A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is an

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...

, usually

belt Belt may refer to: Apparel * Belt (clothing), a leather or fabric band worn around the waist * Championship belt, a type of trophy used primarily in combat sports * Colored belts, such as a black belt or red belt, worn by martial arts practiti ...

-fed

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles ...

that can be adapted flexibly to various tactical roles for

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 t ...

and medium machine guns. A GPMG typically features a quick-change

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

design

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore matc ...

ed for various fully powered cartridges such as the

7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first been introduced in U.S. service fo ...

7.62×54mmR The 7.62×54mmR is a rimmed rifle cartridge developed by the Russian Empire and introduced as a service cartridge in 1891. Originally designed for the bolt-action Mosin–Nagant rifle, it was used during the late tsarist era and throughout th ...

7.5×54mm French The 7.5×54mm French, 7.5 French, or 7.5 MAS (designated as the 7,5 × 54 MAS by the C.I.P.) is a rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It was developed by France as an update to the 7.5×57mm MAS mod. 1924 cartridge. It replaced the obsolete ...

, 7.5×55mm Swiss and

7.92×57mm Mauser The 7.92×57mm Mauser (designated as the 8mm Mauser or 8×57mm by the SAAMI and 8 × 57 IS by the C.I.P.) is a rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge. The 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge was adopted by the German Empire in 1903–1905, and was the Ge ...

, and be configured for mounting to different stabilizing platforms from

bipod A bipod is a V-shaped portable attachment that helps support and steady a device, usually a weapon such as a long gun or a mortar. The term comes from the Latin prefix ''bi-'' and Greek root ''pod'', meaning "two" and "foot" respectively. Bip ...

s and

tripod A tripod is a portable three-legged frame or stand, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The three-legged (triangular stance) design provides good stability against gravitational loads ...

s to

vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), ...

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...

s and

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere ...

s, usually as an

infantry support weapon A crew-served weapon is any weapon system that is issued to a crew of two or more individuals performing the same or separate tasks to run at maximum operational efficiency, as opposed to an individual-service weapon, which only requires one per ...

squad automatic weapon A squad automatic weapon (SAW), also known as a section automatic weapon or light support weapon (LSW), is a man-portable automatic firearm attached to infantry squads or sections as a source of rapid direct firepower. Weapons fulfilling t ...

History

The general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) originated with the

MG 34 The MG 34 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr 34'', or "machine gun 34") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun, first tested in 1929, introduced in 1934, and issued to units in 1936. It introduced an entirely n ...

, designed in 1934 by

Heinrich Vollmer Heinrich Vollmer (1885 in Altdorf, Esslingen–1961 in Tübingen) was a German small-arms designer. Vollmer began his manufacturing career by making parts for the German copies of the Maxim gun during the First World War. His first innovation wa ...

Mauser Mauser, originally Königlich Württembergische Gewehrfabrik ("Royal Württemberg Rifle Factory"), was a German arms manufacturer. Their line of bolt-action rifles and semi-automatic pistols has been produced since the 1870s for the German arm ...

on the commission of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

to circumvent the restrictions on

s imposed by the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

. It was introduced into the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

as an entirely new concept in automatic firepower, dubbed the ''Einheitsmaschinengewehr'', meaning "universal machine gun" in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

.Military Small Arms of the 20th Century. 7th Edition. Ian V. Hogg & John S. Weeks. Krause Publications. 2000. page 326The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. Chris Bishop. Sterling Publishing Company. 2002. page 245 & 246 In itself the MG 34 was an excellent weapon for its time: an

recoil-operated Recoil operation is an operating mechanism used to implement locked breech, autoloading firearms. Recoil operated firearms use the energy of recoil to cycle the action, as opposed to gas operation or blowback operation using the pressure of the ...

machine gun that could run through belts of

ammunition at a rate of 850

rounds per minute Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the num ...

, with lethality at ranges of more than 1,000

meters The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pr ...

. The main feature of the MG 34 is that simply by changing its mount, sights and feed mechanism, the operator could radically transform its function: on its standard

it was a

light machine gun A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridges of the same caliber as the other riflemen of the ...

ideal for

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

assaults; on a

it could serve as a sustained-fire medium machine gun; mounting on

s turned it into an

air defence Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...

weapon, and it also served as the coaxial machine gun on numerous German

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful ...

s. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the MG 34 was superseded by a new GPMG, the

MG 42 The MG 42 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr 42'', or "machine gun 42") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun used extensively by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during the second half of World War II. Enter ...

