What is a machine gun?
Q: What is a machine gun?
A: A machine gun is a type of weapon that can fire one bullet after another as long as the trigger is pulled and there are bullets ready to fire. This is called automatic fire, and it is also known as an automatic weapon.
Q: How do machine guns deliver bullets?
A: Machine guns typically deliver bullets from a long chain of cartridges called an ammunition ('ammo') belt, or from spring-loaded boxes called magazines.
Q: What are the different types of machine guns?
A: The three main types of machine guns are heavy-duty machine guns (HMG), light machine guns (LMG), and sub-machine guns (SMG).
Q: How are heavy-duty machine guns used?
A: Heavy-duty machine guns are usually placed on the ground, supported on a tripod, or mounted on a vehicle with a support for the gun with a rotating base or turret. They often require two people to operate them - one to assist with loading ammunition and one to aim and fire. It always takes two or more people to carry one.
Q: How are light machine guns used?
A: Light machine guns can usually be carried and fired by one person, but they must often be rested on a bipod or tripod while firing since they're too heavy to hold up while standing without assistance.
Q: How do submachine guns differ from other types of machine gun?
A: Submachine Guns (SMGs) generally use less powerful bullets than other types of machines such as HMGs and LMGs, making them easier to conceal and carry around. They also have handles (stocks) which makes them easy for individual soldiers or police officers to carry around.
Q: What is the difference between an assault rifle and a machine gun?
A: Assault rifles have automatic capabilities but they aren't considered true "machine"guns because they mainly use semi-automatic fire rather than fully automatic fire like most traditional "machine"guns do, plus they typically use lighter bullets than what you'd find in most "machine"guns such as HMGs and LMGs.
