M4 carbine vs M60 machine gun: Specs Compared

FORCETALLY

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M4 carbine — licensed reference photograph

ASmall arms

M4 carbine

Assault rifle Carbine

Credit

Photo Courtesy of PEO Soldier · Public domain · Resized · Public domain · Source ↗ · Modified

BSmall arms

M60 machine gun

General-purpose machine gun Medium machine gun

First system

Second system

At a glance

Side by side

Length comparisonOne shared metre scale

M4 carbinestock extended

0.838 m

Length source ↗

M60 machine gunLength

1.105 m

Length source ↗

Lengths retain their source configuration and measurement scope.

M4 carbinelarger figure on 0 of 2

None

Measured figures

Head to head

49 of 119 rows sourced on both sides

838mmstock extended

1.11m

Length

All recorded figures & sources

0.838 m

stock extended

Single source

0.756 m

stock retracted

Single source

Configuration

Details

M4 carbine and M60 machine gun configuration
Specification	M4 carbine	M60 machine gun
Type	Assault rifle Carbine^[source]	General-purpose machine gun Medium machine gun^[source]
Place of origin	United States^[source]	United States^[source]
In service	1994–present^[source]	1960–present^[source]
Used by	See Users^[source]	See Users^[source]

Wars	See Conflicts^[source]	Vietnam War Laotian Civil War Dominican Civil War Cambodian Civil War Moro conflict The Troubles Lebanese Civil War Cambodian–Vietnamese War Sino-Vietnamese War Salvadoran Civil War Operation Urgent Fury Operation Just Cause Persian Gulf War Operation Gothic Serpent War in Afghanistan Iraq War Cambodian–Thai border stand-off Colombian armed conflict Insurgency in the Philippines Bougainville conflict Myanmar conflict various others^[source]

Designed	1982–1993^[source]	1952–1957^[source]

Manufacturer	Colt's Manufacturing Company FN Herstal Remington Arms^[source]	Saco Defense U.S. Ordnance^[source]

Unit cost	$700 (avg. cost) in 2012 $647 per unit in 2015^[source]	US$6,000 (M60E3)^[source]

Produced	1987–present^[source]	1957–present^[source]

No. built	500,000 (as of 2021)^[source]	—

Variants	See Variants^[source]	See Variants^[source]

Cartridge	5.56×45mm NATO^[source]	7.62×51mm NATO^[source]

Action	Gas-operated , closed rotating bolt , Stoner bolt and carrier piston^[source]	Gas-operated , short-stroke gas piston, opened rotating bolt^[source]

Feed system	30-round detachable STANAG magazine^[source]	Disintegrating belt with M13 Links^[source]

Sights	Iron sights or various optics^[source]	Iron sights^[source]

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