Machine gun facts for kids
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A machine gun is a powerful weapon that can shoot many bullets very fast, one after another, as long as the trigger is held down. This is called automatic fire. These weapons are also known as automatic weapons.
Machine guns get their bullets from a long chain of cartridges called an ammo belt, or from special boxes called magazines. Machine guns come in different sizes and types, usually grouped into heavy machine guns, light machine guns, and submachine guns.
Contents
Types of Machine Guns
Heavy Machine Guns
Heavy machine guns (HMGs) are very powerful and are usually set up on the ground using a tripod. They can also be mounted on vehicles, often with a rotating base or turret.
These large guns often need two people to operate them: one to help load the ammunition and another to aim and fire. It always takes two or more people to carry one because they are so heavy.
Some well-known heavy machine guns include the M2 Browning, the MG42, and the M134 Minigun.
Light Machine Guns
Light machine guns (LMGs) are designed to be carried and fired by one person. Even though they are called "light," they are still quite heavy. Most LMGs are rested on a bipod (a two-legged stand) or a tripod when firing, as they are usually too heavy to shoot accurately while standing.
However, some LMGs, like the Bren LMG and the BAR, are light enough to be fired without a stand if the user wears a sling. Famous examples include the Bren, the BAR, and the SAW M249.
Submachine Guns
Submachine guns (SMGs) are lighter than other machine guns and fire smaller, less powerful bullets, usually like those used in pistols. They are much easier to carry and hide.
Submachine guns often have handles or stocks and are used by individual soldiers or police officers. Some famous submachine guns are the Uzi, the Heckler & Koch MP5, and the Thompson (also known as the Tommy gun).
Assault Rifles
While Assault rifles can fire automatically, they are not usually called machine guns. They are mainly used to fire one shot at a time (semi-automatic fire) and typically use lighter bullets than machine guns.
Accuracy of Machine Guns
Many heavy machine guns, like the Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun, are very accurate and can hit targets far away. For example, during the Vietnam War, a sniper named Carlos Hathcock used a .50 caliber heavy machine gun with a special telescopic sight to hit a target from about 7,382 feet (2,250 meters) away!
Images for kids
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Top: IMI Negev Bottom: FN MAG (general purpose machine gun)
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Czechoslovak 7.62 mm Universal Machine gun Model 1959
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A .50 caliber M2 machine gun: John Browning's design has been one of the longest-serving and most successful machine gun designs
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A vehicle with a Sumitomo M2 heavy machine gun mounted at the rear
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DShK in the heavy role
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Direct impingement
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Gas piston
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Lewis gun reloading mechanism action
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Collection of old machine guns in the Međimurje County Museum (Čakovec, Croatia). From rear to front: Austro-Hungarian Schwarzlose M7/12, British Lewis, German MG 08.
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Detail of an 8-chambered matchlock revolver (Germany c. 1580)
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Replica Puckle Gun from Bucklers Hard Maritime Museum.
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A detachment of French infantry with 2 Saint-Etienne Model 1907 machine guns (c. b1914)
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A model of a typical entrenched German machine gunner in World War I. He is operating an MG 08, wearing a Stahlhelm and cuirass to protect him from shell fragments, and protected by rows of barbed wire and sandbags.
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British Vickers machine gun in action near Ovillers during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The crew is wearing gas masks.
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Suomi M31 submachine with 70-round drum magazine attached, 20- and 50-round box magazines.
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MG 42 with retracted bipod
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This M60 machine gun is part of an XM2 armament subsystem; it is aimed and fired from the aircraft rather than directly
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See also
In Spanish: Ametralladora para niños
