The M73 and M219 are
7.62 mm NATO caliber
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
s designed for tank use. NATO no longer uses them, but they were used on the
M48 Patton
The M48 Patton is an American List of main battle tanks by generation#First generation, first-generation main battle tank (MBT) introduced in February 1952, being designated as the 90mm Gun Tank: M48. It was designed as a replacement for the M2 ...
and
M60 Patton
The M60 is an American second-generation main battle tank (MBT). It was officially standardized as the Tank, Combat, Full Tracked: 105-mm Gun, M60 in March 1959. Although developed from the M48 Patton, the M60 tank series was never officially ...
MBT series (including the
M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle
The M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle (CEV) is a full-tracked vehicle used for breaching, obstacle removal, and pioneering operations. Production commenced in 1965 and ceased in 1987. A total of 312 of all variants of these armored engineer vehicles w ...
), as well as the
MBT-70
The MBT-70 (German: ''KPz 70 or KpfPz 70'') was an United States, American–West German joint project to develop a new main battle tank during the 1960s.
The MBT-70 was developed by the United States and West Germany in the context of the Cold ...
prototype vehicles, and on the
M551 Sheridan
The M551 "Sheridan" AR/AAV ( Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle) was a light tank developed by the United States and named after General Philip Sheridan, of American Civil War fame. It was designed to be landed by parachute and to sw ...
Armored Reconnaissance / Airborne Assault Vehicle (AR/AAV). They were also used in a twin mount in the turret of the V-100 Commando (M706) light armored car during the Vietnam War.
Also used on the M60A1 Tank.
Design and development
Designed primarily as a coaxial machine gun by the
Rock Island Arsenal
The Rock Island Arsenal comprises , located on Arsenal Island, originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. It lies within the state of Illinois. Rock Island ...
and produced by
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
, the M73 was developed as a replacement for the
M1919A4E1,
M1919A5, and
M37 machine guns that continued to serve in the immediate post–World War II environment.
The ''Machine Gun, 7.62-MM, M73'' was officially adopted in 1959. It is an air-cooled, recoil-operated machine gun, but also using cartridge gases to boost recoil. Though designed as a simplified alternative to the M1919 series, it is of almost identical weight. The weapon is fitted with a quick-change barrel, pull-chain charging assembly, and can be made to feed from the left or the right hand side (though the left-hand feed is more common).
An attempt to make the M73 useful as a flexible
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
gun saw the weapon fitted with sights and a
pistol grip
On a firearm or other tools, a pistol grip is a distinctly protruded handle underneath the main mechanism, to be held by the user's hand at a more vertical (and thus more ergonomic) angle, similar to the how one would hold a conventional pist ...
trigger as the ''Machine Gun, 7.62-MM, M73C''. Equally unpopular, very few of these weapons were produced. Sources claim that it saw limited use in Vietnam.
[Ezell, 1988. p. 418]
The M73 suffered from numerous malfunctions and was prone to jamming. An improved M73E1 was eventually developed in 1970 with a simplified ejection system, being type classified as the ''Machine Gun, 7.62-MM, M73A1''. In 1972, it was decided that this weapon was sufficiently different from its predecessor and was redesignated ''Machine Gun, 7.62-MM, M219''. These weapons were eventually replaced by the
M60E2 and
M240 machine gun
The M240 – officially the Machine Gun, 7.62 mm, M240 – is the U.S. military designation for the FN MAG, a family of belt-fed, gas-operated medium machine guns that chamber the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge.
The M240 has been used by the U ...
, and vehicles still in service using the M73 series were refitted with these weapons.
Variants
M73
*Adopted in 1959
M73C
*Flexible infantry variant with sights and pistol grip. Concept development. Never entered service.
*Used a special tripod, the XM132. It was a standard M2 mount for the .30 cal. Browning M1919A4 with an adapter to fit the M73C.
M73A1/M219
*Developed in 1970 as an improved version with simplified ejection mechanism attempting to reduce chronic jamming
*Redesignated in 1972 as the M219
See also
*
M60 machine gun
The M60, officially the Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62 mm, M60, is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links. There are several types of ammunition approved for ...
*
M240 machine gun
The M240 – officially the Machine Gun, 7.62 mm, M240 – is the U.S. military designation for the FN MAG, a family of belt-fed, gas-operated medium machine guns that chamber the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge.
The M240 has been used by the U ...
References
;Citations
;Bibliography
*Ezell, Ed. ''Small Arms Today, 2nd Edition.'' Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1988. .
*Gervasi, Tom. ''Arsenal of Democracy III: America's War Machine, the Pursuit of Global Dominance''. New York, NY: Grove Press, Inc, 1984. .
External links
*
M73 machine gun at Modern Friearms website
{{DEFAULTSORT:M73 Machine Gun
7.62×51mm NATO machine guns
Infantry weapons of the Cold War
Cold War firearms of the United States
Medium machine guns
Machine guns of the United States
Military equipment introduced in the 1950s