Editing Machine gun (section)

{{short description|Fully-automatic firearm}}
{{About|the specific category of firearms|the broader topic of all automatic firearms|automatic firearm|other uses}}
[[File:IDF-machineguns-67.jpg|thumb|Top: [[IWI Negev]] Bottom: [[FN MAG]] (general purpose machine gun)]]
[[File:Kulomet UK-L vzor 59.jpg|thumb|Czechoslovak 7.62 mm [[Uk vz. 59|Universal Machine gun Model 1959]]]]
[[File:M2 Browning, Musée de l'Armée.jpg|thumb|right|A [[.50 BMG|.50 caliber]] [[M2 Browning|M2 machine gun]]: [[John Browning]]'s design has been one of the longest-serving and most successful machine gun designs]]

A '''machine gun''' ('''MG''') is a [[automatic firearm|fully automatic]] and [[rifling|rifled]] [[firearm]] designed for sustained [[direct fire]] with [[rifle cartridge]]s. Other [[automatic firearm]]s such as [[automatic shotgun]]s and [[automatic rifle]]s (including [[assault rifle]]s and [[battle rifle]]s) are typically designed more for firing [[burst fire|short bursts]] rather than continuous [[firepower|fire]] and are not considered true machine guns. [[Submachine gun]]s fire [[handgun cartridge]]s rather than rifle cartridges, therefore they are not considered machine guns, while automatic firearms of [[20mm caliber|{{cvt|20|mm|in}} caliber]] or more are classified as [[autocannon]]s rather than machine guns.

As a class of military [[kinetic projectile]] weapons, machine guns are designed to be mainly used as infantry support weapons and generally used when attached to a [[bipod]] or [[tripod]], a [[weapon mount#Static mount|fixed mount]] or a heavy [[weapons platform]] for stability against [[recoil]].  Many machine guns also use [[belt (firearms)|belt feeding]] and [[open bolt]] operation, features not normally found on other infantry firearms.

Machine guns can be further categorized as [[light machine gun]]s, [[medium machine gun]]s, [[heavy machine gun]]s, [[general purpose machine gun|general-purpose machine gun]]s, and [[squad automatic weapon]]s.