A Pintle Mount is a type of fixed mount that allows an anti-personnel weapon to freely traverse and/or be elevated while keeping the gun in one fixed position.
A pintle-mounted weapon is usually used either by the vehicle's commander or by remote control, to engage secondary targets and immediate threats while the gunner focuses the vehicle's main firepower against enemy armor or major objectives.
The only drawback is that, unlike a turret-mounted weapon, a pintle-mounted weapon has little-to-no armour protection.
Storm Bolters are the most common weapon used with a pintle-mount by the Adeptus Astartes, although Heavy Stubbers are also used by the Astra Militarum. It's also common to mount Autocannons or, occasionally, Flamers. The Forces of Chaos mostly utilise Combi-bolters as their primary pintle-mounted weapon on many of their vehicles.
Sources[]
- Codex Adeptus Astartes - Space Marines (7th Edition), pp. 89, 116, 161, 172, 384, 386
- The Horus Heresy - Book One: Betrayal (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 207, 217, 219-222, 224, 228