[SHOT 2022] Get My Belt! The FN M249S Returns For All Your Crew-Served Needs

At the last four SHOT Shows I have longingly fondled the FN 249S semiautomatic belt-fed rifles. I have made wishes while blowing out birthday candles, on shooting stars, and on pulled wishbones. In 2020 I even asked Santa (publicly) for an FDE Para version and the bastard stiffed me hard. And so, at the beginning of 2022, I sit here, sans crew-served weapon. However, there is first-world problem hope – FN has just announced the return of the M249S series.

Some of you will ask “what’s the point?”. To which I will reply, “when a belt-fed weapon is an option, a belt-fed weapon is the answer”. The challenge will be blowing my entire year’s gun budget on a single firearm, and then finding ways to feed it linked 5.56mm ammunition. Let’s see how this plays out.

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• FN America releases the FN M249S Para Military Collector Series

FN M249S NOW AVAILABLE IN BOTH PARA AND STANDARD CONFIGURATIONS

(McLean, VA – January 17, 2022) FN America, LLC is pleased to announce that the FN M249S® semi-automatic belt-fed rifle is now available to order in both the Paratrooper, or PARA, and Standard configuration. After a manufacturing hiatus, these new rifles are now in production and available for order.

“Since it was introduced, the FN M249S has outpaced our expectations in terms of customer interest and sales,” remarked Chris Cole, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for FN America, LLC. “After a hiatus in manufacturing to focus on other core FN products, we are extremely excited to make these available to our customers and loyal brand fans again. We are expecting new inventory to be readily available at retailers by the spring.”

The FN M249S semi-automatic belt-fed is part of the FN Military Collector Series,introduced in 2015 to bring to market classic interpretations of the firearms that FN designed and sold to the U.S. military. The line also includes the FN Military Collector M4 and M16, semi-automatic versions of the military’s M4A1 and M16A4.

The closed-bolt FN M249S Standard is the classic FN M249 SAW configuration with an 18.5-inch cold hammer-forged and chrome-lined barrel made from FN’s proprietary steel with quick-change capabilities, an ergonomic polymer buttstock with hydraulic recoil buffer, crossbolt safety and feeds from a disintegrating M27 linked ammunition belt. The Paratrooper model, or PARA for short, is the compact configuration of the M249 SAW and features a shortened 16.5-inch barrel along with a telescoping and collapsing buttstock.