M249 SAW

The M249 SAW/LMG is the US produced version of the the Belgian-made FN Minimi. The M249 uses the 5.56x45mm NATO round, which lowers the weight of the gun when loaded yet grants the user with highly accurate yet reasonably powerful fire, and coupled with the M249's high rate of fire. It has a selective fire ability that allows it to shoot 750 to 1000 rounds per minute, it can easily match a heavier machine gun at range.

Battlefield 2
The M249 SAW in Battlefield 2 is the first weapon unlocked in the Support kit for the United States Marine Corps. The M249 also appears as a turret that will spawn near certain control points that are held by the USMC, although without usable ironsights and infinite ammo. It is tied with the Chinese Type 95 LMG for the highest accuracy and lowest power. When compared to its MEC counterpart the RPK-74, it has a much lower power output, but is far more accurate. Though having a high rate of fire, it is fairly inaccurate when standing up, due to its default high spread. Therefore, it is a good idea to go prone to maintain an acceptable amount of accuracy. In addition, it has a very long reload time, which can be disadvantageous during combat.

3D modeling
246px|thumb|right|3D modeling demonstration

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
In Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, the M249 SAW is issued to the EU and USMC Support Kit. It has decent range and power but the player cannot aim down sights, just like the Type 88 LMG or PKM, and is therefore relatively ineffective at range.

Battlefield: Bad Company
In Battlefield Bad Company's singleplayer, the M249 can be found on a few single player levels, such as Acta Non Verba, in a house off the right side when the player must escort the convoy of M1A2 Abrams MBT's. It comes with five HG-2 grenades, and a capacity of 150 rounds (with 300 in reserve). It is always in the hands of Terrence Sweetwater.

In multiplayer, the M249 SAW is the default US Army light machine gun issued to the Support Kit. Like the other LMG's, it has 150 rounds per belt and the player will have 300 rounds in reserve. Its Russian counterpart is the PKM medium machine gun, while its MEC counterpart is the QJY-88. It has a high rate of fire and average damage, as well as mediocre accuracy. A player can make use of it as a good close quarters weapon, because of its high rate of fire and ammunition capacity.

M249
The M249 was released in Battlefield Heroes as part of the Battlefield Heroes Gets Bad Company event, and is available through the store to both the Royal Army and the National Army. The M249 has a 120 round magazine. However, as with all Gunner weapons, the M249's accuracy degrades at extreme range, which can prove problematic on maps such as Midnight Madness and Sunset Showdown, where long range firing is prevalent.

Tier 1 M249
The Tier 1 Elite M249 was released as part of the Medal of Honor event, and acts as the close range machine gun variant of the M249. The Tier 1 Elite variant has a 130 round magazine and a high rate of fire, making it very effective at close range encounters, but it's low accuracy means it is less effective at longer ranges. A special desert camouflage is present on the Tier 1 Elite M249, but has very little use. Maps such as Riverside Rush and Victory Village, where the fighting is mostly close range combat, are where the Tier 1 Elite M249 works very well, although other, specialised weapons, such as shotguns and knifes, can be superior at those ranges.

SOF M249
Released as part of the Battlefield Heroes Christmas event, the SOF M249 is available to Royal Army gunners. The SOF M249 differs from the other M249s in Battlefield Heroes as it has a usable scope, which improves accuracy at longer ranges. The SOF M249 has a moderate rate of fire, between that of the standard M249 and the Tier 1 Elite M249, and is most effective at medium ranges. The SOF M249 also has a winter camouflage, which is purely for visual purposes. The SOF M249 works well on all maps, but has an advantage on maps such as Sunset Showdown and Midnight Madness, where it's scope can be very useful in the open expanses.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
The M249 SAW in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 only appears in its multiplayer. It is the second light machine gun issued to the Medic kit requiring 1100 points to unlock. It has a high rate of fire, modest recoil, and a large magazine size. Its high rate of fire makes it much more effective than other LMGs at close range, however it also works well at longer ranges when tap firing especially with 4x Scope. Overall, the M249 SAW is a very effective weapon in the hands of a player who knows how to control the high rate of fire and to maintain accurate fire with tap firing technique.

