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We are standing at the FNH USA booth here at the NRA show before the doors even open to get the scoop on some cool new guns being announced that have never even been rumored to exist. New for 2015, FN is releasing semi auto versions of all their military firearms including as-issued M4, M16, and even a true blue M249. Yes, really! Presser (AND VIDEO!) after the jump. . .

(McLean, VA – April 10, 2015) FNH USA is excited to announce that three new products, including a brand-new product line, will be making their first appearance on the FNH USA Booth #2324 at the 2015 NRA Annual Meetings in Nashville, TN. Expected to be released in the Fall of 2015 are the mil-spec FN M249S™, a semi-automatic version of the U.S. Military’s M249 SAW light machinegun and two new additions to the company’s modern sporting rifle line, the FN 15™ M4 and M16 Military Collector Series.

“FNH USA has a unique history of commercializing and releasing to U.S. firearms buyers products that were originally developed for military or tactical applications,” said Mark Cherpes, President and CEO of FN America, LLC. “We are proud to continue that tradition with the introduction of the FN 15™ Military Collector Series and the semi-auto FN M249S™.”

FN M249S™

The FN M249S, a semi-automatic version of the M249 SAW light machinegun, was originally developed by FN Herstal as the FN MINIMI® and adopted by the U.S. Military in 1988. The rifle features the signature 20.5-inch FN cold hammer-forged, chrome-lined barrel and operates from a closed bolt position. Chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO, the rifle will accept both magazine and linked ammunition belt and offers a 4.5-6.5 pound trigger pull out-of-the-box.

FN 15™ Military Collector Series

The FN 15™ Military Collector’s Series M4 and M16 bring to market military replica rifles made to FN’s exacting specifications. The semi-automatic rifles are chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO and feature M4 -profile 16 and 20-inch 1:7” RH, button broached and chrome-lined barrels, respectively. Each UID-labeled lower receiver is equipped with an ambidextrous selector switch, just like its select-fire big brother.

To learn more about FN America, LLC and FNH USA branded products, visit us at booth 2324 at the 2015 NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits or visit www.fnhusa.com.

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FNH USA — DISTINCT ADVANTAGE™

FN America, LLC, is a U.S. subsidiary of FN Herstal, S.A., a global leader in the development and manufacturing of high quality, reliable firearms for military, law enforcement and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in McLean, VA with manufacturing operations in Columbia, SC, FN America is passionately committed to providing its customers with a portfolio of products, training and support services under the FNH USA brand name that enhance their performance and safeguard their lives. For more information, visit us at www.fnhusa.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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91 COMMENTS

  1. I have seen semi auto belt feds here in CA. A maxim in 7.62x54r and a 1919 browining in 7.62×63. I know that mags are limited to 10 rounds but I’m unsure about belts.

    • Only if you get one with a “governor” that limits its power to shoot down satellites.

    • NO scary ankle holsters. ….for the children . You are going on the list( mumbles ) wants ankle holster for big black GUN with 40in belted clip magazines. HA ha now you are on the LIST /humor 🙂

  6. *ScreamsThroughoutDorms* WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTT?????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    249, I am saving my life savings for you.

    • 249s are garbage. I’ve seen a SAW bolt get sheared in half somehow while it was firing, and they are somewhat malfunction prone. Put your hard earned life savings to use elsewhere
      The 240, however, is a solid piece of equipment.

      • Get the real deal M60, now that was one dependable MG. Plus it fires the 7.62 NATO round.

        • Worn out mil guns are sketchy, but this is you personal weapon system to baby so who knows, results may vary.

      • Arrghh! They know exactly what the MSRP is… this is a standard marketing tactic to make us all drool. And it works

      • That’s certainly believable. “We’re unveiling a brand-new product to the market today in a surprise announcement, but we forgot the price. There’s simply no way to find out that information without looking at the one single piece of paper upon which it is written, and we’ve misplaced that…”

      • I feel like this is one of those situations where if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

  8. Belt Fed. Mmmmmmm, and SHTF approved. Was at the Charlotte NRA Convention, large time indeed.
    Thank you.

  11. Awesome!

    Will the standard M4 14.5-inch barrel be an option as an SBR, or is the 16-inch the only one available?

    • Their commercial M4 may have a 14.5″ barrel with a pinned/welded flash hider anyway, bringing overall barrel length to a hair over 16″. Many other manufacturers do it that way so that the OAL is correct for an M4 without dealing with the NFA. They will probably release the specs soon if they haven’t already on their website.

  12. Do the FN versions of M4 and M16 rifle also have the bolt carrier that is necessary for full auto fire? Not that us mere mortals can get a tax stamp for a newly manufactured full auto rifle thanks to the Hughes Amendment … but it would be interesting to have in case the Hughes Amendment ever goes away.

    (Note: if I recall correctly, you need a different bolt carrier and trigger for full auto in an M4/M16 rifle.)

