Belt Fed Weapon
Knight’s Armament has designed and built the most
controllable and lightweight machine guns in its class with the Stoner LMG. This is
a belt-fed support weapon capable of suppressive or grazing fire while still being
easily transportable and controllable. It is fed either from a 100-round sack or a
200-round box filled with linked 5.56 ammunition. The amount of rounds being put
downrange by this type of weapon makes a magazine fed system impractical.
In a belt fed weapon, certain mechanical parts are synced together and operated by the motion of the weapon’s bolt. These parts are responsible for gripping the linked ammo belt and drawing them into the weapon’s chamber. They then reset and are ready to drag the next cartridge into place. As the bolt moves forward, the cartridge is pushed forward, out of the links, and is driven in front of the bolt face. The weapon cycles as a regular gas-impingement system will, firing the round and extracting the empty cartridge and used links. The pawl then drags the next round into place and the cycle repeats.