General-purpose machine gun

A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is a machine gun which gets its ammunition from a belt. It can be used in many different roles: it can support infantry from a bipod or tripod or be put onto a helicopter or armoured vehicle. It can provide fire support for vehicles or infantry from a variety of mounts.

A general-purpose machine gun is generally a medium machine gun. It also fires rifle cartridges like the 7.62×51mm NATO or 7.92x57mm Mauser. It is usually used from a bipod, tripod or on a vehicle. This is because it is usually too powerful and heavy to be fired well on foot or while moving.

 Examples 
Some examples of general-purpose machine guns are:
German Maschinengewehr 34.
German Maschinengewehr 42.
 American M60.

 Gallery 

Related pages
 Light machine gun
 Heavy machine gun
 Squad automatic weapon

 References  

Category:Medium machine guns