FN Minimi

The FN Minimi is a combination 'belt-fed'/magazine fed' light machine gun, designed to serve in the role of "Squad Automatic Weapon". The SAW was a mobile suppressive fire platform that was light weight and single man transportable - much more so than the venerable M60 (which was always supposed to be a General Purpose Machine Gun, i.e. a crew served weapon). The U.S. Military adopted the first models of the FN Minimi in the 1980s directly as the XM249 or later as the M249 SAW (with some slight design changes in the official U.S. Adopted version). Later versions of the gun, reflected upgrades and design changes that were requested by the U.S. Military.

On a historical note: in the first months of the first Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm 1990), there were not enough M249s to supply the massive troop buildup in the Middle East, so the U.S. Army bought outright a number of unaltered FN Minimis directly from FN, to supplement the weapons. So it is not inaccurate to see first pattern FN Minimis in the hands of US Soldiers who are supposedly issued M249 SAWs since the Army mixed the two versions together until the late 1990s.

Please note that a number of movies, particularly those filmed in British Columbia, Canada, use the Daewoo K3 to stand in for the FN Minimi and M249. Visit the Daewoo K3 page to compare the two guns.

The FN Minimi and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:

Specifications

(1975 - Present)

Type: Machine Gun

Caliber: 5.56x45mm NATO

Capacity: 100, 200 round linked belts, or STANAG Magazines

Fire Modes: Full Auto Only (650-900 RPM) (No Selector Switch, safety is a push button)

FN Minimi

FN Minimi with 200-round drum - 5.56x45mm. Note 90-degree carry handle and flash hider design.

FN Minimi Para with 100-round cloth bag - 5.56x45mm. Note handguard design distinguishing this from the M249 Paratrooper below.

FN Minimi 5.56 Mk3 - 5.56x45mm

Film

Title	Actor	Character	Notes	Date
Robocop		Detroit SWAT officer		1987
Operation Condor		Hotel manager		1991
Operation Condor	Eva Cobo de Garcia	Elsa		1991
Courage Under Fire	Lou Diamond Phillips	Staff Sergeant John Monfriez	Fitted with heat shield to pass for M249 SAW	1996
The One That Got Away	Steve John Shepherd	Small Bob	prototype	1996
Dobermann	Monica Bellucci	Nat the Gypsy	With M203 grenade launcher	1997
Half a Chance	.	Various		1998
Ronin	Robert De Niro	Sam	Paratrooper version	1998
Bravo Two Zero	Richard Graham, Rick Warden, Steve Nicolson	Mark, Tony, Dinger	the open front sights of the Canadian C9 variant, and also used the FN Minimi prototype.	1999
Proof of Life		Downtown 3	Substitutes the M249 SAW with an added heatshield	2000
Black Hawk Down	Ian Virgo	PFC John Waddell	Substitutes the M249 SAW	2001
Black Hawk Down	Tom Hardy	Specialist Lance Twombly	Substitutes the M249 SAW	2001
Swordfish	John Travolta	Gabriel Shear		2001
36th Precinct	Patrick Médioni	Robert Boulanger	Para, w/ammo box, w/Beta-C mag	2004
Samurai Commando: Mission 1549		JGSDF member		2005
Home of the Brave	Brian Presley	Specialist Tommy Yates	Paratrooper version mounted on Humvee with 200-round woodland camo cloth ammo bag	2006
The Mark of Cain		British soldiers	Paratrooper version	2007
The Mark of Cain	Gerard Kearns	Pte Mark "Treacle" Tate	Paratrooper version	2007
Quantum of Solace		Gunmen	Paratrooper version	2008
Green Zone		U.S. Army soldiers	Substitutes the M249 SAW with an added heatshield	2010
The Other Guys		Rasta robbers		2010
The Viral Factor		Gunther	Paratrooper version	2012
Osombie	Paul D. Hunt	Joker	Paratrooper version	2012
Battleground				2012
Cockneys vs. Zombies	Georgia King	Emma		2012
The Family	Anthony Desio	Baby Goon		2013
Hunting the Phantom		Terrorist		2014
Colt 45		Masked assassin	Paratrooper version	2014
PASKAL The Movie		PASKAL drill		2018
The Outpost		U.S. Army soldiers	Modified to resemble M249 Paratrooper variant	2020
Caution, Hazardous Wife: The Movie		SAT trooper	Sumitomo Minimi	2021

