page_title: M240 machine gun
section_title: Variants
hierarchical_section_title: M240 machine gun / Variants
caption_attribution_description: English: This image has been cropped from the original to better bring out the subject.
context_page_description: The M240, officially the Machine Gun, 7.62 mm, M240 or unofficially the M240 Bravo, is the US military designation for the FN MAG, a family of belt-fed, gas-operated medium machine guns that chamber the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge.
  The M240 has been used by the United States Armed Forces since the late 1970s. It is used extensively by infantry, most often in rifle companies, as well as on ground vehicles, watercraft and aircraft. Despite being heavier than some comparable weapons, it is highly regarded for reliability and its standardization among NATO members is a major advantage.
  All variants are fed from disintegrating belts and are capable of firing most types of 7.62 mm NATO ammunition. M240 variants can be converted to use non-disintegrating belts. There are significant differences in weight and some features among some versions which restrict interchangeability of parts. The M240s used by the US military are currently manufactured by FN America, the American subsidiary of FN Herstal.
  The M240B and M240G are usually fired from integrated bipods, tripods, or vehicular mounts; regarding tripod use, the U.S. Army primarily uses the M192 lightweight ground mount, while the U.S.
context_section_description: The manufacturer's name for the weapon is the MAG 58. The M240 adheres to FN MAG-58 specifications, allowing parts to be interchanged with other standard MAG-58s. This has significant advantages in training, logistics support, tactical versatility, and joint operations. For example, a US unit with attached British troops could supply replacement parts for the L7s, and vice versa.
caption: A marine performs maintenance on a mounted M240 pintle-mounted machine gun on an LAV
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Marine Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) Commander, Charlie Company, 2nd Lieutenant Gibson, performs maintenance  on an M240 CO-AX machine gun, mounted on a LAV during the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Re-qualification (LAR-REQUALEX) '98.", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "297", "Image YResolution": "297", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2008:06:12 20:28:46", "Image Artist": "LCPL Timothy A. Pope", "Image ExifOffset": "452", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "590", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7380", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1598", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1163"}