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Weapon Name- M249
Type- Machine Gun
Damage- 2L
Range- 250/500/1000
Ammunition- 1100 per 27.5 lb
Strength Level- 3
Strength Level for firing- 3 for burst, 3 for medium burst, 3 for fully automatic
Special Consideration- -1 to Initiative. +4 To reliability rolls.

Like all machine guns, in order to reach the maximum range you need to fire in bursts.

Because the rounds are lightweight compared to typical rifle rounds, they are easily deflected. Every shot suffers a -1 modifier when attempting to strike a concealed opponent, and -1 modifier to all armor rolls, except body armor. In addition, the rounds suffer inherent penalties, being stopped by: One thickness of well-packed sandbags, A 2 inch (51 mm) non-reinforced concrete wall, A 55 gallon drum filled with water or sand, A small ammunition can filled with sand, A cinder block filled with sand (block will probably shatter, A plate glass windowpane at a 45° angle (glass fragments may be thrown behind the glass), A brick veneer, A car body (round will penetrate but normally not exit). In reinforced concrete of all types, the 5.56mm are incapable of cutting through the steel rebar, and while they can pierce concrete, they are incapable of going through more than an inch.


Round Type- 5.56x45 mm NATO
Over-all length- 1,041 mm (41 in)
Barrel length- 521 mm (21 in)
Weight- 7.5 kg (17 lb) empty, 10 kg (22 lb) loaded
Rate of Fire- 750–1,000 rounds per minute
Feed Mechanism- M27 linked belt, STANAG magazine
Round Capacity- 30, 100 round drum, 100+ Belt fed in 50 round increments
Accuracy- 2 MOA
Accessories- Picanty Rail
Quick switch firing mechanism- N/A
Scope/Sights- Picanty Rail
Muzzle Velocity- 915 m/s (3,000 ft/s)
Firing System- Gas operated, open bolt
Miscellaneous/electronic information- Essentially a smaller, lighter smaller caliber version of the M240.






In 1965, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps' primary machine guns were the M2 Browning and M60. The M2 was a large-caliber heavy machine gun, usually mounted on vehicles or in fixed emplacements.[4] The M60 was a more mobile medium machine gun intended to be carried with the troops to provide heavy automatic fire.[5] Both were very heavy weapons and usually required a crew of at least two to operate efficiently.[6] The Browning automatic rifle, the army's main individual machine gun since its introduction in World War I, was phased out in 1957 with the introduction of the M14 rifle, which had a fully automatic mode.[7] "Designated riflemen" in every squad were ordered to use their weapons on the fully automatic setting, while other troops were required to use their rifle's semi-automatic mode on most occasions to increase accuracy and conserve ammunition.[8] Because the M14 and M16 rifles had not been designed with sustained automatic fire in mind, they often overheated or jammed.[8] The 30-round and 20-round magazines of these weapons also limited their sustained automatic effectiveness when compared to belt-fed weapons.[4]

The Army decided that an individual machine gun, lighter than the M60, but with more firepower than the M16, would be advantageous; troops would no longer have to rely on rifles for automatic fire.[9] Through the 1960s, the introduction of a machine gun into the infantry squad was examined in various studies.[10] While there was a brief flirtation with the concept of a flechette- or dart-firing Universal Machine Gun during one study, most light machine gun experiments concentrated on the Stoner 63 light machine gun, a modular weapon which could be easily modified for different purposes.[11][12] The Stoner 63 LMG saw combat for a brief period in Vietnam with the USMC, and later on a wider scale with the U.S. Navy SEALs.[12]

In 1968, the Army Small Arms Program developed plans for a new 5.56 mm caliber LMG, though no funds were allocated (5.56 mm ammunition was viewed as underpowered by many in the armed forces). Studies of improved 5.56 mm ammunition, with better performance characteristics, began.[13] The earliest reference to studies of other caliber cartridges for the LMG did not appear until 1969.[14] In July 1970, the U.S. Army finally approved development of an LMG, with no specified calibre. At this time, the nomenclature "Squad Automatic Weapon" (SAW) was introduced.[10] Actual design of alternative cartridges for the LMG did not begin until July 1971. A month later, Frankford Arsenal decided upon two cartridge designs for the new LMG: a 6 mm cartridge and a new 5.56 mm cartridge with a much larger case.[15] Neither design was finalized by March 1972, when the Army published the specifications document for the planned SAW.[16] The 6 mm cartridge design was eventually approved in May that year.[17] Prior to July 1972, SAW development contracts were awarded to Maremont, Philco Ford, and the Rodman Laboratory at Rock Island Arsenal. These companies produced designs with Army designations XM233, XM234 and XM235 respectively—X denoting "experimental". Designs were required to have a weight of less than 9.07 kg (20 lb) including 200 rounds of ammunition, and a range of at least 800 meters (2,600 ft).[18][19]

When the time came for developmental and operational testing of the SAW candidates, three 5.56 mm candidate weapons were included with the 6 mm candidates: the M16 HBAR, a heavy-barrel variant of the M16 designed for prolonged firing; the Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FN) Minimi; and the HK 23A1. The initial round of tests ended in December 1974.[18] In February 1976, the Minimi and Rodman XM235 SAW were selected for further development. At this time, opinions of the 6 mm cartridge were beginning to sour due to the logistical implications of providing yet another ammunition type to the infantry.[20] In June, it was requested that the SAW specifications document be revised to emphasize standard 5.56 mm ammunition. In October, the requested revisions were approved, and bids were solicited for the conversion of the Rodman XM235 to 5.56 mm. Production of the converted XM235 was awarded to Ford Aerospace, and its designation was changed to XM248.[21] A new M16 HBAR variant, the XM106, was developed in 1978, and soon after, Heckler & Koch lobbied to include a 5.56 mm conversion of its HK 21A1 (instead of the standard 7.62 mm NATO ammunition it was built for) in future SAW testing. The latter model was designated the XM262. At this time, the Minimi received the designation XM249.[22] Testing of the four candidates resumed in April 1979.[23]