M249

M249 icon

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(150)

The **FN Herstal M249 Light Machine Gun (LMG)**, initially known as **[REDACTED]** when released, and now known simply as the **M249** in-game, is a very rare and powerful LMG in surviv.io that uses the 5.56mm Ammunition and was added into the game in v0.2.5 "*5.56x45mm ... x4*" update on February 20th, 2018.

## Info

The M249 is a caricature of the LMG class. It features a giant 100-round box magazine and deals 75% more damage against Obstacles, with the drawback of the second-longest reload time of every gun (after the M134) and a large firing slowdown. It's not just an LMG; however, its extremely fast rate of fire and decent accuracy establish it as a dangerous weapon even in the hands of a moderately skilled player. They can spawn randomly, although extremely rare.

## Pros and Cons

### Pros

* High DPS
* High damage per magazine
* High accuracy when standing still
* Does more damage to obstacles like all LMGs
* Especially large box magazine

### Cons

* Very long reload time
	+ However, the DPS with reload time is relatively low
* Long barrel
* Great slowdown applied for holding and for shooting
* Can easily burn through loads of 5.56mm ammo if the player is not careful when using it
* Likely to be targeted with this gun due to its rarity.

## Strategies

### Using

* Practice good aim and conserve ammo, or the reload time will kill you as this gun has the second-longest reload time of any gun.
* The accuracy and fire rate of the M249 will quickly kill any enemy even in long range combat.
* If the enemy is hiding behind a destructible obstacle, shoot the obstacle to scare the player into running out in the open.
* Other strategies that work with the M134 will also work with this gun, and so will the counters.
* Try to hide this weapon and only use it when necessary, as it is highly sought after.

### Countering

* Higher DPS weapons in close range, such as the MP220 or another LMG like the M134 are likely the only way to finish it off.
* Its mutual enemy, the PKP Pecheneg, can be an effective counter to it at short and mid-range because of the larger magazine capacity, shorter reload time and higher damage in exchange for worse accuracy. The PKP also has a shorter barrel than the M249 and can be used as an advantage at short range.
* Even with very high DPS and ROF, the M249 is a bad close range weapon if the player has bad aim. Use weapons with an even higher DPS like the Vector (Both 9mm and .45 ACP) or the MAC-10 instead.
* Always take cover, preferably indestructible obstacles, since the M249's high DPS is deadly in the open.
* Spam grenades at the enemy as they will be forced to take cover.
* Try tricking the user into wasting all of his bullets with the M249's very high fire rate and making them reload.
	+ Once the user has to reload, charge at them with a high DPS gun, for example, the MP220. If possible, melee the user if they are close enough.
* Be aware that if this weapon is on the ground, it is likely a trap to lure in players. Look around for areas other survivrs can hide before trying to take the M249.

## Sounds

* Firing
* Reloading
* Swapping To

## Trivia

* The M249's reloading sound is, for a portion of the reload time, very similar to that of the DP-28, only being slower and with a cocking sound at the end.
* The M249's icon has a 200-round belt drum, even though the M249 in-game only has a 100 round capacity.
* The M249's lengthy reload is due to the belt-fed nature of the weapon.
* The M249 is an improved version of the FN Minimi.
* The M249, DP-28, QBB-97, PKP Pecheneg, PKM, and the M134 are the only guns that have visible magazines/ammunition boxes when holding them in-game.
* The M249's area target range is 800 meters (2,600 feet).
* The M249 has a chance of spawning in golden airdrops, though it is very rare, even rarer than the AWM-S.
* It's the first LMG to be a belt-fed weapon.
	+ In real life, however, the M249 can accept both belts and rifle (STANAG) magazines, which benefits the gunner because the magazines can be used when they run out of belts.
* If you pick up the 100 rounds of 5.56mm with max 5.56mm ammo from the M249, the 100 rounds of 5.56mm will break up into a 60x 5.56mm, and a 40x 5.56mm since the max drop rate for the 5.56 ammunition is 60. This doesn't apply with the M249 since all LMGs drop two rounds of their magazine. It is one of the only five weapons with a magazine capacity that exceeds 60 (The other ones are the QBB-97, PKM, M134, and PKP Pecheneg).
* With the Firepower Perk, the M249 has a 150 round magazine, less than the PKM with Firepower, which can hold 200. Nevertheless, this is still a huge magazine, fourth in all weapons.
* It and the PKM are the 2 guns with the second-highest magazine size with 100, beaten by PKP Pecheneg and M134 with 200.

## Special held sprite

The M249, along with other Gold Air Drop exclusive guns, received a new top-down sprite in the v0.6.7 "*Community collage*" update on November 29, 2018. These special skins have more detail than other weapons, which are usually just sticks.

The M249 reskinM249 Mag Sprite. It is placed under the rectangle with seven lines on it above.How M249 look in-game from a top-down perspectiveHow M249 used to look in-game from a top-down perspective before the reskin
## History

* v0.6.7
	+ Changed world sprite from  to
	+ Changed world tint from #373735 to #FFFFFF
	+ Changed world Y Scale (long direction of the gun) from 52.5% to 50%
* v0.2.5
	+ Added (Referred to as [REDACTED] in the changelog)

## Gallery

An M249 found in a Shack3 M249s on the groundM249 dropped from a Treasure ChestAn M249 shown in the HUDM249 found in the Hydra BunkerAn M249 found on the floor at the BankAn M249 found in a Container at the DocksM249 found from the Chest in the MansionOld M249 found on the Woods MapDouble M249's in the Into the Woods update.A fellow survivr holding both the M249 and USAS-12 in the Frozen-Woods event
## Links

* http://surviv.io/img/loot/loot-weapon-m249.svg