M134 is capable of firing up to 6,000 rpm. Realistically, firing the weapon for a continuous sixty seconds would likely melt parts of the weapon. Sustained rate-of-fire depends on several factors, including reloading, aiming, barrel changes, cartridge fired, and user expertise. Knowing the effective rate of fire for a weapon can be useful for determining ammunition reserve and resupply requirements. Machine guns are typically fired in short bursts to preserve ammunition and barrel life, reserving long strings of fire for emergencies. Sustained rate-of-fire also applies to box magazine fed assault rifles and semi-automatic rifles, although these weapons rarely expend ammunition at the same rate as light machine guns. Sustained or rapid rate Rapid or sustained rate of fire may be considered a weapons absolute maximum firing rate. The term sustained refers to firing a fully-automatic weapon continuously, while rapid is limited to semi-automatic or manually operated firearms. Rapid and sustained fire is usually reserved for close-range defenses against ambushes or human wave attacks. Such scenarios trade control, ammunition, and even aiming for sheer volume of fire. These fire rates push weapons and soldiers to their physical limits and cannot be sustained for long periods. Technical limitations The major limitation in higher rates of fire arises due to the problem of heat. Even a manually operated rifle generates heat as rounds are fired. A machine gun builds up heat so rapidly that steps must be taken to prevent overheating. Solutions include making barrels heavier so that they heat up more slowly, making barrels rapidly replaceable by the crews, or using water jackets around the barrel to cool the weapon. A modern machine gun team will carry at least one spare barrel for their weapon, which can be swapped out within a few seconds by a trained crew. Problems with overheating can range from ammunition firing unintentionally (cook-off), or, what is much worse in combat, failure to fire or explosion of the weapon. Water-cooled weapons can achieve very high effective rates of fire (approaching their cyclic rate) but are very heavy and vulnerable to damage. A well-known example is the M1917 Browning machine gun, a heavy machine gun designed by John Browning and used by US forces during WWI. It became the basis of the much more common Browning M1919 machine gun, used by US forces throughout World War II, as well as the Browning M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun, which