- Joined
- Jun 9, 2016
you swap barrels every other belt or 200ish rounds. if the barrel is hot enough to glow, it's ruined and you may as well shoot it through. the one and only exception were stellite barrels for the M60 where you can could go 500+ rounds without a swap if needed which is well beyond doctrine typically.
with modern grenade launchers and vehicles it's also pointless to do.
water cooling is obsolete tech for weapons these days because the water has to either have a condenser unit or it'll evaporate off. air jackets were used on the vickers and some others that use a heat pump effect and that was also unnecessary anymore since long strings of fire and walking fire aren't in anyone's doctrine. it's certain possible to add another dozen lbs of water and metal to an already heavy "light" machinegun, sacrificing mobility and possibly ammo capacity (carrying the condenser, extra water, ammo itself by the gunner since you've turned a 25lb gun into a 30+ lb gun for negligible benefit). the issue was never metallurgy, but practicality.
old doctrines used MG fire as a suppression to cross fields and long strings of fire were common for places like no man's land. modern warfare is "combined arms" warfare. it isn't like the old school base and maneuver or walking fire or bombardment warefare anymore and armor is easily available. the modern battlescape favors letting the enemy waste ammo while you're in cover or have them jump at shadows or at stuff that isn't really damaged much, use short strings at area targets, and then use decap strikes (point targets for rifles, airstrikes, indirect fire like grenades or mortars) to destroy the enemy - maneuver elements to close with the enemy are really a thing in pitched battles that get bogged down in fighting like Fallujah or Ramadi. places that are built up where enemies use as strongpoints. open ground = death since the 60's.
often flanking isn't necessary either with pressure from vehicles to push up on a target and soak fire for infantry, allowing better base of fire elements to engage with vehicle mounted weapons - weapons that are far more stable and have plenty of ammo while sticking to the doctrine of short, frequent bursts at an area target like a building with windows or a field. when suppressing an open area, the barrel on an MG, especially a heavy barrel (as this was a primary upgrade for many pintle mounted MGs), allow sustained bursts for hundreds of rounds, more than enough to move a vehicle to a superior position while a maneuver element engages the enemy.
