M240

The M240 is an American light machine gun featured in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
The M240 is a mounted machine gun that can be seen on top of any M1 Abrams tank in Call of Duty 4. This M240 is unavailable to the player, it can be seen in several missions. The M240 can be seen next to the M2 Browning Machine Gun.

Singleplayer
The M240 is first seen used by American forces in liberating an Afghan city, and then by Makarov's terrorists during the attack on Zakhaev International Airport. The purpose for using Western firearms is apparently to divert suspicion from the Ultranationalists to a western perpetrator, but strangely, it is seen being used by Ultranationalists in other missions as well. It is also used by Ranger LMG gunners with various attachments such as the Red Dot Sight, ACOG scope, or without attachments. In comparison to the MG4, which is commonly found amongst arctic Ultranationalists, the M240 has a much larger amount of ammo able to be carried as well as the commonality of mounted optics, although it has a little more recoil.

Special Ops
Juggernauts will always use this weapon in Special Ops, usually with a Red Dot Sight, but they may use other weapon attachments, especially the ACOG sight and occasionally the Holographic Sight. The M240 also appears as a starting weapon for Armor Piercing. When used against Juggernauts, the M240 is very effective, capable of killing one in about 1/3 of a magazine.

Multiplayer
The M240 has mild recoil for a light machine gun, but enough to throw off aim at medium to long distances if firing fully-auto. Because of this, a Grip is recommended. Otherwise, the weapon is somewhat unremarkable, with a slightly obstructive iron sight, decent reload time, low damage, and a high rate of fire. Scavenger is a good choice as the weapon expends ammunition quickly. If used with both a Grip and Red Dot Sight, the M240 can be very effective at all ranges if burst firing is used effectively. The lack of damage dropoff means it is most effective at long range, where it will still down a player in 3 shots with Stopping Power, or 4 without it in normal circumstances. Because of the lack of damage dropoff or increase, using a silencer - with or without Stopping Power at close range is extremely ill-advised, as it still takes either 4 or 5 shots to kill, meaning the player will be overwhelmed by all of the SMGs, most Assault Rifles, and even other LMGs. This problem is shared with the MG4.

The M240 has the lower damage of the LMGs, balanced with its extremely high rate of fire. The M240 excels greatly in Hardcore, where it delivers one-hit kills at any range at a very high rate of fire with some mild, easily controllable recoil. The high rate of fire and high capacity makes this weapon a premier choice for bullet penetration kills. The player should restrain from using a Silencer due to a silencer glitch on the M240, (this glitch also applies to the MG4, and M9 allowing the player to still show up as a red dot on the enemy's map) and it still suffers a damage decrease, although it completely eliminates the muzzle flash, this is one of the greatest flaws of the M240. The damage decrease is not worth it in the long run due to 4 to 5 hit kills, and the silencer is better off avoided. The Holographic Sight is also a solution to the muzzle flash, because the sight is elevated the player will see a notably lower amount of flash.

The weapon's high fire rate can be quite useful in making the M240 a versatile weapon. The fire rate allows the M240 to do fairly well at close range while hipfiring compared to other LMGs. Stopping Power does not have a significant effect on the M240 due to the high fire rate, making other Tier 2 perks more viable options, such as Hardline for more air support and Lightweight for running and gunning. It can help with defending flags in Domination or general objective based game types such as Headquarters and Demolition. The M240 can also reach its potential in tight, high traffic areas because, as mentioned before, the high fire rate can make the M240 quite useful as it can provide constant suppressing/covering fire. Sleight of Hand Pro is recommended due to the longer sight raise time without the perk. Combining that with Lightweight Pro and Steady Aim can make the M240 an excellent run and gun weapon due to the near instant sight raise, even from sprinting, and puts the mobility very slightly behind assault rifles and SMG sight raise time. It also performs quite well as an overwatch weapon with any optic plus a Grip with Bling, having low, mostly visual recoil that can down a target surprisingly fast. The reload time of this weapon is not as long as some of the other LMGs, and can be canceled quite early, and with Sleight of Hand, the add time is as short as an assault rifle at 2.6 seconds.

Weapon Attachments

 * Grip
 * Red Dot Sight
 * Silencer
 * ACOG Scope
 * FMJ
 * Holographic Sight
 * Heartbeat Sensor
 * Thermal Scope
 * Extended Mags

Video
400px|Various gameplay with the M240

Trivia

 * On Infinity Ward 's website, the M240 was voted the favorite light machine gun in Modern Warfare 2.
 * Like the MG4 (and many other weapons), the M240 has a higher rate of fire in multiplayer than it does in single player.
 * The M240 is one of the guns which has a great difference between the first-person firing sound and the third-person firing sound. Other weapons which share this trait are F2000, MP5, M16A4, AK-47, and the M14 EBR.
 * In the Museum, the Juggernaut may drop an M240 with a Red Dot Sight and the original iron sights; the iron sights are overlooked and the player looks through the Red Dot Sight.
 * Occasionally, when picking up a dropped M240 in singleplayer, the pickup text will simply say 'M240' with no attachments mentioned. However, when picked up, it may have a Holographic Sight as well as the original iron sights.
 * When fired with a silencer, it will still appear on the enemy radar. The M240 shares this trait with the MG4 and M9.
 * If one is able to get the three gun glitch in Second Sun all three weapons can be carried over to Whiskey Hotel, if three M240's are picked up the ammo will go to 2800 rounds, 2700 in reserve and 100 in the magazine.
 * The third person firing sound of the M240 is the same as the third person sound of the unmounted M249 SAW in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
 * The M240 first appeared in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, mounted on top of War Pig, although it was unusable.
 * When the player reloads the M240 with the Heartbeat Sensor, the Heartbeat Sensor will automatically close, and then open when the player brings the gun back up after the reload.
 * If, in single player, a player uses an M240 and picks up another M240, they can have a maximum total ammo of 2000 rounds, with 200 loaded and 1800 in reserve. This is the most ammunition a player has ever been able to carry in a Call of Duty game (minus infinite ammo weapons).
 * The M240 is considered as the "spiritual successor" to the M249 SAW.