I read up on the M42.......it fires 3X's faster than the U.S. M60.......
From experience......the only draw-back is.......you use all the ammunition that you can carry in 1 minute......2 minutes if you really stretch it out!!!!
So......what do you do for the next 23 hours 58 minutes until you hopefully get resupplied?????????????????????
War.......why does it have to be so complicated......like in Nam.....we were only given 3000 rounds per gunner.....if we r-e-a-l-l-y stretched the ammo out (didn't return fire unless they were close enough to throw one of their goofy looking grenades at us)....we still ran out by noon.....that left another 6-8 hours pointing my M60 out of the helicopter ACTING like I had ammunition.......trying to fool enemy soldiers into keeping their heads down.....ahhhhhhhhhh....isn't it great when CONGRESS rations ammunition because they're CUTTING BACK on cost over-runs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!