Why do they call them "Light" Machine Guns?

[Spitfire175]

It's the calibre of the bullet. A "machine gun" uses a full size, full power rifle cartridge. The Vickers machine gun from 1912 is an archtype. An LMG is a "light-macine-gun", it uses an intermediate, mid power cartridge, such as the 5.56x45. A heavy macine gun is, logically, " mechanically designed to use its own recoil force to eject the empty case and chamber the next round", exept that it uses a heavy cartridge, par-rifle calibre, like the Browning M2.

Miniguns/gatling type multi barrel rapid firing weapons are often not "machine guns", as they use either electicity or hydraulics to operate the firing/chamering.

 

[McNinja]

It seems your question has already been answered.

I will chip in and say anything around 20mm and above is considered an Autocannon, because these are larger than heavy machine guns and have 1 barrel. They are not generally meant to be used against infantry, but vehicles and aircraft.

The AC-130 uses 20mm gatling guns, and the a-10 Warthog uses a 30mm gatling gun. Sorry just pointing out that not all of them have one barrel (just the ones mounted on vehicles).

"sub" indicates it is a very rapidly firing, and small, firearm
"Light" indicates it can be used by one person with out any help from another person
"heavy" indicates that it is too heavy for one person to use alone or at all. These are usually mounted on vehicles or aircraft due to massive recoil. For instance, you know that massive gatling gun the A-10 Warthog uses (30mm anti-tank)? it puts out over 4 tons of recoil. Heck, the recoil is so great the it slows the plane down.

Minigun is simply a Gatling gun made to fire smaller ammunition (5.56 or 7.63mm as opposed to 20 or 30mm)

 

[Woodsey]

Isn't it a light machine gun because you can carry it around with you?

Whereas normal ones you have to put the legs out?

 

[Sejs Cube]

Because heavier machine guns need to be mounted on a stable platform in order to be used at all. Like a tripod, or a vehicle emplacement.

They're "light" because they're machine guns, yet they're still man-portable.

 

[Doc Theta Sigma]

Because if it can't cut through a tree, it isn't a heavy machine gun.

 

[Nova5]

It's a lot like when you've got a really tall/fat/beefy friend, and your whole group nicknames him "Tiny".

 

[Sebenko]

You call that a machine gun? THIS is a machine gun!

No, that's a cannon.

 

[MENDICANTS]

because stop playing call of duty

 

[Lunar Shadow]

]

You call that a machine gun? THIS is a machine gun!

No, that's a cannon.

I know that, but I said machine gun to make the Crocodile Dundee reference work.

 

[Skaramine]

"Why do they call them light machineguns?"

Because they have half the calories of a heavy machinegun :3

Ocelot, you win the interwebs!

 

[GrandAm]

In my opinion in modern warefare a machine gun either needs a vehicle or mount to support it, or more than one person to transport and operate it.

A light MG, is something that can be transported and used by one person on foot and does not use a pistol round.

Sub-machine guns are again one person operated and transported. They use pistol ammo.

Remember there is a big difference between a 9mm UZI, 5.56 SAW, and a 30mm Vulcan cannon.

 

[JoshGod]

guns are supposed to refer to the very big guns in army terms while stadard weapons e.g mp5k are called weapons, so its a small version of the big guns. and by that they are usually big stuck to one object swiveling turrets that fire alot of big round.

 

[Sebenko]

You call that a machine gun? THIS is a machine gun!

No, that's a cannon.

No, THIS [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y54aLcC3G74] is a cannon
And they plan to mount them on a wide variety of kickass navy ships.

Maybe, but they're still in prototype, and they can't fly.

 

[Captain Pancake]

I'm guessing it's because you get even bigger vehicle mounted mgs than the portable ones often deployed at defensible locations.

 

[Caliostro]

That's ok guys, I think that after 3 pages of repeated answers he gets it.

 

[Iron Mal]

I'm sure that Miniguns got their name due to the small bullets that they use, light machine guns (as others have said) are smaller variants of what would normally be fixed or vehicule mounted weapons.

In-game I still call them heavy machine guns because a) it sounds more appropriate, b) it sounds cooler and c) it sounds more badass to brag about having a 'heavy machine gun' than a 'light machine gun' (I've lost count of how many times I've said 'woah-ho-ho...I've got a machine gun!' while playing any of the Call of Duty games).