In firearms, a belt is a method of feeding cartridges into the action of a machinegun. Early machineguns used cloth belts, though modern ones are almost exclusively metal. In the most basic form, a belt is a a length of cloth tapes sewn together to form pockets into which cartridges will fit snugly. The feed mechanism of the gun can either pull cartridges from the rear or push them through the belt entirely. Belts are considered disposable feeding devices, in contrast to magazines. Belts or belt links are typically discarded after use. They are usually packaged in ammo cans or belt boxes for use.
Early cloth belts were sometimes reinforced with metal strips than ran crosswise on the belt and kept it from stretching. Cloth belts were used in early machineguns such as Maxim variants and early Browning designs. They tended to retain water and and could stretch, which is why they have been replaced.
Metal belts are either disintegrating or non-disintegrating, in addition to the push-through or pull-out variations. Disintegrating belts use steel belt links which are linked together when cartridges are inserted into them. These are the type most commonly used in NATO weapons today, especially the M13 link used for 7.62 NATO ammunition. Fixed belts use links which are attached to each other even when there are no cartridges in the belt. These were used in the famous MG42 and are also used in many Eastern bloc weapons such as the PKM. Disintegrating belts are generally simpler, consisting solely of links and ammunition, with no other parts needed. Additionally, a disintegrating belt can be shortened or lengthened to any desired amount of rounds, while fixed belts typically come in 50-round segments, which must be linked together in those increments.
297