M240

The M240 is a light machine gun featured in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

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

Campaign
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. 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, the M240 has a much larger ammo capacity 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 Scope 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 full-auto. As a result of this, a Grip or the Holographic Sight are recommended. The weapon has a slightly obstructive iron sight, the third fastest reload time for an LMG, low damage, and an extremely high rate of fire. Scavenger is a good choice as the weapon expends ammunition quickly, however as an LMG two one-hundred round belts is sufficient for most occasions. 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 three shots with Stopping Power, or four without it in normal circumstances. Because of the lack of damage dropoff, using a silencer - with or without Stopping Power - 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. The player will also show up on enemy radar when using the Silencer, making the attachment even less desirable. This does not render the silencer completely useless though, as it removes the muzzle flash when firing.

The M240 has low damage for an LMG, 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. Along with poor iron sights, the M240 suffers from very high muzzle flash when fired automatically. The Holographic Sight is a solution to both problems; the sight is elevated, therefore the player will see a notably lower amount of flash.

The weapon's high fire rate is 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 (though this is ill-advised, LMG's are at their best when used as a support role for holding areas and objectives). 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. It also performs quite well as an overwatch weapon with any optic plus a Grip with Bling, having moderate, mostly visual recoil that can down a target surprisingly fast, with or without Stopping Power.

Weapon Attachments

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

Campaign
The M240 is only seen in the mission "Blood Brothers" during the flashback to "No Russian" and is visually identical to its Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 predecessor. Like the M1911, it is merely a set-piece weapon and cannot be used; however, it can be found and used in the Wii version during the mission "Goalpost".

Multiplayer
The M240 was available in at least one build of the game, but was cut from the final version for unknown reasons.

General

 * The M240 is technically the only light machine gun featured in all installments in the Modern Warfare series, as it makes a brief appearances in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, while also being featured as a usable weapon in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

 * On Infinity Ward's website, the M240 was voted the favorite light machine gun in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
 * The M240 has a higher rate of fire in multiplayer than it does in the campaign.
 * The M240 can be considered to be the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 equivalent of the M249 SAW, due to the similar damage, accuracy and rate of fire.
 * 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, MP5K, 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.
 * In the campaign, if 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. However, 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. This is the highest amount of ammunition a player has ever been able to carry in a Call of Duty game (excluding infinite ammo weapons).
 * 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.
 * When the player reloads the M240 with the Heartbeat Sensor, the character will fold the sensor while reloading and will unfold it when done reloading.
 * If seen from the side in third person, the M240 is labeled the M240B, the Bravo variant.
 * Also, a US Ranger shouts out "Fire your Two-Forty Bravos!" in Whiskey Hotel, further suggesting that this is the M240B variant.
 * The M240 has an identical reloading animation to the Call of Duty 4 RPD, albeit faster.
 * When reloading the M240, its ammo box always appears to be empty.
 * In first person mode, there is "CHEST" written on the left of the gun in yellow letters.