First appeared in the late 19 th century, guns proved itself already in the Boer War, and at the beginning of the First World, they found a well-deserved popularity.

Machine gun – group auto quickfirer infantry squad, platoon and company. In addition to infantry, machine guns can be applied as a main or auxiliary weapons on armored vehicles, helicopters, airplanes. Machine guns can be used with legih folding bipod (manual and machine gun), with a tripod or wheeled machine – uniform, mounted, and heavy (large-caliber) machine guns. Machines may be common (for use against ground targets), anti-aircraft (for use at air targets), and universal. Machine weight for a modern machine gun was 4-15 kg for large– up to 20-25 kg.

Machine guns are generally divided into: manual or lungs, applied to the bipod or hand-held and using the same ammunition, and being on armed assault rifles, and often set up by them (for examples – the PKK, based at the AK, or AUG / hbar, based at the Steyr AUG). Most modern machine guns have shops catering, and can be used as stores of increased capacity (to 75-100 rounds), and stores from regular guns (assault rifles). General purpose machine gun used as a bipod, and with the machine, use is usually more powerful rifle cartridges (7,62 h54mm in the USSR / Russia, 7,62 mm NATO, etc.). Effective range machine gun – to 700-800m with a bipod and up to 1100-1200m – with the machine. Meals most common guns osuschetvlyaetsya with tape (capacity is usually 100 to 250 rounds). Typical machine gun – Soviet / Russian PC / PKS, an American M-60, Belgian FN MAG (is armed with more than 20 armies around the world), the German Mg.42 and created on its basis Mg.3 and others. Large-caliber machine guns have a caliber of 12,7 mm to 14,5 mm, are used only by machine or mounted on equipment. Meals tape, tape capacity is usually 50 rounds. The most common examples – the American machine gun Browning M2 (.50 caliber, or 12,7 h99mm), put into service in 1933 and in various modifications consisting on arms of all the NATO countries.

Individual attention, multi-barrel system, also known as machine guns of Gatling (named Designer of the American 19 th century, created a multi-stemmed kartechnitsu with manual transmission). Through the efforts of Hollywood “warriors” of these systems have become in the minds of many in a variety of handguns (see the movie “Terminator” (”Terminator”), “Predator” (”Predator”)). In fact, such systems are used (actually in the armed forces of different countries) is primarily for installation on aircraft and helicopters. Thus, as shown in these films “Minigan” (Minigun M-134, GAU / 2) is the arming of helicopters such as the U.S. UH-1, AH-1G, OH-6 and others. As a hand like a machine gun can not be used for the following reasons: 1) at rate of 4-6 thousand rounds per minute, no one will be able to withstand the impact 2) at a rate of ammunition needed in thousands (tens of thousands!) Rounds, and such ammunition or One person does not carry away, and 3) for such systems (the U.S. at least) must supply (a battery of powerful type of road, at least) (otechetsvennye system, such as 4-barrel GSHG caliber 7,62 mm, uses the energy of powder gases to drive the automation )