FN Minimi The FN Minimi is a Belgium machinegun created by FN Herstal , and is manufactured with licence in Germany , Greece and United States , where it ' s called M249 SAW . Description . The Minimi light machine gun was developed by the famous Belgian company FN Herstal , in the late 1970s and early 1980s . Mass production began in 1982 in Belgium , and at about the same time it has been adopted by the US Armed forces as the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon ( SAW ) . Since its introduction Minimi has seen widespread service , and numerous variations have been developed . First , the Para ( Paratroop ) version came out , with shorter barrel and tubular telescoped butt . This gun traded off some of the range and firepower for compactness and maneuverability . Quite recently , an SPW version was developed , which featured a Para - type buttstock , a barrel of intermediate length ( between standard and Para models ) , and a Picatinny - type rail mount , which allows a wide variety of sights and scopes to be mounted . To save weight , the magazine feed option of the standard and para models has been discarded . This version , in a slightly modified form , was adopted by the US Special Forces Command ( US SOCOM ) as the Mk . 46 model 0 light machine gun . The FN Minimi has an excellent reputation on reliability and firepower , and the latest reports on failures of M249 SAW weapons in Iraq are attributed to the age of the weapons used - most of the current issue M249 in US Army are more than 10 years old and quite worn out . Techinical Description . The FN Minimi / M249 SAW is an air cooled , gas operated , belt fed , automatic weapon . The Minimi is operated using conventional gas action with the gas piston located below the barrel , and the barrel is locked using the traditional rotary bolt . The barrel is quick - detachable , and has a carrying handle attached to it , to help for quick replacement procedure . The M249 has an alternative feed system , which allows to use disintegrating metallic belts as a primary feed option , or M16 - type box magazines as a back - up feed option . The belt is feed using the top feed unit , the magazines are inserted through the magazine port , located at the left side of the receiver and angled down . The Flip - up dust cover closes the magazine port when it is not in use , serving also as a belt guide . When magazine is in place , this cover raises up and closes the belt - way to avoid dual feeds and jams . Since the belt feed uses additional power to pull the belt through the gun , the rate of fire with the belt is somewhat slower ( ~ 750 rpm ) than the rate of fire with magazine feed ( ~ 1000 rpm ) . The latest SPW and Mk . 46 mod . 0 versions of the Minimi have no magazine feed module as a weight - saving measure . The belts are fed from special 200 rounds plastic boxes that can be clipped beneath the receiver . All Minimi versions fire from open bolt to ensure optimal barrel cooling between bursts . The folding bipod is mounded under the gas chamber , and the gun has provisions for tripod or vehicle mountings . The open sights are standard , with the availability of vide variety of optical and night sights for SPW and Mk . 46 versions with Picatinny rails .