M60 machine gun vs RPK-74: Specs Compared

ASmall arms

M60 machine gun

General-purpose machine gun Medium machine gun

BSmall arms

RPK-74

Light machine gun / Squad automatic weapon

Credit

Army Russia 2018 · 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 ↗

RPK-74(stock extended) (RPK-74, RPKS-74)

1.06 m

Length source ↗

Lengths retain their source configuration and measurement scope.

M60 machine gunlarger figure on 1 of 3

Range+18%

RPK-74larger figure on 2 of 3

Barrel length+5%
Muzzle velocity+13%

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

Measured figures

Head to head

18 of 75 rows sourced on both sides

1.11m

1.06m(stock extended) (RPK-74, RPKS-74)

Length

All recorded figures & sources

1.105 m

Length

Single source

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

1.06 m

(stock extended) (RPK-74, RPKS-74)

Single source

0.845 m

stock folded (RPKS-74)

Single source

1,060 mm (41.7 in) (stock extended) (RPK-74, RPKS-74) 845 mm (33.3 in) (stock folded (RPKS-74)^[source]

10.5kg

4.85kgRPKS-74

Mass

All recorded figures & sources

10.5 kg

Mass

Single source

10.5 kg (23.15 lb)^[source]

4.7 kg

RPK-74

Single source

4.85 kg

RPKS-74

Single source

4.7 kg (10 lb) (RPK-74) 4.85 kg (10.7 lb) (RPKS-74)^[source]

3.7kmMaximum; Maximum firing range

3.2kmMaximum; Maximum firing range

Range+18%

All recorded figures & sources

3.724 km

Maximum; Maximum firing range

Single source

1.1 km

Effective; Effective firing range

Single source

1,200 yd (1,100 m)^[source]

4,073 yd (3,724 m)^[source]

3.15 km

Maximum; Maximum firing range

Single source

1 km

Effective; area target

Single source

0.8 km

Effective; point target

Single source

800 m (875 yd) (point target) 1,000 m (1,094 yd) (area target)^[source]

3,150 m (3,440 yd)^[source]

560mm

590mm

Barrel length+5%

All recorded figures & sources

0.56 m

Barrel length

Single source

560 mm (22.0 in)^[source]

0.59 m

Barrel length

Single source

590 mm (23.2 in)^[source]

7.6mmCaliber

—

Calibre

All recorded figures & sources

7.62 mm

Caliber

Single source

7.62 mm (0.308 in)^[source]

550–650rounds/min

600rpm

Rate of fire

All recorded figures & sources

550–650 rounds/min

Rate of fire

Single source

550–650 rounds/min^[source]

600 rounds/min

Rate of fire

Single source

600 rounds/min^[source]

853m/s

960m/s

Muzzle velocity+13%

All recorded figures & sources

853 m/s

Muzzle velocity

Single source

2,800 ft/s (853 m/s)^[source]

960 m/s

Muzzle velocity

Single source

960 m/s (3,149.6 ft/s)^[source]

Bars compare reported quantities only. A larger figure does not make a system better; configurations and test conditions differ.

Configuration

Details

M60 machine gun and RPK-74 configuration
Specification	M60 machine gun	RPK-74
Type	General-purpose machine gun Medium machine gun^[source]	Light machine gun / Squad automatic weapon^[source]
Place of origin	United States^[source]	Soviet Union^[source]
In service	1960–present^[source]	1974–present^[source]
Used by	See Users^[source]	See Users^[source]
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]	Soviet–Afghan War First Chechen War Second Chechen War Russo-Georgian War Russo-Ukrainian War 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict^[source]
Designed	1952–1957^[source]	1974^[source]
Manufacturer	Saco Defense U.S. Ordnance^[source]	Vyatskiye Polyany Machine-Building Plant, Mikhail Kalashnikov^[source]
Unit cost	US$6,000 (M60E3)^[source]	—
Produced	1957–present^[source]	1974–present^[source]
Variants	See Variants^[source]	—
Cartridge	7.62×51mm NATO^[source]	5.45×39mm M74^[source]
Action	Gas-operated , short-stroke gas piston, opened rotating bolt^[source]	Gas operated , rotating bolt ; closed bolt^[source]
Feed system	Disintegrating belt with M13 Links^[source]	30-, 45-round box magazine^[source]
Sights	Iron sights^[source]	Iron sights: semi-shrouded front post and rear sliding tangent with an adjustable notch Sight radius: 555 mm (21.9 in)^[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	—

FORCETALLY

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M60 machine gun

RPK-74

Type

General-purpose machine gun Medium machine gun^[source]

Light machine gun / Squad automatic weapon^[source]

Place of origin

United States^[source]

Soviet Union^[source]

In service

1960–present^[source]

1974–present^[source]

Used by

See Users^[source]

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]

Soviet–Afghan War First Chechen War Second Chechen War Russo-Georgian War Russo-Ukrainian War 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict^[source]

Designed

1952–1957^[source]

1974^[source]

Manufacturer

Saco Defense U.S. Ordnance^[source]

Vyatskiye Polyany Machine-Building Plant, Mikhail Kalashnikov^[source]

Unit cost

US$6,000 (M60E3)^[source]

—

Produced

1957–present^[source]

1974–present^[source]

Variants

See Variants^[source]

—

Cartridge

7.62×51mm NATO^[source]

5.45×39mm M74^[source]

Action

Gas-operated , short-stroke gas piston, opened rotating bolt^[source]

Gas operated , rotating bolt ; closed bolt^[source]

Feed system

Disintegrating belt with M13 Links^[source]

30-, 45-round box magazine^[source]

Sights

Iron sights^[source]

Iron sights: semi-shrouded front post and rear sliding tangent with an adjustable notch Sight radius: 555 mm (21.9 in)^[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

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