In the 1940s, the US Army had two machine guns that fired 30-06 calibre (= 0.3”) rounds, both of-which were deficient to some degree. There was the heavy belt-fed M1919A6 Browning machine gun (aka, the 30-cal) that could only be fired from a tripod (‘tho in “Band of Brothers” one was fired from the hip with the aid if an unofficial barrel clamp and handle). And there was also the magazine-fed M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (aka, the BAR) that functioned as the Squad Automatic Weapon in that it could be fired from the shoulder (like a rifle - see Steve McQueen in "The Sandpebbles"). The BAR was quickly fitted with a bipod, and the 30-cal was fitted with both a rifle butt and a bipod. Both of these can be seen in the Clint Eastwood movie, “Kelly’s Heroes”.

But the US Army wanted one gun that could do both jobs – one with a built-in bipod (not a separate tripod), fed by a belt that could be extended (= continuous fire - no stopping to change magazines), and fireable by a standing soldier. With knowledge gained from both these American machine guns, German Wehrmacht weapons from WWII, and other weapons, the SAOC (Springfield Armoury Ordinance Corps, aka US Defence Ordinance) worked during 1952-57 to design the General Purpose Machine Gun / GPMG M60. It was a gas-operated, air-cooled, fully-automatic weapon that fired ball/solid, tracer and armour-piercing, 7.62mm (0.308”), rimless, NATO rounds that were contained in a belt formed from individual metal links, and fed into the gun’s left side (across the feed plate). Each link held a round (aka bullet), and it also linked back onto the next bullet in line. The gun’s bolt stripped the bullet from the first link (then fed it into the gun’s breech and fired it). When the bolt stripped the next bullet from the next link, the first, now empty, link detached from the gun-end of the belt and was ejected from the right side of the weapon. So the M60 was termed a belt-fed, disintegrating-link weapon that fired from the open-bolt position (because the bolt had to be cocked to the rear before the gun could be fired). It had an extendable folding bipod, a fix-blade foresight (both incorporated into the barrel), and a folding-leaf rear-sight (attached on top of the receiver). A standing soldier could routinely hit a target at 200m by firing it from the shoulder. It could be counted-on to hit targets out to 600m or spray bullets onto an area target out to 1100m when fired from the unfolded bipod legs, or out to 3,500m when fired from a tripod, with a C-2 mortar sight, in an indirect-fire mode.

It was a good gun under good conditions, but  soldiers (operating under less-than-ideal conditions) could list its disadvantages. At 10.5kg/23lb, it wasn’t light – in fact, it was heavy (and it got heavier as the day progressed. I know, because I had to tote one, named ‘Black Bitch’ 40+ years ago - see the (posed) photo of a young me with Black Bitch). You had to fit an ammo-belt onto it, so it was heavier than that. Everyone in the section had to carry one (or two) extra 100-round belts for it (in a dillybag). The gun AND ammo had to be kept scrupulously clean to guarantee that she would keep working (and so that the CPL (let alone the SGT or the LT) wouldn’t be on your back about it!!). The gunner required a second (making it a crew-served weapon) to carry more ammo, and the ‘golf bag’ containing the fix-it kit, the (rather lumpy) spare barrel, and an asbestos glove (because, if a lot of rounds were fired in a short time, the barrel got REALLY HOT, so it needed to be changed to allow it to cool).

The trailing ammo belt was awkward (see the movie ‘First Blood’), caught on everything and so picked-up debris, or got snagged, or the belt broke. A steel clip-on magazine fixed those problems, but it was noisy (Oh Boy, was it noisy!!!). The ammo belt HAD to be free of ANY debris and fed horizontally into the feed-tray, or else a stoppage would occur. Rambo got around this (see First Blood II) by holding the belt out horizontally. US soldiers learned to attach a specific ration-pack can to the feed-side of the gun to achieve this. I carried it loaded with a 25-round belt, and kept the rest of the ammo clean (and compact) by carrying the belt inside a canvas bag. And, while some machine guns (like the Bren) fired a very-tight stream of bullets, the M60 sprayed them in a wider burst pattern. Each is good in the right application.

I began assembly soon after I dry-fitted the receiver onto the back-end of the barrel assembly. Fit was OK, but not tight or perfect. The answer was 5-minute superglue gel because it filled the gaps between the two parts, it gave me some wriggle-room time, and it allowed me to hold them against a stick to achieve the correct alignment (= flat and straight in 3 dimensions. Nobody would believe a bent gun!!) All M60s have a flat creased spring/clip on the right side to the trigger assembly to lock in in-place on the weapon. It seems to be missing on the model, but I can replicate that with a little creative carving. And Black Bitch never had the magazine attachment bracket on the left side under the feed aperture, so I nipped it off.

I was undecided whether to build her in an assembled, or in a stripped-down condition (because the underside of the body cover and the top surface of the receiver showed correct detail), but I finally elected the assembled condition.