M60 machine gun vs MG 3 machine gun: Specs Compared

FORCETALLY

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ASmall arms

M60 machine gun

General-purpose machine gun Medium machine gun

BSmall arms

MG 3 machine gun

General-purpose machine gun

Credit

KrisfromGermany · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Resized · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source ↗ · Modified

First system

Second system

At a glance

Side by side

Length comparisonOne shared metre scale

M60 machine gunLength

1.105 m

Length source ↗

MG 3 machine gunLength

1.225 m

Length source ↗

Lengths retain their source configuration and measurement scope.

M60 machine gunlarger figure on 1 of 4

Muzzle velocity+4%

MG 3 machine gunlarger figure on 3 of 4

Length+11%
Mass+10%
Barrel length+1%

Counts only measures both sources give with the same scope. A larger figure is not a better system.

Measured figures

Head to head

37 of 107 rows sourced on both sides

1.11m

1.23m

Length+11%

All recorded figures & sources

1.105 m

Length

Single source

1,105 mm (43.5 in)^[source]

1.225 m

Length

Single source

Configuration

Details

M60 machine gun and MG 3 machine gun configuration
Specification	M60 machine gun	MG 3 machine gun
Type	General-purpose machine gun Medium machine gun^[source]	General-purpose machine gun^[source]
Place of origin	United States^[source]	West Germany^[source]
In service	1960–present^[source]	1959–present^[source]
Used by	See Users^[source]	See Users

Wars	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]	See Conflicts^[source]

Designed	1952–1957^[source]	1959^[source]

Manufacturer	Saco Defense U.S. Ordnance^[source]	Rheinmetall License-built by: Beretta , MKEK , Ellinika Amyntika Systimata, Defense Industries Organization , Military Industry Corporation , Pakistan Ordnance Factories , General Dynamics Santa Bárbara Sistemas^[source]

Unit cost	US$6,000 (M60E3)^[source]	—

Produced	1957–present^[source]	1959–present^[source]

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

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

Action	Gas-operated , short-stroke gas piston, opened rotating bolt^[source]	Recoil-operated , roller locked^[source]

Feed system	Disintegrating belt with M13 Links^[source]	50-round non-disintegrating DM1 belt (can be combined in a drum); 100-round disintegrating DM6/M13 belt^[source]

Sights	Iron sights^[source]	Open tangent iron sights or optical sights^[source]

No. built	—	1 million+^[source]

Reported operators	Reported operator · Algeria Reported operator · Australia Reported operator · Bolivia Reported operator · Bosnia and Herzegovina Reported operator · Brazil Reported operator · Cambodia Reported operator · Chile Reported operator · Colombia Reported operator · Costa Rica Reported operator · Czech Republic Reported operator · Democratic Republic of the Congo Reported operator · Denmark Reported operator · Dominican Republic Reported operator · East Timor Reported operator · El Salvador Reported operator · Egypt Reported operator · Fiji Reported operator · Ghana Reported operator · Greece Reported operator · Haiti Reported operator · Honduras Reported operator · Italy Reported operator · Indonesia Reported operator · Jordan Reported operator · Kuwait Reported operator · Lebanon Reported operator · Liberia Reported operator · Lithuania Reported operator · Luxembourg Reported operator · Malaysia Reported operator · Mexico Reported operator · Morocco Reported operator · Nicaragua Reported operator · Panama Reported operator · Papua New Guinea Reported operator · Peru Reported operator · Philippines Reported operator · Portugal Reported operator · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Reported operator · Senegal Reported operator · South Korea Reported operator · Spain Reported operator · Sudan Reported operator · Taiwan Reported operator · Thailand Reported operator · Trinidad and Tobago Reported operator · Tunisia Reported operator · Turkey Reported operator · Uganda Reported operator · Ukraine Reported operator · United Kingdom Reported operator · U.S. Army Reported operator · Venezuela Reported operator · Vietnam	Reported operator · Brazil Reported operator · Chile Reported operator · Czech Republic Reported operator · Denmark Reported operator · Ghana Reported operator · Greece Reported operator · Italy Reported operator · Indonesia Reported operator · Lithuania Reported operator · Mexico Reported operator · Philippines Reported operator · Portugal Reported operator · Spain Reported operator · Sudan Reported operator · Thailand Reported operator · Tunisia Reported operator · Turkey Reported operator · Ukraine Reported operator · Afghanistan Reported operator · Albania Reported operator · Argentina Reported operator · Austria Reported operator · Azerbaijan Reported operator · Bangladesh Reported operator · Canada Reported operator · Cape Verde Reported operator · Cyprus Reported operator · Estonia Reported operator · Finland Reported operator · Germany Reported operator · Iceland Reported operator · Iran Reported operator · Kurdistan Reported operator · Latvia Reported operator · Libya Reported operator · Myanmar Reported operator · Niger Reported operator · Nigeria Reported operator · Norway Reported operator · Pakistan Reported operator · Poland Reported operator · Sao Tome and Principe Reported operator · Saudi Arabia Reported operator · Slovakia Reported operator · Sri Lanka