, although it remained in combat use. Jane's Guns Recognition Guide. Ian Hogg & Terry Gander. HarperCollins Publishers. 2005. page 376 Military Small Arms of the 20th Century. 7th Edition. Ian V. Hogg & John S. Weeks. Krause Publications. 2000. page 329 The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. Chris Bishop. Sterling Publishing Company. 2002. page 247 The MG 42 was more efficient to manufacture, and more robust, as well as having an extremely high cyclic rate of fire of 1,200 to 1,500 rounds per minute. One of the ''Einheits Maschinengewehr'' GPMG roles was to provide low level anti-aircraft coverage. A high cyclic rate of fire is advantageous for use against targets typically exposed to fire for a limited time span, like aircraft or targets minimizing their exposure by quickly moving from cover to cover. It was nicknamed "

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

buzzsaw A circular saw is a power-saw using a toothed or abrasive disc or blade to cut different materials using a rotary motion spinning around an arbor. A hole saw and ring saw also use a rotary motion but are different from a circular saw. ''Cir ...

" by Allied troops, and alongside the MG 34 it inflicted heavy casualties on Allied soldiers on all European and

North African North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

fronts of World War II. Following the war the victorious Allied nations took an interest in the MG 34 and MG 42, influencing many post-war general-purpose machine guns, many still in use today. They lent design elements to the Belgian

FN MAG The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale (FN) by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries and it has been made under licence in several countries, in ...

and the American M60, while spawning the Zastava M53, Swiss M51, and Austrian MG 74. The MG 42's qualities of firepower and usability meant that it became the foundation of an entire series of postwar machine guns, including the MG 1 and

MG 3 The MG3 is a small car produced by the Chinese automotive company SAIC. The first generation, marketed as the MG3 SW, is based on the British made Rover Streetwise, which itself was based on the Rover 25, while the second generation, introdu ...

- the latter, , is still in production.

Post-WWII examples

Rheinmetall MG 3 The MG 3 is a German general-purpose machine gun chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. The weapon's design is derived from the World War II era MG 42 ''Einheitsmaschinengewehr'' (Universal machine gun) that fired the 7.92×57mm Mauser rou ...

, a direct descendant of the

, still in service with the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

and others and widely exported. * German Heckler & Koch HK21, is based on the

Heckler & Koch G3 The Heckler & Koch G3 (''Gewehr'' 3) is a 7.62×51mm NATO, select-fire battle rifle developed in the 1950s by the German armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch (H&K) in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned design and development agency CET ...

rifle and widely exported. * German

Heckler & Koch MG5 The Heckler & Koch MG5 (in the development phase also known as the HK121) is a belt-fed 7.62×51mm NATO general-purpose machine gun manufactured by German firearm manufacturer Heckler & Koch. The MG5 resembles the 5.56×45mm NATO Heckler & Koch M ...

, the new standard machine gun of the German Army. * Italian MG 42/59, a direct descendant of the MG 42 and a licensed MG 3 variant, is still in service with the Italian military *

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

, which copied the MG 42's feed-system and trigger-mechanism. It is the most widely used GPMG among western armies. * Belgian/American Mk 48, is a GPMG based on the FN Minimi

and

M249 SAW The M249 light machine gun (LMG), also known as the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW), which continues to be the manufacturer's designation, and formally written as Light Machine Gun, 5.56 mm, M249, is the American adaptation of the Belgian F ...

. *

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

M60, which is based on the German

FG 42 The FG 42 (German: ''Fallschirmjägergewehr'' 42, "paratrooper rifle 42") is a selective-fire 7.92×57mm Mauser automatic rifle produced in Nazi Germany during World War II. The weapon was developed specifically for the use of the ''Fallschirm ...

and uses the MG 42's feed system and stamp-steel construction. * American M240, itself an FN MAG variant. It replaced the M60 in U.S. service. *

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

MAS AA-52, which more or less copies the MG 42 feed-system.Modern Firearms - AAT Mod.52
/ref> It has been largely phased out in favour of the FN MAG and FN Minimi. *

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

n Uk vz. 59, is based on the Vz. 52 and Vz.52/57, and originating with

ZB vz. 26 The ZB vz. 26 was a Czechoslovak light machine gun developed in the 1920s, which went on to enter service with several countries. It saw its major use during World War II, and spawned the related ZB vz. 27, vz. 30, and vz. 33. The ZB vz. 26 influe ...

and

Bren gun The Bren gun was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also use ...

designs. *

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

n PK/PKM, family of multi-purpose machine guns, is based on the AKM assault rifle featuring stamped receivers, widely exported. * Russian AEK-999, is an improved version of the PK/PKM. * Russian

Pecheneg The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პაჭ ...

