Difference between pages "Template:Updates" and "BESA (7.92 mm)"

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{{Navigation-Start|Updates}}
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{{AutoWeapon-Card
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|image = File:Weapon_BESA_7.92mm.jpg
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|title = {{PAGENAME}}
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|MG-calibre = 7.92
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|Belt-capacity = 225
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|RoF = 600
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|MG-velocity = 771 - 905
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|MG-max-pen = 13
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}}
  
{{Navigation-First-Line|Closed Beta}}[[Update 1.17|1.17]]{{-}}[[Update 1.25|1.25]]
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== Description ==
 +
<!-- ''Write an introduction to the article in 2-3 small paragraphs. Briefly tell us about the history of the development and combat using the weaponry and also about its features. Make an air or ground vehicles list on which this weapon is installed in our game.'' -->
 +
The '''BESA machine gun''' is a British 7.92 mm machine gun, it is a license-built variant of the Czechoslovakian ZB-53 machine gun. The BESA was the British Army's standard tank-mounted machine gun from the start of WW2, until the 1950s, being withdrawn from service in the late 1960s. As such in the game it is by far the most ubiquitous machine gun in the British ground forces tree, featuring as the co-axial weapon or commands weapon for most tanks from rank 1 to rank 4. Being only a 7.7 mm machine gun, it is largely ineffective against all but the most weakly armoured, or open cabin, vehicles.
  
{{Navigation-Line|Open Beta}}[[Update 1.27|1.27]]{{-}}[[Update 1.29|1.29]]{{-}}[[Update 1.31|1.31]]{{-}}[[Update 1.33|1.33]]{{-}}[[Update 1.35|1.35]]{{-}}[[Update 1.37|1.37]]{{-}}[[Update 1.39|1.39]]{{-}}[[Update 1.41|1.41]]{{-}}[[Update 1.43|1.43]]{{-}}[[Update 1.45 "Steel Generals"|1.45]]{{-}}[[Update 1.47 "Big Guns"|1.47]]{{-}}[[Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory"|1.49]]{{-}}[[Update 1.51 "Cold Steel"|1.51]]{{-}}[[Update 1.53 "Firestorm"|1.53]]{{-}}[[Update 1.55 "Royal Armour"|1.55]]{{-}}[[Update 1.57 "Battle March"|1.57]]{{-}}[[Update 1.59 "Flaming Arrows"|1.59]]{{-}}[[Update 1.61 "Road to Glory"|1.61]]{{-}}[[Update 1.63 "Desert Hunters"|1.63]]
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=== Vehicles equipped with this weapon ===
 +
<!-- ''List out vehicles that are equipped with the weapon.'' -->
 +
The BESA machine gun is fitted as the co-axial (and sometimes commander's) weapon on nearly every British tank from rank 1 to rank 4.
  
{{Navigation-Line|Release}}[[Update 1.65 "Way of the Samurai"|1.65]]{{-}}[[Update 1.67 "Assault"|1.67]]{{-}}[[Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica"|1.69]]{{-}}[[Update 1.71 "New E.R.A."|1.71]]{{-}}[[Update 1.73 "Vive la France"|1.73]]{{-}}[[Update 1.75 "La Résistance"|1.75]]{{-}}[[Update 1.77 "Advancing Storm"|1.77]]{{-}}[[Update 1.79 "Project X"|1.79]]{{-}}[[Update 1.81 "The Valkyries"|1.81]]{{-}}[[Update 1.83 "Masters of the Sea"|1.83]]{{-}}[[Update 1.85 "Supersonic"|1.85]]{{-}}[[Update 1.87 "Locked On"|1.87]]
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The [[Mk.VIA AA]] is the only British tank to use the weapon as it's primary armament.  
  
