M60

[944turbo]

I'm starting to think about getting an M60. I have some reservations considering how badly Peter Kokalis trashes the design.

Opinions?

 

[panaceabeachbum]

have two , std and e3 , excelent guns .

Kokalis may be a good writer but he doesnt know everything . I have found inaccuracies in almost every article he has written. He called the bulgarian stamped AK the best ak platform ever , guess he has never held a milled Bulgarian, a Valmet or a Galil. Also stated the Yugo AK bolt hold open to be worthless and years ago stated we should have never dropped the m14. He has also stated in SOF that the BAR was the best squad auto EVER , then backed it up six month later with an article on the Bren stating it was the best squad auto EVER . Writers write what publishers/editors will buy and not neccesarily the truth.

 

[nationwide]

My buddy purchased one last year (2006) and seems very happy with it.

His was NIB (a Maremont, IIRC) and had some teething pains. I've never shot a belt of 50 rounds without it jamming somewhat. I guess there's an ejector issue, for which there is a readily available fix... but at the last shoot I was at, it ran flawlessly, I think about 500 rounds worth.

But now he's hooked on the HK21

 

[Noah Zark]

. . . Kokalis may be a good writer but he doesnt know everything . I have found inaccuracies in almost every article he has written. He called the bulgarian stamped AK the best ak platform ever , guess he has never held a milled Bulgarian, a Valmet or a Galil. Also stated the Yugo AK bolt hold open to be worthless and years ago stated we should have never dropped the m14. He has also stated in SOF that the BAR was the best squad auto EVER , then backed it up six month later with an article on the Bren stating it was the best squad auto EVER . Writers write what publishers/editors will buy and not neccesarily the truth.

Then again, based on your entire post, maybe Kokalis isn't such a good writer.

Panacea speaks the truth here. Kokalis may have been around in this or that conflict, but the accuracy of his writing leads MUCH to be desired. His SGN piece on the Walther P1 is a direct, nearly verbatim ripoff of an earlier SGN article written by Gene Gangarossa. There are paragraphs in the Kokalis article that ARE taken verbatim from the Gangarossa piece.

Kokalis talks down the Pig in his article about it being used by Guatemalan troops or something. In point of fact, ANY weapon that's not well maintained will be a POS in due time, and those Central or South American M60s were pretty hammered. The Pig as a few "character flaws" but they by no means make it an intrinsic POS.

If you are serious about an M60, spend the extra $$$ and get one that is in the best condition that you can afford. And do NOT buy without a testfire using the ammo that you expect to fire in it.

Noah

 

[panaceabeachbum]

now the 21 is really a problimatic platform, there were 3 at the last Hernando shoot and i never saw a complete belt fired with out a failure to fire. My buddy I was with has a factory HK ds 21 and he said his doesnt work as well as the ones we saw. if you want a reliable beltfed thats cheap to maintain buy a 42

 

[Dan0341]

My only experience with the M60 and M60E3 was in a weapons platoon in the USMC. We did not think highly of them as they were always going down. Then again, they were used extensively and it probably doesn't apply to a civilian owned M60.

Does anyone know Kokalis' background? Was he ever in the military?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[nationwide]

Does anyone know Kokalis' background? Was he ever in the military?

Thanks,
Dan

Yes, he was. Among other things, he served as a military adivser in Central America during the 1980's. If you've ever read a single article of his, you'll note that no matter the subject, he'll find a connection to when he was active in the steamy tropical jungles of latin america :silly

 

[944turbo]

Thanks for the advice. So far, still kicking the idea around.

Any opinions as to whether the Rock Island or Maremont is better? I always thought the Maremont held more collector interest, so the price is higher.

The receiver stretch gauge thing bothers me. I guess every weapon has a limited service life. I have seen some 60s for sale that must've been run pretty hard. As someone suggested, better to spend the extra $$$$ for a really nice example.

 

[prebans]

I'm starting to think about getting an M60. I have some reservations considering how badly Peter Kokalis trashes the design.

