M249

Note: Statistics pulled from http://battlegrounds.party/weapons/raw/

The M249 is a light machine gun type weapon in BATTLEGROUNDS. It can only be found in air drops.

Formerly designated as the M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon), it fires the 5.56mm NATO cartridge. Used by the US military to lay down suppressing or covering fire for friendly forces, in BATTLEGROUNDS it now sees use for mowing down anyone unfortunate enough to get caught in its line of fire.

Summary
With 100 rounds of 5.56mm ammo per magazine, the M249 excels at room clearing, dealing slightly more damage than the 5.56mm assault rifles with a rate of fire as fast as that of the M16A4. The recoil is somewhat low, however the high rate of fire makes it harder to control.

The bipod can be enabled by going prone, greatly reducing recoil compared to firing from a standing or crouched position, allowing more precise shots against distant targets when telescopic sights are used.

All these advantages come with downsides however - as a belt-fed weapon that loads from cumbersome box magazines, it has the longest reload time of any weapon in the game, with a tactical reload just passing the 7 second mark, thus great care must be taken before choosing to reload, either ensuring that the area is fully secure before reloading or staying alert for anyone attempting to move in, or carrying a suitable backup weapon. This gun also burns through ammo very fast, particularly when keeping targets pinned behind cover, therefore it is advisable to stock up on as much 5.56mm ammo as can be carried if planning to use this weapon for extended engagements.

The M249 will deal maximum damage out to 75 meters, beyond that distance damage will begin to decrease, reaching its minimum value at 385 meters.

"Lighter than it looks."

- In-game description

Attachments
The following are attachable to this firearm:

Sights -‎
ordermethod=title category = Attachment for M249 category = Sights uses = Template:Infobox Attachments‎‎ include = {Infobox Attachments‎‎}:image, {Infobox Attachments‎‎}:name secseparators = ¦align="center" width="25%"¦,¶¦ %PAGE%¦ format = ¶{¦ class="wikitable sortable" style="width: auto;" ¶¦- style=""¶! Image !! Name ,¶¦-¶,,¶¦}

Master list
The following are all attachments available for this weapon. They are sorted alphabetically with no regard to the attachment point utilized. ordermethod=title category = Attachment for M249 uses = Template:Infobox Attachments‎‎ include = {Infobox Attachments‎‎}:image, {Infobox Attachments‎‎}:name secseparators = ¦align="center" width="25%"¦,¶¦ %PAGE%¦ format = ¶{¦ class="wikitable sortable" style="width: auto;" ¶¦- style=""¶! Image !! Name ,¶¦-¶,,¶¦}

Trivia

 * The M249 is modeled after the real weapon of the same name. As of Update 39, the M249 now comes with cloth pouches as standard, holding 75 rounds, extended mags doubling the capacity to to 150 rounds. While in reality the cloth pouches and plastic boxes hold 100 and 200 rounds respectively, the capacity was most likely lowered for gameplay purposes. Attaching the tactical stock turns it into the Para variant.
 * The description for this gun holds true, at least within the game - despite weighing approximately 10 kg (22 lb) loaded with a full magazine in reality, players in the game have no issues performing actions that would normally prove difficult while carrying such a weapon, with the only real drawback being reduced movement speed when unholstered.