{{Navigation-End}}<noinclude>
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{{Navigation-Start|Vehicles equipped with this weapon}}
[[Category:Updates]]
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{{Navigation-Line|Armoured Car}}{{Specs-Link|uk_daimler_mk_2}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_armored_car_aec_mk_2}}
</noinclude>
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{{Navigation-Line|Crusader}}{{Specs-Link|uk_crusader_mk_2}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_crusader_mk_3}}
 +
{{Navigation-Line|Cromwell}}{{Specs-Link|uk_a27m_cromwell_1}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_a27m_cromwell_5}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_a27m_cromwell_5_rp3}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_a_33_excelsior}}
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{{Navigation-Line|Valentine}}{{Specs-Link|uk_valentine_mk_1}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_valentine_mk_11}}
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{{Navigation-Line|Churchill}}{{Specs-Link|uk_a_22_mk_1_churchill_1941}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_a_22b_mk_3_churchill_1942}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_a_22f_mk_7_churchill_1944}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|germ_infanterie_kampfpanzer_churchill}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_a_43_black_prince}}
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{{Navigation-Line|Comet}}{{Specs-Link|uk_a_34_comet}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_a_34_comet_iron_duke}}
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{{Navigation-Line|Centurion}}{{Specs-Link|uk_centurion_mk_1}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_centurion_mk_3}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_centurion_mk_3_ss11}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_fv221_caernarvon}}
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{{Navigation-Line|Other}}{{Specs-Link|uk_a17_mk_1_tetrarch}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_vickers_mk_6_aa_mk_1}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_a_12_mk_2_matilda_2}}{{-}}{{Specs-Link|uk_a39_tortoise}}
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{{Navigation-End}}
 +
 
 +
== General info ==
 +
<!-- ''Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the cannon or machine gun.'' -->
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The BESA machine gun performs slightly better than other British co-axial machine guns, with the same rate of fire as guns like the [[L3A1 (7.62 mm)]] and [[L8A1 (7.62 mm)]], but marginally better penetration.
 +
 
 +
=== Available shells ===
 +
<!-- ''Describe the shells that are available for the cannon and their features and purpose. If it concerns autocannons or machine guns, write about different ammo belts and what is inside (which types of shells).'' -->
 +
When fitted as a secondary machine gun (usually co-axially) the BESA can only be equipped with one ammo belt consisting of two Armour Piercing Incendiary (AP-I) bullets, followed by one Armour Piercing Tracer (AP-T) bullet. Neither bullet has much penetration (10 mm - 13 mm). However, the AP-T bullet performs slightly better than the AP-I bullet.
 +
 
 +
When fitted as the primary armament on the [[Mk.VIA AA]] the BESA gains several different belts. These are:
 +
 
 +
* '''Default:''' Ball - Tracer (T) - Incendiary Tracer (IT)
 +
* '''Universal:''' Armour Piercing (AP) - Tracer (T) - Incendiary Tracer (IT) - Ball
 +
* '''API-T:''' Incendiary Tracer (IT) - Incendiary Tracer (IT) - Armour Piercing (AP) - Tracer (T)
 +
* '''AP-T:''' Armour Piercing (AP) - Armour Piercing (AP) - Incendiary Tracer (IT) - Tracer (T)
 +
 
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
 +
! colspan="10" | Penetration statistics
 +
|-
 +
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
 +
! colspan="8" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
 +
|-
 +
! 10m
 +
! 100m
 +
! 500m
 +
! 1,000m
 +
! 1,450m
 +
! 1,500m
 +
! 2,000m
 +
! 2,500m
 +
|-
 +
| AP-I || 10 || 9 || 7 || 4 || 1 || 0 || N/A || N/A
 +
|-
 +
| AP-T || 13 || 12 || 7 || 2 || N/A || 1 || N/A || N/A
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="10" | Anti-Aircraft version on [[Mk.VIA AA]]
 +
|-
 +
| ball || 8 || 7 || 5 || 3 || N/A || 2 || 2 || 1
 +
|-
 +
| T || 8 || 7 || 5 || 3 || N/A || 2 || 2 || 1
 +
|-
 +
| IT || 3.5 || 3.3 || 3.2 || 3.0 || 0.1 || 0 || N/A || N/A
 +
|-
 +
| AP || 13 || 11 || 9 || 7 || N/A || 4 || 2 || 1
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
 +
! colspan="10" | Shell details
 +
|-
 +
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
 +
! rowspan="2" |Velocity <br /> in m/s
 +
! rowspan="2" |Projectile<br />Mass in kg
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
 +
''in m:''
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
 +
''in mm:''
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g<br /> (TNT equivalent):''
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° <br> from horizontal:''
 +
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
 +
|-
 +
! 0%
 +
! 50%
 +
! 100%
 +
|-
 +
| AP-I || 880 || 0.0102 || N/A || N/A || N/A || ??° || ??° || ??° || ??°
 +
|-
 +
| AP-T || 905 || 0.0100 || N/A || N/A || N/A || ??° || ??° || ??° || ??°
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="10" | Anti-Aircraft version on [[Mk.VIA AA]]
 +
|-
 +
| ball || 847 || 0.0120 || N/A || N/A || N/A || ??° || ??° || ??° || ??°
 +
|-
 +
| T || 847 || 0.0100 || N/A || N/A || N/A || ??° || ??° || ??° || ??°
 +
|-
 +
| IT || 771 || 0.0079 || N/A || N/A || N/A || ??° || ??° || ??° || ??°
 +
|-
 +
| AP || 783 || 0.0110 || N/A || N/A || N/A || ??° || ??° || ??° || ??°
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
=== Comparison with analogues ===
 +
<!-- ''Give a comparative description of cannons/machine guns, that have firepower equal to these type of weapons.'' -->
 +
The BESA performs favourably to the [[L3A1 (7.62 mm)|L3A1]], [[L8A1 (7.62 mm)|L8A1]], and [[L8A2 (7.62 mm)|L8A2]] found on later British tanks. It has the same rate of fire as these weapons but better penetration. It has slightly lower rate of fire than the [[L37A1 (7.62 mm)|L37A1]] and [[L37A2 (7.62 mm)|L37A2]], but slightly higher penetration.
 +
 
