[Mulliga]

'Nuff said. I've never used either, so...:D

[Nightcrawler]

You're looking at two completely different roles.

The SAW was the official, long-overdue replacement for the M1918 BAR. (They attempted a replacement with the M14E2, but it didn't work.)

The SAW is a "light machine gun" and/or an "automatic rifle". It's an individual weapon, meaning the plucky gunner (yours truly) carries his own spare barrel and doesn't get an assistant gunner. (Most squad leaders divvy out SAW belts to everybody in the squad, though, if they can get the ammo. The more the merrier.)

The SAW is an individual weapon issued at the squad level, usually two per squad (one per fire team) in the Army (the Marines might do it differently....they have bigger squads than the Army, I think).

The M60 and its replacement, the M240, are crew-served weapons. You have the gunner, and he has an assitant gunner to carry spare barrels and more ammo. (Again, ammo is divvied out so more can be carried.) GPMGs are typically issued (I think) two per platoon. Sometimes they'll form "machine gun crew squads" to handle them, sometimes two out of the platoon's (typically) four squads will get one.

In either case, they're for different missions.

Both have some design flaws, though from everything I've been able to put together the SAW is less troublesome (of course, a lot of M60s are just plain worn out, which doesn't help its reputation).

The SAW is nice in that it's light (20 pounds loaded with 200 rounds). The M16 magazine well doesn't work for squat, though, and it's got kind of a short barrel (16" or so). FN is now making one in 7.62mm, which I'd rather carry, personally. I don't think this 7.62mm could hold up to the sustained fire that an M240 can, but that's not its role, either.

http://www.fnhusa.com/contents/guns_525px/fn_mg_m249_saw.gif
FN M249 SAW; note that most have been upgraded to "PIP" standard, with a Picatinny (or whatever) rail on top of the feed tray cover for mounting optics.)

http://www.fnhusa.com/contents/guns_525px/fn_mg_m240b.gif
FN M240B

http://www.fnmfg.com/products/mk48/mk48%205-28-2003.gif
FN Mk 48 Mod 0 (7.62mm SAW...Yeah baby)

[CannibalCrowley]

Nightcrawler is right, it's not reall fair to compare a Light MG and a Medium MG.

The Marines have one SAW per four man fireteam which is 3 per squad. But they utilize a-gunners for their SAWs.

As for the 240, one needs at least three men to carry the whole system.

The usual setup in my Weapons Platoon was:
Team Leader - tripod
Ammo Man - T&E, spare barrel, and ammo
Gunner - weapon and some ammo

[Mulliga]

How about in terms of reliability/suitability for the roles given? Maybe broaden the field to include other countries' LMGs/MGs?

[Nightcrawler]

Three best GPMGs in the world, all closely tied:

MG-3 (.308 MG-42)
M240 (FN MAG-58)
PKM (Russian)

The M60 falls somewhere below all three of them. Not sure about the HK21.

The SAW is fairly unique; most automatic rifles are magazine (or drum) fed, and have fixed barrels, like the RPK-74, MG-36, and that silly Colt Automatic Rifle. The Minimi (FN M249 family) are the standard in belt-fed 5.56mm weapons. There's the HK-23, and the Israelis have a new one called the Negev (I think), and there's a few others, but none are so widely used throughout NATO as the SAW.

[shoobe01]

I've never tried to hijack a thread before, but let me try:

All the good comments on the 240 and such remind me of the long series on maintaining your M60 (outlining all the bad bits) and Kokalis' recent rip on what a bad MG it is, all in Small Arms Review.

I have also heard, in passing mostly, others give the same opinion; glad when their 60s are replaced with 240s. Does anyone have enough first(ish) hand experience with both weapons to give us another opinion, or to expand on the good and bad points of each?

[Caliburn]

You call that a hijack? That was barely off topic at all! We'll let it go since it was your first, but you'll have to do better next time. :D

On topic again, I have no experience with either system, but would also appreciate hearing from any who do. How do our light MGs compare to a commie RPK (aka AK on steroids)?

[fgr39]

I carried a pig (M60) for 2 years or so and mine never failed me. Most of the problems that I saw were operator problems. Covered under operator problems are lack of knowledge of the weapon and how it works, improper assembly, and piss poor maintenance (usually due to lack of knowledge or crappy attitude) My 60 was well taken care of and fun as hell to shoot, the cyclic rate was slower than the 249 is but that was part of the fun you could fire single shots that were pretty darn accurate. I got an M249 after the 60 and that was nice (as long as you used belts and not mags) but it took some adjustment to get used to it due to the rate of fire. Like others have said the 249 and the 60 fill different roles. I would much rather hump the 249 on the offence (they are truly amazing when clearing a trench line) As far as the 240, i have only fired one that was mounted in a CEV, but it was fun.