The Enemy Standard: How the US Army Tested the Soviet PKM Machine Gun in the Mid-1970s
In the blog The firearm blog (by Lynndon Schooler) an interesting material was posted dedicated to one of the few publicly available reports American tests of the Soviet PKM machine gun.
July 1975. At the height of the Cold War, both superpowers closely and jealously monitor each other's military-technical advances. At this time, American military engineers are faced with a pressing problem: tank The General Electric M219 coaxial machine gun proved too finicky. The Army urgently needed a reliable replacement. A comprehensive evaluation process was launched to find the best candidate, the report of which (ADA018625) became one of the few public documents shedding light on how the US military tested and evaluated weapon its main geopolitical adversary - the Soviet modernized Kalashnikov machine gun (PKM).
This report, written by James Beeson and Thomas Mazza, although focused on tank machine guns, provided unique insight into the American view of the PKM's infantry qualities.
Attribute evaluation table for the tested samples. Source: dtic.mil
An unequal battle in hothouse conditions
The test team assembled an impressive arsenal of 7.62mm caliber weapons from around the world. The American M60E2 and the problematic M219 were matched against the Belgian FN MAG 58, the Canadian C1, the British L8A1, the French AAT52, the German MG3, and, of course, a guest from behind the Iron Curtain—the PKM.
However, the conditions the Soviet machine gun found itself in at HP White's laboratories in the United States were far from hospitable; rather, they were hostile and biased. Testers encountered a number of fundamental problems:
1. There was only one PKM in stock, while other machine guns could be replaced or tested in different variations.
2. The Americans had only a mixture of Soviet and Chinese 7.62x54mm ammunition of extremely inconsistent quality. The report clearly states that many of the cartridges showed signs of corrosion and degradation.
3. American gunsmiths had little knowledge of the guest's design, and there were simply no spare parts for repairing the Soviet machine gun.
The evaluation was conducted according to a strict system: competitors had to demonstrate their skills in 23 categories—from accuracy and rate of fire to ergonomics, safety, and ease of repair. Each characteristic was assigned a score from 0 to 10.
Weighted Feature Assessment. Source: dtic.mil
Triumph of Soviet Steel: Highest Scores
Despite the alien environment and inferior ammunition, the technical genius of Kalashnikov's design earned the respect of American engineers. The PKM demonstrated phenomenal results in key combat effectiveness indicators:
Durability: The PKM scored a perfect 10.00 out of 10, making it practically indestructible.
Mean-Round-Between-Failure (MRBF): Again 10.00 points. The machine gun demonstrated an outstanding ability to fire without mechanical failure over extended periods.
Gun accuracy: An impressive 9.40 out of 10. Excellent accuracy was recorded at a range of 1000 meters.
These figures confirmed what armies and guerrillas around the world know today: the PKM is synonymous with astonishing durability and lethal effectiveness.
Final scores for the main categories. Source: dtic.mil
The Achilles' Heel That Never Was
Paradoxically, the design's exceptional reliability was matched by the report's rather low scores. But a closer look reveals that these low scores were more a reflection of the testers' logistics than the weapon itself:
Mean-Round-Between-Stoppage (MRBS): Total 4.90. The problem wasn't with the machine gun itself, but with the rusty, low-quality mixture of Chinese and Soviet cartridges it was fed with.
Mean Time to Repair (MTTR): A disastrous 1.90. The report indicated that PCM repairs took the longest. However, this was only because American mechanics were unfamiliar with the device, and every breakdown turned into a headache due to a complete lack of spare parts in stock.
Environmental Impact: 7.00. The machine gun passed mud, heat, sand, and dust tests, but a problem arose during cold tests: cartridge cases were observed to rupture. This was likely due to defective ammunition or improperly set headspacing.
Barrel life: 6.70 - average compared to American competitors with heavy barrels.
Results and legacy
After summing up the results for all 23 indicators and calculating weighted scores, the commission divided the subjects into three groups: leaders, middle performers, and outsiders.
The American M60E2 took first place (8.34 points), closely followed by the Belgian FN MAG 58 (8.12 points).
The Soviet PKM, with a score of 7.17 points, fell into the "middle group" and effectively took third place, overtaking such renowned rivals as the French AAT52 and the German "heir to Hitler's circular saw," the MG3.
For the PKM, this was a more than respectable performance. The machine gun, a one-off, was subjected to foreign testing standards, firing decaying ammunition, and being serviced by mechanics without even the most basic spare parts. American military engineers acknowledged that under fair conditions and with a stable power supply, this machine gun would undoubtedly have achieved a completely different final reliability score.
Summarizing the results of the 1970s, it can be said that the report confirmed the PKM's formidable reputation. But for the US Army, the choice was obvious and pragmatic: improved logistical availability and stability within NATO standards played a role. It was this series of tests that paved the way for the Belgian FN MAG, which was officially adopted by the US Army in 1977 and is known today by its legendary name, the M240—a machine gun that remains the primary machine gun in its class for the US Army.
Thus, one forgotten report became a monument to the engineering thought of two world schools: it gave America its main general-purpose machine gun for the next half-century and once again documented that the Soviet PKM was a masterpiece of weapons art, capable of surviving and winning even in obviously unfavorable conditions.
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