Television

Show Title	Actor	Character	Notation	Air Date
Ultimate Force	Ross Kemp	SSgt. Henry "Henno" Garvie	Handled but never fired	2002 - 2006
	Danny Sapani	Cpl. Ricky Mann	Fed from 200 round cloth ammo drum
	Alex Reid	Cpt. Caroline Walsh	Fed from 200 round cloth ammo drum
	Liam Garrigan	Cpl. Ed Dwyer	Fitted with FN FAL style folding stock and fed from 200 round cloth ammo bag
	Louis Decosta Johnson	Cpl. Dave Woolston	Fed from 200 round cloth ammo bag and loose belts
	Louis Decosta Johnson	Cpl. Dave Woolston	Para model, fed from 30 round magazine
	William Meredith	Fender	Para model, fed 200 round cloth ammo bag
Iris - Season 1		North Korean terrorists		2009

Video Games

Title	As	Notation	Release Date
Resident Evil Game		Can only be found in the PC version	1996
Project IGI: I'm Going In			2000
Project IGI 2: Covert Strike			2003
Project Reality		Paratrooper version with optional SCROME J4 scope, EOTech red dot sight, and 100-round DPM camo cloth ammo bag	2005
Project Reality	As the "L110A1" and "L110A2"	L110 variants with optional SUSAT scope and 100-round DPM camo cloth ammo bag	2005
El Matador			2006
Forbidden Siren 2	"MINIMI 5.56mm Machine Gun"	Sumitomo Minimi	2006
Little Busters!			2007
World in Conflict		Cutscenes only	2007
7.62 High Calibre		Standard and Para versions	2008
Wheelman		w/ full stock and M249-style pistol grip and trigger guard	2009
Jagged Alliance: Back in Action	Minimi	Minimi Para with heat-shield	2012
Survarium			2013
Squad	L110A2, F89 Minimi	UK L110A2 variant, iron sights or SUSAT and ADF F89 variant	2015
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	"Bruen Mk9"	Minimi Mk3-style handguard, M240-like stock; added in Season 3 (2020)	2019
Caliber			2019
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)	"Bruen Mk9"	Minimi Mk3-style handguard, M240-like stock; Can be rechambered to .300 Blackout	2023

Anime

Film/Television Title	Character	Date
Seven Cities Story: Arctic Front	Aquironia soldier	1994
Gunsmith Cats		1995
Kochikame, The Movie	Volvo Saigo	1999
Asobi ni Ikuyo!		2010

M249

M249 with 200-round drum - 5.56x45mm. This is the first pattern US adopted variant of the original FN Minimi. The only noticeable change from the Belgian Minimi is the rear sight design and cut outs in the buttstock.

M249 with folding carry handle and 200-round drum - 5.56x45mm. This is a real blank adapted movie gun.

M249 with folding carry handle, heat shield, improved handguard, plastic stock, and 200-round drum - 5.56x45mm. This is the M249 issued following the Product Improvement Program.

M249 Paratrooper with Picatinny rail and 200-round drum - 5.56x45mm

M249 Paratrooper with Picatinny rail - 5.56x45mm. This is a real blank adapted movie gun.

M249 Para with Rapid Fielding Initiative telescoping stock, short barrel, heat shield, RIS handguard, Picatinny rail, ACOG scope, and 100-round cloth ammo bag - 5.56x45mm

The M249 is the variant of the FN Minimi adopted by the US military.

The M249 Product Improvement Program (PIP) was a program began in the mid-1980s soon after adoption to address some of the problems that M249 had. The "PIP kit" retrofitted the issued M249s. The PIP kit replaced the original steel tubular stock with a solid plastic stock, replaced the adjustable gas port settings with a single one (preventing the gun from firing at the higher cyclic rate), adds a heat shield/handguard above the barrel, and replaces the fixed barrel changing handle/carry handle with a folding one. Parts of the gun parts were modified to prevent injuries. The bipod, pistol grip, flash hider, and sights were also modified.

The Rapid Fielding Initiative (RFI) in the 2000s introduced additional modifications, including an improved bipod, 100– and 200–round fabric ammo bags to replace the plastic drums, M4-like collapsible stocks, and adding Picatinny rails for the feed tray cover and forearm. The initiative also modified their M249s with short Paratrooper barrels. Parts from the RFI are commonly confused with those from the PIP, even though some of the parts (especially Picatinny rails) literally did not exist when PIP was introduced.

The M249 was originally designated the Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW), but the designation was later dropped in 1994, according to the preface of FM (United States Army Field Manuals) 23-14 "M249 Light Machine Gun In The Automatic Rifle Role". The SAW name is still commonly (though inconsistently) used despite this.

Variants of the M249 are sometimes named with EX (X being a number) suffixes; M249E1 (or XM249E1) is associated with the pre-PIP original M249, M249E2 (or XM249E2) is associated with the post-PIP upgraded M249, and M249E3 is associated with the M249 Para. However, there does not appear to be any official use of these designations, and the official designation for all variants remained M249.