M240

The FN M240B is a medium machine gun featured in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It is a belt-fed, gas-operated medium machine gun and the US designation for the Belgian FN MAG 58. The main differences between the two is the addition of a Picatinny rail on top, a new stock, a heat shield over the barrel, and a hydraulic buffer similar to that used in the M60. The United States military has used it since the mid 1980's, replacing the M60, with the United States Army predominantly using the M240B variant, and the Marine Corps using the M240G. The U.S. Coast Guard uses them as their primary man-mounted gun. Security forces uses them as well.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
The M240 is first seen used by Makarov's terrorists in the airport in No Russian. The purpose for using Western firearms is to divert suspicion from the Ultranationalists and to a western perpetrator, but strangely, it is seen being used by Ultranationalists in other missions as well. Juggernauts will always use this weapon in Special Ops. In addition, the empty shell casings are ejected from the bottom of the weapon, not from the side, which is where the disintegrating links are ejected. The weapon is primarily used in a fixed position through a tripod, bipod, or swivel mount as seen on HMMWV's (Humvees).

The M240 has mild recoil for a medium machine gun, but enough to throw off aim at middle to long distances. Because of this, a Grip is recommended. Otherwise, the weapon is somewhat unremarkable, with a slightly obstructive yet open iron sight, decent reload time, damage, and rate of fire. The belt size is on the larger side. Scavenger is recommended as the weapon expends ammunition quickly.

The M240 has the fourth highest damage of all LMG's mainly due to its extremely high rate of fire and average damage.

The M240 excels in Hardcore, where it delivers one-hit kills at a very high rate of fire with decent recoil.

As with all LMGs, short bursts of two to three shots are recommended for long range, with the number of shots per burst entirely dependent on the random way in which it recoils.

It is subject to the same recoil modifications/penalties for using different sight attatchments as all other LMGs.

With precision control (through practice and training to understand the recoil), a player can keep it relatively level and provide a sweeping fire, or even a vertical sweep (although this is more difficult) using simply the recoil alone.

Controlled bursts and slow turn stick pivoting provide a good method of sweeping fire.

The M240 has the same damage as the MG4, with nearly as much accuracy, and superior rate of fire. Coupled with stopping power, even without FMJ, light or soft cover provides little protection from the hail of bullets.

The grip is recommended for distance shooting to beginner users, as it is quite easy to maintain the target.

The extremely high rate of fire makes this LMG the premier weapon for "walling", as it will tell you when you're hitting someone while its likely already nearly killed them, and simply holding the trigger further will likely bring the weapon back with recoil onto the person attempting to hide, providing a quick and shameless kill.

Weapon Attachments

 * Grip (Marksman I)
 * Red Dot Sight (Marksman II)
 * EOTech Holographic Weapon Sight (60 kills while aiming down the Red Dot Sight)
 * Silencer (Marksman III)
 * Heartbeat Sensor (15 kills with the silencer attached)
 * ACOG Scope (Marksman IV)
 * Thermal Scope (20 kills while aiming down the ACOG scope)
 * FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) (Marksman V)
 * Extended Mags (40 kills with Bullet Penetration while using FMJ)

Trivia

 * On Infinity Ward's website the M240 was voted the favorite light machine gun in Modern Warfare 2.
 * The M240 in game is very underpowered. It is chambered for the 7.62x51mm round, which is the same round fired by the M14 EBR, SCAR-H and the FN FAL. So the M240 should have similar stopping power and should work similarly to M60E4 from Call of Duty 4, though it doesn't. This was probably done for balancing reasons, which is strange, as so far there is no LMG that has a really high damage rate and low rate of fire in Modern Warfare 2, though this would be inaccurate as well; on its highest gas setting, a clean M240G's fire rate can break 1,000 RPM.
 * At 27.5 pounds (M240B) weight unloaded, the M240 is not generally considered a shoulder-fired weapon. While it is certainly possible to wield it in the way seen in Modern Warfare 2, the weight and recoil of the massive firearm would very quickly exhaust the shooter, not to mention the weight of the 7.62 belted ammunition. The in game ammo capacity of 900 rounds would have weighed about 65 pounds in real life.
 * Some players have asked why the M240 and its "younger brother", the M249 SAW, look very different. They don't actually, except for a few aesthetic differences. As mentioned above, the M249 is held against the shoulder, and the M240 is literally fired from the hip, thus giving a different angle. The M240 also uses a 7.62mm round wile the SAW uses a 5.56mm round. The M240 is also 8 inches longer than the M249, and possesses a bulkier receiver and different stock design than the M249. Another curious fact is the function of the two weapons in Modern Warfare 2 is reversed; in practice the M249 is more often used as a mobile fire support weapon for infantry squads, while the M240 is typically mounted on vehicles or ground tripods and used by platoon level heavy weapon detachments.
 * While using the Heartbeat Sensor, the player closes the Heartbeat Sensor while reloading. This also applies to the RPD.
 * Like the MG4, the M240 has a higher rate of fire in multiplayer then it does in single player.
 * The M240 makes two very distinctive third-person noises depending on the distance of the gun from the player. The more common of these noises is the same distinctive sound of the M249 SAW.
 * The M240 has the same reloading action as the Russian RPD, though a bit sped up, as it reloads about 2 seconds faster than the RPD.
 * The M240 is the standard weapon of the Juggernaut, and always comes with a sight attached. However, if the name of the weapon shows up as "M240", the gun sometimes appears as an M240 with a Holographic Sight. All other variants used have their respective names.
 * In the game the M240's magazine is like the one on the M249 SAW. However, in reality the M240 magazine is on the side like on the MG4.
 * Whilst reloading with the Heartbeat Sensor attached it will seem to fold in by it's self.
 * In the stats for light machine guns the stats show that the MG4 has the exact same damage, range, and fire rate as the M240 but with better accuracy, though the M240 actually has a much higher rate of fire that can be noticed it you and a friend or teammate fire the M240 and MG4 at the same time, the M240 will always empty its magazine first.