Today we’re reviewing one of the greatest guns ever: the M240B medium machine gun. Yes, this is a serious post but also it’s not, because obviously the M240B is, and I quote, hella illegal for general civilian ownership. However it also rules so we’re going to talk about why it rules. The first reason why the M240B rules: it is durable as hell.
In the above video, the shooter, who is definitely not me, yeets a series of bursts through this M240 that, based on the pile of brass and links in the frame, has already been run pretty hard that. It doesn’t complain, it just keeps taking the abuse and going on and on. This is in contrast to its bitchy cousin the M249, which while I love the M249 for many reasons, can be a real pain in the ass to keep running.
Anyway, back to why the M240B rules. It rules because it’s probably the best medium machine gun that the US military has ever fielded, including the revered M60. That’s right, I said it. The M240B is better than the M60. It’s also better than the M1919, even though the M1919 was designed by Saint John Moses Browning, who designed every good gun ever. Here’s 5 reasons the M240 is better than the M60.
- The M240B isn’t based on Nazi machine gun designs. Nazi machine guns in WW2 are o-v-e-r-r-a-t-e-d and people think they were awesome for the same reasons they think the Sherman sucked: those people are low-key dumb.
- M240s will endure round counts that would shatter an M60 into a gajillion little pieces. I’ve seen a single M240 eat 24,000 rounds in a day without a single failure. That’s gnarly.
- Barrel changes on the 240 are way easier than the M60
- The Belgians (who designed the M240) make better beer than Germans or Americans, thus the M240 is better.
- Yes, “Pig” is a cool nickname for a machine gun, but the M60 got that name because it was unbalanced and liked to nose dive into the ground. Everyone loves the 240, so it doesn’t have a mean nickname.
Alright, let’s do some real review stuff here for a second. The M240B is a 7.62 NATO, gas operated medium machine gun that fires from the open bolt position. It has a rate of fire from 650 to 850 rounds per minute, and has fixed headspace barrels, which means that theoretically, any 240 barrel on the planet should fit any 240. For the most part, the guns issued to the US military have been manufactured by FN USA in Columbia, SC; however I’ve personally seen at least one Colt manufactured M240B. In Air Force ground combat doctrine (yes that’s a thing I promise you) the role of the M240B is to either be vehicle mounted on mobile patrols, or mounted in a fixed position to cover a sector of fire in the ground airbase defense role. In traditional infantry fire and maneuver situations, the M240B is used to provide a base of fire that allows the maneuver unit to advance on the objective.
But now the most important question to answer in this M240 review: is it wicked awesome to rip a belt through? YES DUH. And if you ever get the chance I highly recommend you do it.
