An Official Journal Of The NRA | 'Limited Standard': The M1919A6 Machine Gun

MSG Thomas Currie Oh, I know it was lighter. Still, the best we could do was 32 pounds? The Germans didn't have problems fielding one. But we were stuck in a development block.

I say this as a a guy who humped the M2 receiver, as well as the M60.

The M60 is 23 + lbs and was meant to be a more portable weapon, the M1919 was usually either mounted to a vehicle or a fixed firing position

LTC Trent Klug - - I never tried to hump a Ma Deuce, but I spent most of my time in Vietnam with an M60 either lying across my lap or carried at my hip. I was an 11E, so I will happily acknowledge that I didn't need to carry it very far. On the other hand, as a 19E, I carried the sixty and at least 300 rounds of ammo (occasionally 600) myself instead of having three or four other guys to carry my ammo for me.

LTC Trent Klug - By the way, the German "light" machine gun of the time was the Bergmann MG 15nA, that weighed 28 pounds (about the same as the British Lewis Gun).
The Germans did have a machine gun that weighed less than the Bergmann, but it was the Parabellum MG 14 that was only mounted on aircraft.