[2] The Ameli was officially unveiled in 1981 and after undergoing exhaustive military trials was adopted into service in 1982 as the standard squad-level support weapon of the Spanish Army under the designation MG 82.

The geometry of the walls in the barrel extension and the locking piece ensure that once a shot is fired, the bolt head absorbs the recoil impulse from the ignited cartridge through the base of the empty casing and transmits this rearward pressure onto the rollers forcing them out of their sockets and inward at a mechanical disadvantage.

[2] The relatively short initial rear displacement of the bolt head immediately after firing and the calculated delay eliminate the probability of a premature case extraction from the chamber (beyond the thick-walled base of the chamber) that would result in the spent casing bursting as the breech is opened only after the bullet has exited the barrel and gas pressures inside the bore have dropped to within safe limits.

The machine gun is fed from an open-link disintegrating M27 ammunition belt that can be strung loosely from the feed tray or placed inside a 100 or 200-round disposable plastic container,[3] which is then clipped to the left side of the receiver.

[2] The chamber portion of the barrel has flutes that assist in the extraction sequence; once gas pressure in the bore drops to a safe level, recycled gases fill the flutes surrounding the cartridge casing, loosening the case from the chamber walls while residual pressure in the barrel forces it back to be ejected downward and forward.

The weapon's design makes extensive use of sheet metal stampings; both the receiver, barrel shroud and trigger housing are fabricated from steel pressings and then welded.