 +
== Usage in battles ==
 +
<!-- ''Describe the cannon/machine gun in the game - its distinctive features, tactics of usage against the main opponents. Please don't write a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought.'' -->
 +
Due to the low penetration this weapon it is largely ineffective against enemy armour (although you may be able to penetrate some vehicles with extremely thing armour). The gun is primarily useful for killing exposed crew members in open-topped vehicles, and SPAA, which can be fairly common at some places in the wide the range battle ratings this gun is found at. Another function for this gun is rangefinding, as well as marking enemy vehicles and obscuring the view of enemy players (shooting at their gun sight). You can use the gun against aircraft however it does minimal damage and is usually co-axially mounted, making hitting aircraft difficult.
 +
 
 +
=== Pros and cons ===
 +
<!-- ''Summarize and briefly evaluate the weaponry in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark pros and cons as a list.'' -->
 +
 
 +
'''Pros:'''
 +
* Better penetration than other co-axial machine guns found on British tanks
 +
* Decent rate of fire
 +
* No particularity weak shells in ammo belt unlike other co-axial machine guns
 +
 
 +
 
 +
'''Cons:'''
 +
* Low penetration
 +
* Low damage
 +
* Lower rate of fire than [[L37A1 (7.62 mm)|L37A1]] and [[L37A2 (7.62 mm)|L37A2]]
 +
 
 +
== History ==
 +
<!-- ''Examine the history of the creation and combat usage of this weapon. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(weapon-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article.'' -->
 +
The BESA machine gun it is a license-built variant of the Czechoslovakian ZB-53 machine gun. The British War Office ordered the weapon in 1938, and production began in 1939. In the UK the gun was produced by the Birmingham Small Arms Company the initialism of which (BSA) gave the gun its name. The ZB-53 had been designed to use the German 7.92 × 57 mm Mauser round, and the British originally intended to modify it in order to use the same .303 (7.7 mm) ammunition as other British rifles and machine guns; however it was later decided that converting the gun would take more time and effort than maintaining the original calibre and procuring the 7.92 mm ammunition. A side effect of this was that the British were able to utilise captured German 7.92 mm ammunition.
 +
 
 +
The from 1939 the BESA machine gun became the standard British machine gun for tanks and other armoured vehicles (hence the widespread presence in the British tank tree), replacing the [[Vickers (7.7 mm)|Vickers Machine Gun]]. In June 1940 the improved BESA Mk II became available, featuring a selector to allow the operator to choose between a higher rate of fire for close combat or focused targets and a lower rate of fire for long-range combat or area targets. Several further versions of the BESA were produced up until 1966. The early models of the BESA were deemed obsolete in 1951, with later model guns remaining in service until the late 1960s.
 +
 
 +
== Media ==
 +
''An excellent addition to the article would be a video guide, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''
 +
 
 +
== See also ==
 +
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''
 +
* ''reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;''
 +
* ''references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.''
 +
 
 +
== External links ==
 +
<!-- ''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''
 +
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
 +
* ''encyclopedia page on weapon;''
 +
* ''other literature.'' -->
 +
* [[wikipedia:Besa_machine_gun|Wikipedia - Besa machine gun]]
 +
 
