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Overview


A strong open-area LMG, the M249 is the perfect choice for players willing to trade a slow fire rate for increased accuracy and a high ammo capacity.
―Official description

The M249 is a machine gun featured in every game in the Counter-Strike series.

Overview[]

The M249 is the designation of the US-adopted version of the Belgian FN Minimi, a light machine gun firing the intermediate-caliber 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge, adopted for the United States Armed Forces. The M249 in older Counter-Strike games is the Paratrooper version, lacking a fixed stock. In Global Offensive, the fixed stock is present.

In-game, it is one of the two machine guns in the multiplayer Counter-Strike games, and the only one available in games prior to Global Offensive. It is available to both teams. Terrorists cannot purchase this machine gun in Assassination maps.

The M249 is currently the most expensive weapon in all games in the series, at $5750 in earlier games and reduced to $5200 in Global Offensive. It also has a high ammunition cost in Counter-Strike and Condition-Zero games where ammunition needs to be bought. As the M249's 5.56mm ammo does not share with assault rifles that also uses 5.56mm ammo means the only way to refill the ammo without cost is pick up another M249 from dead player, which is a very rare possibility. These properties make it a rare sight in competitive games with high economy management, but is more common in public matches due to its large magazine and good damage output making it a fun weapon to use.

It has a large magazine capacity and a large reserve ammunition capacity, but has a very long reload and is quite heavy due to being a light machine gun. These properties makes it stronger for fighting against groups of enemies.

The M249 deals high damage, able to instantly kill targets with headshots in Source and Global Offensive at close range regardless if they're using helmets. It also has a high penetration power, allowing for suppressive fire through surfaces.

The M249 has quite strong recoil and inaccuracy, restricting its range of effectiveness to mid-range combat.

Properties[]

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Hitbox Primary Attack
Unarmored Armored
Head 128 102
Chest & Arm 32 25
Abdomen & pelvis 40 32
Leg 24 24
Red signifies a fatal hit.
Counter-Strike: Source
Hitbox Primary Attack
Unarmored Armored
Head 140 108
Chest & Arm 35 27
Abdomen & pelvis 43 33
Leg 27 27
Red signifies a fatal hit.
Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike: Condition Zero
Hitbox Primary Attack
Unarmored Armored
Head 124 93
Chest & Arm 31 23
Abdomen & pelvis 38 28
Leg 24 24
Red signifies a fatal hit.
Movement speed in hammer units per second
Counter Strike: Global Offensive Counter-Strike, Condition Zero and Source
Running 195 220
Walking 101 114
Crouch walking 66 75

Tactics[]

  • The M249 is generally regarded as not being a wise purchase due to its hefty price tag, especially in Global Offensive, as its alternative, the Negev, is significantly cheaper and easier to control.
  • Spray bullets at full auto and strafe when you encounter enemies at close range. The weapon is deadly in cramped sections of a map.
    • The M249 will completely shred thin cover. Use it to draw out hiding enemies.
    • Shred enemies up with the M249 when they are in a group.
      • If friendly fire is enabled, do not spray bullets if there are teammates in front of you; because the M249 has a large cone of fire, some of the bullets may hit your teammates. This also applies to hostages.
  • Never spray bullets at your enemies beyond close range. The weapon's high inaccuracy makes it ineffective and makes you an easy target. At longer ranges, burst firing or tap firing is the most effective tactic. Although retreating is preferred when against enemies with assault rifles or sniper rifles unless they're unaware of your position.
    • In CS:GO, it's possible to aim somewhat accurately while at full auto; the bullets will generally go upwards and to the right, making it possible to hit targets at longer ranges by compensating.
  • Using the M249 at full-auto while running is a bad idea, as it massively increases inaccuracy to nigh unusable levels.
  • This weapon is not quite versatile - its slow movement speed makes it slower for the player to quickly react to situations. Instead, the M249 is more useful to draw fire from teammates or defend important spots.
    • Switch to your sidearm or knife if you have to run.
  • Take cover or traverse to where your teammates are when you need reload due to the long reload time. It is important to reload when your magazine is less than 30 bullets.

Appearances[]

In the Tour of Duty, the M249 kill challenge appears in:

Map Difficulty Challenge
Chateau tod wide
Chateau
Easy Kill 2 enemies
Normal Kill 3 enemies
Hard / Expert Kill 3 enemies without dying

The following bots use the M249 as their main weapon:

The M249 is usable in Building Recon, found in a crate next to a mounted M2 Browning, shortly after defeating the T-90 in the level. It can also be seen behind the weapons counter in Counter Terrorist Training. Ammo packs for it can interestingly be found in Alamo despite not appearing in the level.

Achievements[]

Weapon
M249 Expert M249 Expert
Kill 500 enemy players with the M249.

Weapon Specialist
M249 Expert csgo M249 Expert
Kill 100 enemies with the M249.

Bugs[]

  • In both Counter-Strike and Condition Zero, the muzzle flash may not sync properly when the user is jumping after firing a shot.
  • In Condition Zero, if a player holding the M249 is in a crouched position, the left hand will clip through the gun in third-person.
  • Oddly, if carrying a hostage, the player moves faster while wielding the M249. This also applies for the Negev.

Trivia[]

  • The M249 was the only light machine gun available in the Counter-Strike multiplayer series until the Negev was introduced in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
  • The M249 in the GoldSrc Counter-Strike games appears smaller than the M249 in Source Counter-Strike games.
  • In earlier games, rounds on M249's ammunition belt never disappear, even when ammo count gets to zero, making it seem as if the gun never needs to be reloaded. This is to reduce memory, as with the P90, UMP-45, AUG, Krieg 552, and the Krieg 550 Commando.
    • In Global Offensive, the gun now properly displays the diminishing bullets when the M249 is running out of ammo.
  • Prior to Condition Zero, the world model lacked both the ammo belt and the carrying handle present in the first-person view.
    • In Global Offensive, the carrying handle is removed from the model.
  • M249's data in Counter-Strike: Source' VGUI buy menu states that its firing rate is around 600 RPM. However, in-game it fires at approximately 750 RPM. This is likely due to Valve reusing the old VGUI data from Counter-Strike 1.6.
  • In Counter-Strike 1.6 (and older betas), the ammo box was colored black, like the M249 itself. In Condition Zero and later games, the box is now colored green.
  • Prior to Source, the third person version of an M249 user shows the gun being reloaded by replacing the ammo belt, but in Source and Global Offensive, the ammo box and ammo belt are seen being replaced.
  • Prior to Global Offensive, it was one of the 4 uncut weapons to retain its original name, the others being the Maverick M4A1 Carbine, the MAC-10 and the Five-SeveN.
  • The Automated Sentry in Danger Zone uses the M249 and came without trigger and the stock. But uses the MAC-10 firing sounds.
  • In GoldSrc Counter-Strike games, if the player skips the reloading animation with no bullets left, then the first-person viewmodel will still show bullets in the magazine. Interestingly, the bullets only disappear when the reload animation starts.

External links[]

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