M249 SAW
In Battlefield Play4Free, the M249 SAW is a purchasable Elite light machine gun for the Medic Kit. It features a 80 round magazine, low recoil, and a decent fire rate for the amount of damage it puts out. When the weapon was first released, it was said to fire the 7.62x51mm round, as well as having a recoil reducing muzzle break, giving reason for its high damage and low recoil.

The weapon itself performs very well in combat. It can easily keep its sights on a target with minimal adjustment, but it will start to become inaccurate after many rounds have been fired. This means the user should try to fire in medium length bursts of 5-10 rounds per burst to stay accurate.

In close quarters, the weapon's high fire rate and damage will trump even some submachine guns, although its spread is very high, making best for medium ranges and suppressing fire. Although considered an Elite weapon, the M249 SAW - like the UMP45 - features an all-black paint scheme, compared to the usual tan and black paint scheme of the other Elite weapons. Since Dec 1st, 2011 update, M249 SAW features black pain scheme, with a special desert camo skin available through "Desert supply drop" only.

Holosight M249 SAW
The Holosight M249 is identical to the standard M249 SAW, but it is equipped with a custom Holographic Sight for better target acquisition at range over its standard iron sights.

With the same statistics as the regular M249, the attached Holographic Sight allows the user to pull up the M249 faster to view down range and be able to fire accurately faster. Players are unable to buy this weapon as of December 1st, 2011.

FN Minimi Para
The FN Minimi Para is a compact version of the M249 with a shorter barrel and sliding aluminum butt stock. The designation Para stems from its intended use as a weapon for airborne troops. Its short barrel and stock increases its short range performance while sacrificing some of its long range capabilities.

Battlefield 3
The M249 makes another appearance in Battlefield 3.

Singleplayer
The M249 is used by some USMC soldiers and is usable in Operation Swordbreaker and sports a Bipod and ACOG Scope. It can kill in about 2-3 shots and with its high-capacity magazine, it can kill multiple NPCs.

Co-Op
The M249 is Player 2's default primary weapon in the missions Operation Exodus and Exfiltration.

In the former, it comes with a Holographic Sight and Bipod. It can also be picked up by Player 1 in supply drops around the level.

In the latter, it comes with a 4x IRNV sight and Foregrip.

Multiplayer
It is issued to the Support kit as the first light machine gun unlocked after the default faction light machine guns, at 11,000 Support points, and is the second unlock for the Support kit. Like other machine guns, the M249 comes equipped with a bipod.

Comparatively speaking, the M249 is arguably one of the most versatile machine guns though it has its faults. The low damage profile of the M249; mainly because of the 5.56x45mm NATO used mainly on ARs, makes recoil suprisingly little allowing for amazingly accurate full-auto fire with the expense of high spread at full auto. Furthermore the extremely high fire rate means enemies are dropped quickly despite the relative damage handicap of the M249 by comparison to other machine guns. For a traditional "set-up" support play, the bipod and scope are viable options. The bipod will reduce recoil significantly and the scope will allow for easy target acquisition even at longer ranges.The M249's high fire rate makes it a good weapon for experienced players and being the second unlock for the support kit makes it an excellent gun for beginners. Unfortunately due to the high RPM output, the M249 suffers from one of the worst spreads when firing, as well as making it empty it's magazine faster.

Battlefield 3: Aftershock
The M249 appears as one of the four selectable primary weapons in Battlefield 3: Aftershock. Unlike the other three (UMP-45, M40A5, AK-74M), the M249 can only be unlocked when the player watches a trailer for the movie Act of Valor from an advertisement in the game. However, due to a bug in the game, the M249 will not appear on the weapon selection screen, no matter how many times the player watches the trailer over and over again.

Battlefield 4
An unknown variant of the M249 is used by Irish in the Battlefield 4 Fishing in Baku trailer. It is equipped with a Bipod.

Trivia

 * The ironsights of the M249 in Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 2 are different from all the other games in the series, having more space between the rear aperture and front hood.
 * In Battlefield 3, the M249 Proficiency Dog Tag shows the FN Minimi/M249 Para used in Battlefield Bad Company, Battlefield Bad Company 2, and Battlefield Play4Free.
 * In the Battlefield 3: Paris Multiplayer Gameplay Trailer, the M249 is seen in the kill feed as the "M-249." The hyphen was removed in the full game.
 * In the Battlelog Alpha it was referred to as the "MP60".