatic squad weapons (AKA, one or two per squad).
C: Both are belt-fed.
D: Both use the same ammunition as thier riflemen comrades; the M-60 and the M-16 both take 7.62mm rounds, and the MG-42 and Kar-98K both take 7.92mm rounds.
Differences:
A: The M-60 uses a 7.62mm cartridge, or .30 caliber, smaller than the 7.92mm Mauser round used by the MG-42 and German infantry rifles.
B: The MG-42 has a much faster rate of fire than the MG-42.
C: The MG-42 can in some instances be equipped with telescopic sights, allowing engagements of over a mile. This was not possible with the M-60.
D: The obvious, such as nationality, designers, producers, etc etc etc.
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You missed the most important difference: that they use entirely different operating mechanisms, based on entirely different principles.
The M60 is gas-operated: there's a hole part-way down the barrel from which some of the propellant gas is tapped off into a cylinder running parallel with the barrel. This gas drives a piston down the barrel, and this in turn drives the operating mechanism.
The MG 42 is recoil-operated: each time the gun fires, the recoil causes the barrel and action to recoil in the receiver. After a few millimetres, the bolt is unlocked from the barrel by disengaging roller-locking devices which link the two, the barrel is stopped and the bolt continues rearwards by itself to complete the loading cycle.
That's about as different as MG actions can get.