The Field of Fire of a weapon (or group of weapons) is the area around it that can easily and effectively be reached by gunfire. The term Field of Fire is mostly used in reference to machine guns. Their fields of fire incorporate the beaten zone. The term originally came from the 'field of fire' in front of forts (and similar defensive positions), cleared so there was no shelter for an approaching enemy. Anyone standing within a given gun's beaten zone will be hit somewhere from head to foot.