The FN M249 S: A civilian SAW

Introduction

Some firearms are simply iconic, perhaps because of media and movies, or perhaps because of a stellar record in military service. Today we bring you one of those firearms, or at least a civilian legal version of it; The FN M249 S. The SAW is a light machine gun chambered in 5.56 and can be fed by either a belt of linked cartridges or Stanag magazines.

The FN M249 S

The M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) is operated by a single person though under heavy use could be served by two for ammo support. The M249 has an interesting operating system as well as a host of interesting features.

Caliber: 5.56x45mm
Operation: Closed-bolt
Mag Capacity: 200 Rd. belt or 30 Rd. mag
Weight: 17.2 lb.
Barrel Length: 18.5″
Overall Length: 40.75″
Overall Height: 9.5″
Trigger Pull: 8 – 15.5 lb.
Twist Rate: 1:7 RH

Whether you shoot the M249 from the prone position using the included folding bipod for support, or attaching it to a pintle mount for shooting from a vehicle, you will want some support for this seventeen pound machine.

The gun is fed from a plastic ammunition case that attaches to the bottom of the rifle. Belted ammunition is pulled from the box and fed into the action from left to right, spent cases and the M27 links are spit out as rounds are consumed.

The full-auto version of this rifle used by militaries fires from the open bolt, while this semi-automatic version fires from the closed bolt. Operation of the action is done using gas pressure tapped from the barrel that pushes a healthy piston and operating rod.

Ammo is loaded by opening up the feeding tray on top of the gun, and setting the belted ammo into the feeding pawl. With everything accommodated the tray is closed and locked at the rear. The feeding pawl pulls the belted ammo one round at a time into the gun, and the curious action strips the round from the links as it is chambered.

There is a two-position carry-handle mounted to the rear of the barrel that also comes in handy while swapping barrels. Interchanging barrels on a hot or compromised barrel is a regular occurrence for machine guns, and it was easily done even by a novice like myself. Simple sights including a hooded pin up front on the gas block, complimented by an adjustable rear sight make directing fire pretty self explanatory.

As you might imagine, the trigger is long and not impressive for someone coming from a marksmanship mindset. There is a push-push safety just like the one you learned on when you were a kid. And once you’ve committed to pulling the trigger there is plenty of exercise for your finger with all that curling.

Range Preparations

Apart from the obvious task of linking a bunch of ammunition together, all we did was mount up a Trijicon ACOG. It wasn’t exactly a match for the SAW’s in military use, but it was certainly good enough to do the trick.

Linking up 5.56 ammo is easily done by hand, but I would recommend something faster for best results. Once linked, the belt is laid in the plastic ammo box that closely resembles shoddy tupperware. There are other belt housings available but we only had the plastic box available.

Shooting the FN M249 S

Getting behind the M249 I was a bit excited, despite not being fully automatic. I was excited to see how this complicated machine worked after having seen all the inner workings that seemed a bit more complex than the typical guns I handle.