    • Most M4 style use a full auto style bolt, the main difference is the auto sear. But OMG, just imagine one of these with a slide fire stock installed with a turret mount. All you would need to do is pull back on the grip to simulate auto fire.

    • The FN 15 carbine and Rifle released last year came with a full auto, mil spec bolt carrier group.

  13. A semiautomatic SAW? I mean…it’s a Squad Automatic Weapon, not a Semi Automatic Weapon.

    That ranks up there with decaffeinated coffee, temporary tattoos, and non-alcoholic beer. Why even bother?

    It’s just an extra heavy, extra bulky, belt-fed 5.56mm rifle.

    • Only a matter of time until there’s a Bump-Fire on the market for it. Or something similar.

      As is, I’ve seen combat footage where the SAW gunner runs through 100 rounds, hits nothing but packed mud, and was killed by an Islamo-fascist with an AK while he was reloading.

    • I’m with you – a pointless boat anchor.

      Now bring out a full-auto version I could buy, and I’ll call the mortgage broker to arrange a re-fi.

      Oddly, under CT law, you can buy an NFA-approved MG but not a rifle capable of semi or full auto (because that would be an “assaut weapon”).

  14. I’m glad someone is finally making an AR that’s just an M16 minus the giggle switch. For a while there, I thought the ones with 20″ barrels had gone extinct. It’ll be interesting to see what Ohio Ordnance Works does now that FN is making their own semi M249 in house. Until now, I believe they were the only prominent company building/selling them.

  15. Not up on their website yet that I could find. I’m interested in the M16 variant.

  16. What is the point of a semi-auto SAW? Unless you’re just trying to make people sad and die a little inside?

    • I’m excited because “nobody needs military-grade weapons of war.”

      -Communist, surrounded by military grade weapons of war.

      If Hillary, Feinstein, Pelosi, Bloomberg, or Obama get migraines it’ll be worth it.

    • Ohio ordnance works already has had them for several years now. Msrp will run you about 14. Google semi auto m240. You can also find semi auto m2.

      • 14K? That’s retarded. I can buy a full auto weapon at that price. Anybody who pays whatever ridiculous MSRP they’re charging is just making things terrible for everybody. Don’t do it. If it’s more than a couple grand, just don’t buy it.

        Let market economics do its job.

        • Well, if people are buying them at $14k, then I would say that IS “market economics” working as intended. Obviously there’s a demand for them at that price. It may be more than YOUR price, but that’s irrelevant.

  21. Now that I’ve given this some more thought…
    Why I’m so glad FN is taking the leap with this is that maybe we’ll start to see semi auto versions of other military arms offered. If H&K wasn’t so stereotypically German about selling their product and opened a plant in the US, I guarantee you there would be lines out the door for a semi auto G36, MG3, etc. That’s how it worked until the ’89 ban; the Belgian FAL my friend’s dad bought way back when was exactly that; a virtual clone of the standard issue rifle with semi-auto parts put in it. That is what I want to see more of, military arms manufacturers taking the exact same models they produce and make them semi-auto, at least until the NFA gets repealed (crossed fingers). But for the time being, 922R and other ridiculous import restrictions need to FOAD.

  22. You have to give credit to FNH for bringing semi auto versions of their weapons in more or less original form (eg SCAR). I think it is a very saavy business move on their part, cashing in on people willing to pay for unique weapons (sans fun switch and open bolt of course) and they can make a healthy margin on it. I hope this sets the trend for IWI to bring a civillian negev, or HK and their 416, etc. As a collector this is exciting.

    • I could build a small shed to house the ammo, the amount of bricks I’d shit if they came out with a Negev.

  24. It’s as useless as tits on a boar. Can someone give me one practical purpose for owning this. It probably couldn’t even be converted in a “end of days” scenario.

  26. So what’s the difference between the Military Collector Series M16 and the FN 15 rifle they released last year?

    I spoke with FN and asked if it was Mil Spec. The rep said yes.

  27. Pure. Toy. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but let’s not kid ourselves.

  29. Never have I seen a gun that makes so little sense that I want so much – my own semi-auto 249. EXPLETIVE DELETED yeah.

  30. I’m curious to know what the differences will be between their M-16 Military Collector and the FN-15 Rifle. Are we talking about a KAC rail and an ACOG? Without all the add-ons I’m not sure how it”ll be any different and with the add-ons it’ll be over two grand.

  33. starting to lose interest in guns here in california. its depressing we have no right to bear arms. throw us in jail if we dont have a lock on our magazine release or have more than 10 round magazines. they flip out on threaded pistols and dont get caught with a .50bmg round. depressing

  35. So one has to ask, might as well be me. Given these “collector” rifles are to milspec, will full auto trigger group spare parts just “drop in”?

    • No, not entirely. It would be illegal for them to have the third pin for the auto sear and you run the risk of going to club fed if you get caught with the other FA fire control parts in your gun since the ATF sees it as intent to build an unregistered MG. FA parts apart from the auto sear will drop in to any AR.

  36. *When* Nick gets one of these 249s for testing, he needs to take it to a 3-gun match, just because.

