I replaced my goofy revolver grip with a nice spade grip and butterfly trigger, could not be happier and does look very tacticool.

Mine arrived today! 
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Holy cow.... beautiful!!

Thanks! 
I fired 60 rounds through her today to make sure she works. Function was flawless! I had never fired one before. It was surprisingly smooth, compared to a MG42.

I think I better get some gloves to wear when operating and disassembling this thing. I'm having to train myself on some things, like how you shouldn't attempt to pull the bolt back with the safety on. 

Where are some good places to get spare barrels?
Would anyone happen to have a list of all the NSNs for the various barrels?

I can tell I'm going to need much more ammo! 

she looks good!

Thanks. This is me every time I hold it.


What's the word on shortening barrels? I see standard 22" M60E3 barrels for around $900, but the shorter barrels seem to command a premium. It seems the heavy fluted short ones are the most expensive. Any reason I couldn't shorten a lightweight E3 barrel? Would the gas port need to be opened up some?

I'd like to end up with something like this:

Yes, on cutting down 2 long E3 barrels.  I used the same port hole size on the shorter US Ord. barrel.  Works well.  Though at 900 bucks for the long barrel, you may as well buy the shorter E4 barrel as the price premium will be close to the cost of cutting down the long E3s.

The difference is at least $300, so it seems cutting is the best option. Are you saying you enlarged the port? Do you know the hole diameter?

Is it possible to swap back and forth between a E1 and a E6 configuration?

The M60E6 is obviously superior, but I'm curious if it's still "easy" to put back into original configuration for the occasional use.

Yes, it is. The op rod cannot be seen, so just leave the later variant installed. Top covers are a more difficult part to swap. I've seen plenty of people use E3 covers and just leave them for both configurations. Rarely is the extra hump noticed. 

Read through most of the Machinegunpriceguide's M60 articles.
This raised an eyebrow. Permanent damage can be done just firing from the prone within just several thousand rounds? Even if the M60 gets the modernized upgrades? That surely has to be an exaggeration, right?
The article also mentions people sometimes try to fix this issue with shims... that actually accelerate the process.

Yeah, I think he significantly exaggerated this part. If the gun has reinforcement welds on the gas tube, and the bipod is on the gas tube, you will see those welds start to crack before anything else is damaged.

And the gas tube is readily available and a relatively cheap part to replace.  Nothing to worry about.

I am not sure how many rounds an E1 needs to be fired off a bipod before you start to see galling on the trunion barrel socket.  However, I suspect its probably a lot more than a couple thousand rounds.   There are probably a lot of other variables including how well the barrel fits the trunnion socket, the metallury of the trunnion (reweld vs. forged vs. cast vs. mill bar stock), etc.

Maybe in a worst case scenario of a slightly undersized barrel being shot out of a soft milled barstock or rewelded trunnion, with a very sloppy barrel to socket fit, via somebody who put a ton of aggressive downpressure on the gun when shooting could damage it pretty quickly.  However, most E1 60s are not going to be damaged in short order because you used the bipod.

That said the later designs that move the bipod back and onto the gas tube do probably provide some possible prevention of long term damage to the barrel socket.  

For one the gas tube is a much tighter inference/press fit into the trunnion as its not designed to be readily removable like a barrel.   Gas tube are also usually affixed in some manner to the trunnion (via  pinning, spot or plug welding) t so there should be no "slop" in the fit which would allow for galling or egging of the socket.   The metal surrounding the gas tube socket is also thicker than the metal around the barrel socket (given the much reduced diameter of the gas tube vs the barrel).  Plus the bipod is moved rearwards so there is not as much leverage being applied to the gas tube like there is on an E1.


M60 Trunnion (gas tube socket on top and barrel socket on bottom)

Great thread-- took some time to look through it (also various other info on the web).

The pics 'jbntex' posted were especially informative...  in particular, the sheet metal channel looks
(to me) like it's WAY less important structurally / functionally, than the rest (*in particular, less important
than the trunion, which seems to be the other option for the registered part).

Put simply, it looks to me like a registered receiver / registered channel M-60 lets one
replace (have replaced) everything that matters...  sure, there might be some cosmetic
issues (with the channel), but I can live with that... particularly on a gun that's really
'not original' in any way.

Versus, the premium paid for an original Saco Defense gun... e.g., there's an original E3 for sale
right now on Sturm for ~$68K:

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/forums/index.php?/topic/8903-saco-defense-m60e-3-67900/

As pointed out, would it really make sense to pay a premium for an 'original' gun like
this, then upgrade it to E4/E6 configuration?  Probably not for most.

IMO, given the price differential, paying the premium for an original only makes sense if you're
mainly a collector / plan to keep it like it is.  I understand this point of view, but I think I'd personally
be just as happy with an RIA gun that's upgraded to the "latest and greatest" configuration, with
modernized parts, etc..

My $0.02...