, is a variant of the PK/PKM with a fixed barrel and cooling jacket. * Yugoslav Zastava M84, is a direct copy of the Russian PK machine-gun. * Polish UKM-2000, is based on the Russian PK machine-gun. *

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

Type 80, is based on the Russian PK machine-gun. * People's Republic of China Type 67, and later improved models. * People's Republic of China Type 88 Machine Gun * People's Republic of China

QJY-201 The QJY-201 (), is a Chinese general purpose machine gun designed and manufactured by Norinco for the People's Liberation Army. The weapon is publicly unveiled at Zhuhai Airshow in September 2021. The weapon is chambered with the DJP-201 7.62×51 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese

Sumitomo NTK-62 The is the standard issue general-purpose machine gun of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, known as the Type 62 GPMG. When first issued it fulfilled both light and medium machine gun support throughout the JGSDF. Though the Sumitomo Heavy Industri ...

, is a GPMG based on the

. *

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

n Vektor SS-77, is based on the Russian PK/PKM. * South African Denel DMG-5, is based on the Vektor SS-77 and Russian PK/PKM. *

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n S&T Motiv K12, is based on the K3 light machine gun. *

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

MG 51, a direct descendant of the MG42. * Swiss SIG MG 710-3 * Swiss SIG MG 50 * Austrian

MG 74 The MG 42 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr 42'', or "machine gun 42") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun used extensively by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during the second half of World War II. Enter ...

, a direct descendant of the MG 42/59 and since 1974 the standard machine gun of the

Austrian Armed Forces The Austrian Armed Forces (german: Bundesheer, lit=Federal Army) are the combined military forces of the Republic of Austria. The military consists of 22,050 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 0.74% of nati ...

. * Israeli IWI Negev NG-7, is a GPMG based on the IWI Negev light machine gun. * Canadian

C6A1 FLEX The C6A1 FLEX is a Canadian 7.62x51mm NATO general-purpose machine gun and an improved version of the earlier C6 machine gun, the Canadian version of the FN MAG. The C6A1 FLEX began to replace the C6 in Canadian military service from September 20 ...

, an improved version of C6 that is a Canadian version of FN MAG. * Belgian

FN EVOLYS The FN EVOLYS is a general purpose machine gun designed by FN Herstal, chambered for 5.56×45mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO ammunition. It is produced since 2021. The EVOLYS was designed to be lighter and more ergonomic than other machine guns, such ...

, is a multi-caliber, 3D printing and polymers material lightweight machine gun.

Gallery

File:MG34.jpg,

belt-fed tripod version (top) and saddle-

drum magazine A drum magazine is a type of high-capacity magazine for firearms. Cylindrical in shape (similar to a drum), drum magazines store rounds in a spiral around the center of the magazine, facing the direction of the barrel. Drum magazines are contra ...

bipod version (below) File:MG42 Sideview 2.jpg,

File:Poligono Mg.jpg, MG 42/59 File:BundeswehrMG3.jpg, MG3 File:MG74 Dreibein und ZF.jpg, MG 74 mounted on its tripod File:Machine gun p1040625.jpg, AA-52 File:M60 Medium Machine Gun (7414626098).jpg, M60 File:FN MAG white background.jpg,

File:7,62 KK PKM Helsinki 2012.JPG, PKM File:HK 21 LMG RIGHT SIDE.jpg, HK21A1 File:Japan Type 62 General Purpose Machine Gun.jpg, Type 62 Image:ChineseType672MG.jpg, Type 67 on a tripod field mount File:PEO M240B Profile.jpg, M240 File:Демонстрация стрельбы из пулеметов ПКП Печенег - 4-й гвардейской Кантемировской танковой дивизии 01.jpg,

File:UKM2000P REMOV.jpg, UKM-2000P File:Mk 48 PEO Soldier.jpg, MK48 MOD 0/1, 7.62mm Lightweight Machine Gun File:S&T Motiv K12.JPG, K12 H&K MG5 silhouette.svg, MG5 File:Latvian soldiers with machine guns.jpg,

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

n soldiers with MG3, FN MAG and HK21 machine guns

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:General Purpose Machine Gun Machine guns *

History

Post-WWII examples

Gallery

See also

References