In my mini-museum (china cabinet in my office) I still have an original Firing Table for the M-60 Machine Gun. Just like the firing tables for artillery, it gives range vs. elevation (in mils) for the M-60 MG.
That's why there are flats machined into the top of the M-60 barrel, they are for the gunner's quadrant.
Quote:
Machinegun training tasks have changed somewhat with time as a result of differences in accepted employment techniques. In the era of World War I, for example, machinegun companies and even battalions were employed. Special training was required for officers assigned to these units because indirect fire was a common role for the employment of machine guns at that time. Training called for indirect target engagements to a distance of 2,000 yards. Tripod use on machineguns permitted effective use of the machinegun in an indirect fire role (Merkatz, 1915; Musham, 1921; Indirect Fire-Machinegun, 1923; Heavey, 1936; Hutchison, 1938; Marshall, 1951). When machinegun crews were organized into companies in wars before the Korean Conflict, the indirect fire mission for the machinegun was considered important. After the U.S. Army experience in Korea, this mission and the training with which it was associated lost its place in the POIs. The nature of the terrain in Korea and the
beginnings of fluid engagement may have caused a shift away from an emphasis on indirect fire employment for the machinegun (Marshall, 1951). Currently, this mission is no longer taught.
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http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc...c=GetTRDoc.pdf