Machine gun

A machine gun or automatic rifle is a fully automatic weapon.

50 cal machine gun


 The 50 cal machine gun as its name implies is a machine gun chambered in the extremely powerful .50 round. Highly effective against infantry and other soft targets, materiel, lightly armored vehicles, boats, fortifications, and aircraft. Though heavy and cumbersome when used away from a mount, the advent of power armor and the creation of minigun frames for personnel use allowed this venerable weapon to be used by soldiers on foot. 

Light machine gun


The light machine gun is a bulky weapon designed around a gas-actuated long-stroke piston system, providing reliable round extraction after each shot. The weapon fires from an open bolt, reducing the danger of rounds cooking off and firing uncontrollably after firing prolonged bursts.

For portability and ease of use, it was manufactured entirely from metal with wood used as the grip and front handguard. A barrel shroud additionally protects the operator from accidentally burning themselves on a hot barrel during barrel changes. The barrel itself can be released and quickly swapped out using the prominent latch, though since the front sight post is permanently fixed to the barrel, replacing it also means that the weapon loses accuracy due to losing its zero. While taken together it can be clunky, especially for a weaker operator, it provides excellent firepower in the field and more than makes up for its deficiencies.

Light machine gun (MG42)


An alternative design for the squad light machine gun, MG42 was made during the latter half of World War II in Nazi Germany. Designed from the start to be low cost and easy to build, the MG42 is an air-cooled, belt fed, open bolt, recoil-operated machine gun with a barrel capable of quick changes in the middle of combat. After World War II, copies of the MG42 produced in the United States and would be an semi-common sight in Appalachia. 

M60


The M60 is a gas-operated, air-cooled, belt-fed, automatic machine gun that fires from the open-bolt position. Chambered for 7.62mm rounds, its design was created using many concepts introduced during World War II, including manufacture from stamped metal sheets, a pistol grip, stock, and a semi-bullpup design, where most of the weapon's action occupies the stock. It is easily distinguished by its distinctive barrel shroud and barrel with integrated front post (a source of issues for gun crews, as replacing the barrel removes the calibration). It saw extensive use by the United States and allies in the latter half of the 20th century as a result. 

Heavy machine gun


This heavy machine gun fires its ammunition at a very rapid rate, however its accuracy is poor.

Behind the scenes

 * The assault rifle seen in Fallout 4 was referred to as "machine gun" in the Art of Fallout 4.
 * A GP machine gun based on the M60 was cut from Fallout: New Vegas.