Editing Light machine gun (section)

==Characteristics ==
While early light machine guns fired [[full-powered rifle cartridge]]s, modern light machine guns often fire smaller-caliber [[rifle cartridge]]s than [[medium machine gun]]s – generally the same [[intermediate cartridge]] fired by a service's standard [[assault rifle]] – and are usually lighter and more compact. Some LMGs, such as the Russian [[RPK]], are modifications of existing designs and designed to share the same ammunition. Adaptations to the original rifle generally include a larger magazine, a heavier barrel to resist overheating, a more robust mechanism to support sustained fire and a bipod.

A light machine gun is also defined by its usage as well as its specifications: some machine guns – notably [[general-purpose machine gun]]s – may be deployed either as a light machine gun or a medium machine gun. Deployed on a tripod and used for sustained fire, it is a medium machine gun; if deployed with a [[bipod]] with the operator in a prone position and firing short bursts, it is a light machine gun.

Light machine guns are also designed to be fired from the hip or on the move as a form of [[suppressive fire]] intended to [[pinned down|pin down]] the enemy. [[Marching fire]] is a specific tactic that relies on this capability.

Lighter modern LMGs have enabled them to be issued down at the [[fireteam]] level, with two or three at the section/squad level.

===Ammunition feed===
Many light machine guns (such as the [[Bren light machine gun|Bren gun]] or the [[M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle]]) were [[magazine (firearm)|magazine]]-fed. Others, such as the [[Hotchkiss M1922]], could be fed either from a [[belt (firearms)|belt]]/[[belt (firearms)#Feed Strip|strip]] or from a [[box magazine]]. Modern light machine guns are designed to fire smaller caliber rounds and, as such, tend to be belt-fed (from a [[belt (firearm)#Container device|container]] attached to the gun) or from a detachable high-capacity [[drum magazine]], but some, such as the [[FN Minimi]], will also accept standard rifle magazine feeding as an auxiliary measure when belted ammunition has been exhausted.