Firearm

A machine gun is a weapon, the invention of which is throughout the Doctor Who series attributed to the Humans. It is a type of firearm, which is a relatively primitive projectile weapon that rely on chemical explosives to propel a bullet at high velocities. In this case, the power from these explosives has been recycled in a way to allow the bullets to be fired in rapid succession.

This type of weapon was generaly inneffective against such alien races including the Daleks and the Cybermen, but are effective to kill Ood and pierce Sontaran armour, if the bullets weren't influenced by the cordolaine. They are quite effective against unarmoured and unshielded targets and can be modified with more effective technology (as seen in Daleks in Manhattan), which could be why such weapons were still widely used by the people of Earth beyond the 21st century, even as far as the End of the Universe.

Appearances

 * They were used to shoot and subdue the Ood both on Sanctuary Base 6 and on the Ood Sphere. (DW: The Satan Pit, Planet of the Ood)
 * The army and UNIT used them to repel the Sontarans, Daleks and the Cybermen. (DW: Dalek, The Parting of the Ways, Army of Ghosts, Doomsday, The Poison Sky, The Stolen Earth, Journey's End)
 * Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones used machine guns to combat a Dalek in the Torchwood Hub. (DW: The Stolen Earth)
 * The Hath and Humans on Messaline carried heavy duty blaster rifles which were used to fight the war over who took control of the planet. (DW: The Doctor's Daughter)
 * The Master's private armed teams fired on the Doctor, Martha Jones and Jack Harkness with machine guns. (DW: The Sound of Drums)
 * Captain Jack led a squad of men to shoot the Toclafane with machine guns. He also destroyed the Paradox Machine by shooting it with one. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)
 * The Preachers used a number of automatic weapons to fight the Cybermen. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen)
 * Mounted machine guns were used to shoot the Scarecrow Drones when they attacked the Farringham School for Boys. (DW: The Family of Blood)
 * On Malcassairo the guards repelled the Futurekind with machine guns. (DW: Utopia)
 * Miss Foster's guards were armed with machine guns. (DW: Partners in Crime)

Behind the scenes
Most machine guns used in the 2005 series, were Heckler & Koch G36s. These also appear in some episodes of Torchwood. Classic series UNIT troops are often seen using Sterling sub-machine guns or SLRs.