 +
{{Britain and USA anti-aircraft guns}}
 +
{{Tank machine guns}}
 +
 
 +
[[Category:Tank machine guns]]
 +
[[Category:Anti-aircraft guns]]

Revision as of 16:25, 18 March 2019


Description

The BESA machine gun is a British 7.92 mm machine gun, it is a license-built variant of the Czechoslovakian ZB-53 machine gun. The BESA was the British Army's standard tank-mounted machine gun from the start of WW2, until the 1950s, being withdrawn from service in the late 1960s. As such in the game it is by far the most ubiquitous machine gun in the British ground forces tree, featuring as the co-axial weapon or commands weapon for most tanks from rank 1 to rank 4. Being only a 7.7 mm machine gun, it is largely ineffective against all but the most weakly armoured, or open cabin, vehicles.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

The BESA machine gun is fitted as the co-axial (and sometimes commander's) weapon on nearly every British tank from rank 1 to rank 4.

The Mk.VIA AA is the only British tank to use the weapon as it's primary armament.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon
Armoured Car  Daimler Mk II · AEC Mk II
Crusader  Crusader II · Crusader III
Cromwell  Cromwell I · Cromwell V · Cromwell V (RP-3) · Excelsior
Valentine  Valentine I · Valentine XI
Churchill  Churchill I · Churchill III · Churchill VII · ▀Pz.Kpfw. Churchill · Black Prince
Comet  Comet I · Comet I "Iron Duke IV"
Centurion  Centurion Mk 1 · Centurion Mk 3 · ▄Strv 81 (RB 52) · Caernarvon
Other  Tetrarch I · Light AA Mk I · Matilda III · Tortoise

General info

The BESA machine gun performs slightly better than other British co-axial machine guns, with the same rate of fire as guns like the L3A1 (7.62 mm) and L8A1 (7.62 mm), but marginally better penetration.

Available shells

When fitted as a secondary machine gun (usually co-axially) the BESA can only be equipped with one ammo belt consisting of two Armour Piercing Incendiary (AP-I) bullets, followed by one Armour Piercing Tracer (AP-T) bullet. Neither bullet has much penetration (10 mm - 13 mm). However, the AP-T bullet performs slightly better than the AP-I bullet.

When fitted as the primary armament on the Mk.VIA AA the BESA gains several different belts. These are:

  • Default: Ball - Tracer (T) - Incendiary Tracer (IT)
  • Universal: Armour Piercing (AP) - Tracer (T) - Incendiary Tracer (IT) - Ball
  • API-T: Incendiary Tracer (IT) - Incendiary Tracer (IT) - Armour Piercing (AP) - Tracer (T)
  • AP-T: Armour Piercing (AP) - Armour Piercing (AP) - Incendiary Tracer (IT) - Tracer (T)
Penetration statistics
Ammunition Penetration in mm @ 90°
10m 100m 500m 1,000m 1,450m 1,500m 2,000m 2,500m
AP-I 10 9 7 4 1 0 N/A N/A
AP-T 13 12 7 2 N/A 1 N/A N/A
Anti-Aircraft version on Mk.VIA AA
ball 8 7 5 3 N/A 2 2 1
T 8 7 5 3 N/A 2 2 1
IT 3.5 3.3 3.2 3.0 0.1 0 N/A N/A
AP 13 11 9 7 N/A 4 2 1
Shell details
Ammunition Velocity
in m/s
Projectile
Mass in kg
Fuse delay

in m:

Fuse sensitivity

in mm:

Explosive Mass in g
(TNT equivalent):
Normalization At 30°
from horizontal:
Ricochet:
0% 50% 100%
AP-I 880 0.0102 N/A N/A N/A  ??°  ??°  ??°  ??°
AP-T 905 0.0100 N/A N/A N/A  ??°  ??°  ??°  ??°
Anti-Aircraft version on Mk.VIA AA
ball 847 0.0120 N/A N/A N/A  ??°  ??°  ??°  ??°
T 847 0.0100 N/A N/A N/A  ??°  ??°  ??°  ??°
IT 771 0.0079 N/A N/A N/A  ??°  ??°  ??°  ??°
AP 783 0.0110 N/A N/A N/A  ??°  ??°  ??°  ??°

Comparison with analogues

The BESA performs favourably to the L3A1, L8A1, and L8A2 found on later British tanks. It has the same rate of fire as these weapons but better penetration. It has slightly lower rate of fire than the L37A1 and L37A2, but slightly higher penetration.