Opinions?

Kokalis is a writer. He's not a bad writer, but some of his opinions are... ill founded.

Buy what you like, not what some guy writes about.

Mike

 

[m60mgman]

As a civilian I have no problem recommending an M60 to you for fun shooting. We are not in combat. It is a US gun, still in use by some of the military. It has it's quirks, but if you know them, you work around them.

Although expensive, spares are still available. I like to leave it in E3 configuration, but you can have a lot of fun in the standard configuration.

Mine is a bit used but very reliable. The trunion/barrel fit is a bit loose. But not enough to matter. The stretch issue might be something to worry about if you shoot a lot, but by then you would have spent $25k on ammo. So what's a couple of thousand bucks to have it rebuilt?

 

[AK43]

:mg You can get the Rock Island Armory M60's a good bit cheaper than the Maramount 60. I have a friend who just bought one. We took it to the range about 3 months ago right after it arrived at our dealer's place. It needed a few springs replaced to get it running without any FTE's. Once replaced it seemed to run good. I used them in the service. Good Luck

 

[Funtogun]

I just consummated a deal for a RIA E3. It needs a little TLC, however; once and if US Ord opens the door to have the E4 factory upgrades done I will get the receiver/trunion refinished and send it off for the upgrade. I have been saving for some time to be able to purchase one of these. The only other machine gun I own is a Vector Mini. I have been trying to get one complete gun and accessories package a year. Next year is a Registered DIAS for the M16 platform with all of the goodies. I sold off almost all of my non-NFA items to be able to get these while the prices are still within reach of my budget.

If you decide you want to purchase a PIG, then take your time and shop for the right deal. This one popped up less than 5 miles from my house and is already set up as an E3 for less than what I saw standard configurations going for. The dealer that sold it to me really helped me out financially on the deal. Great guys to deal with and they have several WWII type NFA items for sale now.

Thanks,

Funtogun

 

[M60joe]

I'm starting to think about getting an M60. I have some reservations considering how badly Peter Kokalis trashes the design.

Opinions?

I have a RIA M60. All I have done is add a E3 top cover (allows you to close the top cover without the bolt cocked) and a E3 Op Rod (has two sear notched to prevent run aways) I have a complete E3 kit but I like the traditional look better. Purchase a receiver stretch gage to see where the receiver is and where it is after shooting a few thousand rounds.

You can put the gun in a soft case for easy transport and you can shoot it standing up. After each run I clean and grease all over with a Teflon Grease. Have not "eaten" any parts in @9k.

100% awesome gun IMHO.

Top Covers

Gage

 

[944turbo]

So what happens when the receiver is out of spec? Is the gun junk or is there some way to compensate for the wear?

 

[M60joe]

So what happens when the receiver is out of spec? Is the gun junk or is there some way to compensate for the wear?

Re build it. Serial number on the then you can't replace thew trunnion and have to fix it. Serial number on the rail, no replacing the rail - have to fix it.

 

[coronelli]

As m60joe said receiver stretch seems to be the big problem, everything else I don't think is too much of a big deal for civilian shooters. My dealer has pretty much everythign on the block and he says he likes his M60 but it gets shot sparingly while he won't hesitate to run thousands of rounds though his 42 or other machine guns.

 

[944turbo]

Mmmmmm, pig pictures!

That's a fine looking '60. Excellent eye candy. Makes me wanna buy one even more.

Thanks!!!:beer

 

[panaceabeachbum]

turning out to be a really good thread, thanks for the nice pics
how much should I expect to pay for a rec stretch gauge?

 

[M60joe]

turning out to be a really good thread, thanks for the nice pics
how much should I expect to pay for a rec stretch gauge?

http://www.sarcoinc.com/m60.html

 

[944turbo]

I have two last questions; could someone recommend a good technical manual for the '60?

And how do you link the ammo? I see linkers for 1919s but can't recall seeing one for a '60.

Thanks again.