  37. “was originally developed by FN Herstal as the FN MINIMI®”

    Seriously guys, am I the only one who got the Austin Powers reference? Someone at FN has a sense of humor.

    Aside from that, this announcement has got to make some people blow a gasket. Since these guns are based on the actual military hardware FN sells, they are a prime example of “weapons of war” being manufactured for civillians.

    Gotta love it…

    • The name predates Austin Powers by about 2 decades or so
      .
      The light machine gun FN Minimi was the name it came out in 1974 . Its short for Mini Mitrailleuse. In `1976 when it was adopted by the US military it was given the M249 designation.

      The heavy machine gun FN MAG btw which stands for Mitrailleuse d’Appui Général when adopted by the US military was given the designation M240.

  42. Well, it is going to have to operate from a closed bolt, so it is essentially a COMPLETE gutting of the true 249, and all new semi-only parts installed. And the ATF is going to ensure that TRUE 249 firing mechanisms (bolt, sear, etc) are NOT going to fit into it without a good amount of machining.

    So on the inside, it’s a new critter.

    So, what does one do with a $6000 belt fed 223 rifle? You mention a crank. Sure, TONS of belt fed semi autos out there with cranks. BUT, you’ll notice they’re primarily in 30 caliber (or close) and all weigh around 30 pounds or more.

    The crank necessitates a MOUNT, to have any form of accuracy. And for a 30 or more pound MG clone, this isn’t a big deal. You’re not going to be toting it around anyway. It’s not an M60 or a 240. Even the 60 and 240 use multiple people to run them effectively.

    And the cranks typically seem to only be good for around 400-600 rounds per minute, on a good day.

    But for a sub 20 pound, man-portable SAW? The whole POINT of the SAW was to be man-portable. So mounting it, although possible, isn’t really ideal.

    So then, how about bumpfire? Well, SlideFire Solutions might make a stock for it. It might even get approved. Sure, why not? It WOULD (in theory) allow shoulder fire. (Not ideal, even with the real 249 MG; it’s still around 20 pounds)
    Not sure if it would work from the prone, using the bipod, for effective accuracy. The entire assembly may very well be too heavy to get enough recoil to run it that way.

    So, you want belt fed, and you want to bumpfire it reliably, or you want to crank fire reliably?

    Buy an ARES Shrike, or one of the other belt fed uppers for an AR15, or transferrable M16, or buy a semi 1919 or other belt fed, and use a crank. Both are less than $6k

    Unless this around SCAR prices, the buyers are probably rather limited.

  43. I’m trying to figure out what is so exciting about this. A 17 pound, 5.56 semi-automatic? Prices haven’t been set, but I’d bet a good chunk of my non-existent money that it’ll be far more expensive than an AR, Mini-14, or any other 5.56 semi.

    So it’s a civilian version of a SAW. So what? The 249 is not meant to be super accurate and this will need to be nonconvertible to full-auto, else it won’t pass ATF. What, exactly, is the big deal and why should I pay down lots and lots of money?

    Now if the news was that civilians could buy an actual 249 without a class III and a colonoscopy by ATF, -then- I’d be excited. Beyond that, this is just a way to part silly people from their money. I’d rather have 4 regular 5.56 rifles than just on of these (based on a guesstimate of cost.)

  44. Its completely pointless, and yet so completely awesome. Its a huge eff you to the nutter controllist’s who will undoubtedly flip out, have seizures, and start foaming at the mouth. So it actually has a very important purpose with that in mind.

  45. Its highly unlikely that I’ll be owning a FN belt fed semi auto. But I will say this I ran onto the FNS striker fired pistols on sale last November at $379 I said what the heck I’ll try one. My 1st was the FNS 40 gotta say it out shot my glock 23 an Springfield XDM 40. It points naturally. I had given my daughter a Sig 250 compact, her an I went to the range after she shot my FN she said she didn’t want the loooooong trigger pull sig wanted the FN so I gave her my 40 an Armslisted the Sig ended up trading stright up for a FNS 9MM with Trijicon night sights an waited a few months till the FNS 40’s came back onsale got one. Both the 9mm an 40 still out shoot my Glock 19 an 23. I took my wife to the range last Saturday she shot the FNS 9 an commented she wanted on so I got her an myself the FNS 9MM compact models. Love thses pistols. In the near future I’ll get the compacy 40 S&W.

    I have police buddies that have handled the 4″ 9mm an 40 an all of them comment how nice the FNS feel. I was up till November, 2014 a died in the wool Glock guy but after owning the FNS pistols I have a safe full of Glocks that haven’t been fired since. I’m not the kind that sells his guns so my Glocks with exception of my Glock 20 10mm will stay in the safe.

  46. By the some of all this bull, you people don’t live in Illinois. Where you have to pay for your second amendment nd mentioned right , but yors in other states don’t care about equal justice under the law.i guess yous are waiting til all of our rights we will fave to pay 400 to 500 dollars too have that to right.h

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