Usage in battles

Due to the low penetration this weapon it is largely ineffective against enemy armour (although you may be able to penetrate some vehicles with extremely thing armour). The gun is primarily useful for killing exposed crew members in open-topped vehicles, and SPAA, which can be fairly common at some places in the wide the range battle ratings this gun is found at. Another function for this gun is rangefinding, as well as marking enemy vehicles and obscuring the view of enemy players (shooting at their gun sight). You can use the gun against aircraft however it does minimal damage and is usually co-axially mounted, making hitting aircraft difficult.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Better penetration than other co-axial machine guns found on British tanks
  • Decent rate of fire
  • No particularity weak shells in ammo belt unlike other co-axial machine guns


Cons:

  • Low penetration
  • Low damage
  • Lower rate of fire than L37A1 and L37A2

History

The BESA machine gun it is a license-built variant of the Czechoslovakian ZB-53 machine gun. The British War Office ordered the weapon in 1938, and production began in 1939. In the UK the gun was produced by the Birmingham Small Arms Company the initialism of which (BSA) gave the gun its name. The ZB-53 had been designed to use the German 7.92 × 57 mm Mauser round, and the British originally intended to modify it in order to use the same .303 (7.7 mm) ammunition as other British rifles and machine guns; however it was later decided that converting the gun would take more time and effort than maintaining the original calibre and procuring the 7.92 mm ammunition. A side effect of this was that the British were able to utilise captured German 7.92 mm ammunition.

The from 1939 the BESA machine gun became the standard British machine gun for tanks and other armoured vehicles (hence the widespread presence in the British tank tree), replacing the Vickers Machine Gun. In June 1940 the improved BESA Mk II became available, featuring a selector to allow the operator to choose between a higher rate of fire for close combat or focused targets and a lower rate of fire for long-range combat or area targets. Several further versions of the BESA were produced up until 1966. The early models of the BESA were deemed obsolete in 1951, with later model guns remaining in service until the late 1960s.

Media

An excellent addition to the article would be a video guide, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

  • reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
  • references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links


Britain and USA anti-aircraft guns
7.92 mm  BESA
12.7 mm  M2HB
20 mm  GAI C01 · M168 · Oerlikon Mk.II · Polsten
25 mm  GAU-12U
30 mm  HSS 831L
35 mm  GA-35
37 mm  M1A2
40 mm  Bofors L/60 · Dual Automatic Gun M2 · M266
  Foreign:
23 mm  ZU-23 (USSR)
35 mm  Oerlikon KDA (Swiss)

Tank machine guns
USA 
7.62 mm  M37 · M60D · M73 · M240 · M1919A4
12.7 mm  FN M3P · M2HB · M80 · M85
Germany 
5.56 mm  MG4
7.62 mm  C6 · MG3A1
7.92 mm  MG13 Dreyse · MG34 · MG37(t) · MG42
12.7 mm  S.MG.50
USSR 
7.62 mm  DT · PKMB · PKT · PKTM · RP-46 · SGMT
12.7 mm  DK · DShK · 6P49 · NSVT
14.5 mm  KPVT
Britain 
7.62 mm  Browning MG4 · L3A1 · L8A1 · L8A2 · L37A1 · L37A2 · L94A1
7.7 mm  Vickers
7.92 mm  BESA
12.7 mm  L21A1
Japan 
6.5 mm  Type 91
7.62 mm  Type 74
7.7 mm  Type 97
12.7 mm  Type 60 (B)
China 
5.8 mm  QJT
7.62 mm  Type 55 · Type 59 · Type 86
12.7 mm  QJC88A · Type 54
14.5 mm  QJG02
Italy 
7.62 mm  Beretta MG42/59 · FN MAG 60-40
8 mm  34/40M · Breda Mod. 38
13.2 mm  Breda Model 31
France 
7.5 mm  AAT-52 · MAC 31
7.62 mm  A-A-F1N
8 mm  Hotchkiss Mle 1914
Sweden 
6.5 mm  ksp m/14-29
7.62 mm  ksp 39 C · ksp 58 · ksp 94
8 mm  ksp m/36 · ksp m/39B
12.7 mm  ksp 88