Filled a Bucket List Item this Week Finally!

[FloridaAKM]

Since DeSantis gave us the rest of 2025 with no taxes on hunting, camping & fishing items purchased, I decided to buy a gun I have wanted for many years. Atlantic Firearms had a good price on the FN M249s, so I bought the last one they had in the black full stock model with a $667 taxes savings.

Years ago, while going to Knob Creek every year, I was able to pick up spare parts like bolts, flash suppressors, ammo bags, links, etc. cheap. Now it paid off as I have the gun itself to take to the range to shoot.

I figure that the transfer will be a breeze as the gun shop I frequent, was transferring an AR-15 pistol with a 12" barrel & no buttstock to a homie with tarantula hairstyle last week. I didn't want to be anywhere near that kid.

Anyway, next week should be a fun week after picking it up from the transfer FFL.

[baboon]

A friend of mine bought two of them. They had a problem & had a recall.

He bought a folding titanium tripod that had something about it the would lock the T&E.

IIRC they went up in value once guys figure how to make select fire

[FloridaAKM]

The problem was with the FGC in the older/initial units, so they had a recall to repair the problem. The smart guys didn't send their units in & the guys that did, got back their guns with a 14 to 16 pound triggers, which for FA is good, but semi is terrible. This last manufactured batch did a product improved version of the trigger setup & they have the 4 to 6 pound triggers as required.

Going to one of the MVPA meets a few years back, a buddy & myself found 2 of the titanium tripods for $600.00 each. He bought them both & gave one to the owner of Spike's Tactical, them sold the other. Neither of us had a M249 at the time. They were used military gear that got liberated some where along the line.

The M249 is not select fire, it has safe & rock n' roll only. The M249s is semi only with the same safety button. The semi version is a striker fired FCG like the conversion is done to RPD's to convert them to semi only. Both work very well, but the M249s is a factory gun, not a conversion done by whom ever is doing conversions at the timeframe .

I have 3 RPD's, that two were converted by Pirate, back in the day & work very well. He was a stickler for quality work & was not cheap by any means. He passed about 5 years back, but his work still continues to shoot well.

[Sanders]

The M249 I was issued in '86 had a serial number in the 400's. I don't remember what it was, as I didn't have it long enough to memorize it before I broke it and they gave me a brand new Maremont M60 to replace it.

During my time in the Army, I got 3 brand new weapons: The M249, A brand new M16A2 (the first of which had a defective barrel), and a brand new M60 (which was my 4th and last M60 I had issued).

[FloridaAKM]

I stopped by the Atlantic Firearms website & all but a couple of the full stock FDE M249s's have been sold. All 4 designations included, while I thought about it for a couple of months, everything just sat there with no sales, then boom, gone.

Wonder if the political climate going sideways has anything to do with it? I can see people going out & spending $500 to $800 on an AR or an AK, but $10K is a big chunk on money for a single semi auto rifle/carbine.

The cheapest I can find quality M855 linked is Winchester from Lake City armory for $0.65 a round link included. MagTech is a close second @ $0.62, but it had import fees & the brass is questionable for reloading due to shallow primer pockets. I went thru 4k of them last year uniforming the primer pockets after doing all the brass work only to discover the issue.

[Klauss]

Congrats on the purchase, I just bought one of my grail guns off gunbroker yesterday. Definitely a great feeling.

Now I have to wait for it to ship 🤣

[FloridaAKM]

A couple of weeks ago, an importer local to me advertised that they had used M249 barrels for sale in the para & full length version. They made it better with adjustable & non adjustable gas blocks. All of the barrels were under $400.00 verses $1100.00+ for new FN barrels.

A day later, they made the ad live for sales & in a matter of hours, everything but the full length non adjustable barrels were sold. I scored a full length non adjustable barrel complete with everything the barrels are issued with for $379.00, no fees thanks to our governor.

When it arrived, it is in great shape with very little wear & no rust or damage. The rifling was clean & sharp & even thought it was used as a machinegun barrel, the rifling matches the new FN barrel that came with the gun. The purchased barrel is also a FN manufactured unit, not some cheap knockoff.

The only barrels left are the one I purchased & units that are missing the gas blocks or carry handles. Good score on a fair priced barrel.

[Johnny]

Back in my Army days, I got to fire the M249 on occasion at qualification ranges. I liked it a lot; even more than the M60 and M240B. Since it fired a 223 round, the recoil was very manageable. Even though I wasn't particularly skilled at firing machineguns, I found this one to be pretty easy to saturate long-distance targets with accurate plunging fire.

[FloridaAKM]

A few days before Christmas, the same vendor that was selling surplus M249 barrels had a blow out sale on the long M249 barrels with the adjustable gas block setup, but they were missing the carry handle. Price was $259.00 & IIRC had free shipping with no ta+, condition was the same as the first one.

When that barrel arrived, it had a totally worn out carry strap attached to it with a few drops of red paint for some reason. It was in the same condition as the first unit I bought, but it was the original FN barrel with the original muzzle brake. The brake was damaged by some soldier trying to remove it not knowing that it had reverse threads. Having bought several new brakes for $5.00 each from Knob Creek while on the annual pilgrimage, the damaged brake was removed & replaced with the spare.

Now the second spare barrel was complete except for the missing carry handle. The base was there, just the wire piece & the grooved handle were gone. I found one online for $25.00 & when it came in, added the necessary missing spring & collet & installed it onto the barrel. The handle does not lock as the originals do, but no worry, just install the barrel & go shooting.

[GimpyPaw]

IMG_3547.png Hey, I don’t read words!

I read pictures damnit! Needs more pictures!

OK, had to look it up. Apparently FloridaAKM has good taste. I think this is what he got

[FloridaAKM]

Well, with the war in Iran heating up & cooling off every week, I decided to add one more range toy to the collection. Again, Atlantic Firearms had one specific firearm left to sell for many months. Again there was no sales tax, just shipping for an oversized weapons case so I broke down & bought it.

What was the purchase you say, an OOW M240 SLR with all the accessories & a carry case. Do I need it, no, but @ my age & no wife to say no..........it will be delivered to my FFL tomorrow to be transferred to me.

Luckily, it comes with 2500 M13 links to give me a pair of very sore hands after a few hundred rounds are linked up. Birthday is coming too ...............................