Light machine gun facts for kids
A light machine gun, or LMG, is a special type of machine gun. It's designed to be carried and used by just one soldier. LMGs are often used to help a small group of soldiers, like a squad, by providing lots of bullets quickly.
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What are Light Machine Guns?
Light machine guns usually fire smaller bullets than medium machine guns. They are also lighter, which makes them easier for one soldier to carry. The main way to tell an LMG apart is by how it's used in a battle.
Some machine guns, like general-purpose machine guns, can be used in different ways. If a soldier uses it with a bipod (a two-legged stand) and fires short bursts of bullets, it's acting like a light machine gun. But if it's placed on a tripod (a three-legged stand) and fires many bullets for a long time, it's used like a medium machine gun.
Soldiers can sometimes fire a light machine gun while walking or even from their hip. This helps to keep the enemy from moving, a tactic called suppressive fire. A strategy called Marching fire uses this idea. Most of the time, though, light machine guns are fired while the soldier is lying down and using the bipod for support.
How LMGs Get Their Ammunition
Many older light machine guns, like the Bren gun or the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle, got their ammunition from a magazine. A magazine is like a box that holds the bullets.
Other machine guns, such as the MG 34, could use either a magazine or a belt of bullets. Modern light machine guns are made to fire many smaller bullets. Because of this, they usually get their ammunition from a long belt of bullets.
History of Light Machine Guns
Light machine guns were first used during World War I. They were given to soldiers to make the infantry (foot soldiers) more powerful in battle. By the end of World War II, it was common for every small group of soldiers, called a section or squad, to have one light machine gun.
Examples of Light Machine Guns
- FN Minimi
- Bren light machine gun
- M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle
- MG 34
- Heckler & Koch MG4
- RPK machine gun
Related Topics
Images for kids
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The Belgian Minimi M249 light machine gun, one of the most widespread modern 5.56 mm light machine guns amongst NATO countries. This one is an M249E3 "Para" model.
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A .30-06 Browning Automatic Rifle Model 1918.
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The early INSAS LMG, a weapon made in India.
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A Romanian soldier teaching a U.S. Marine how to clear an RPK.
See also
In Spanish: Ametralladora ligera para niños
