The above video is going to be played on a loop all weekend at FNH USA’s booth at the NRA Annual Meeting, but if you can’t make it to Tennesee (or just want to watch it in glorious high definition on your own time) then you can enjoy it here. As expected the gun is semi-auto, which means that the shooter pulls the trigger for every round fired. But unlike the open-bolt military version, the civilian version fires from a closed bolt. It’s a huge difference when it comes to the way the gun operates, but it really doesn’t change how fun the gun can be out on the range. And yes, we’ve asked for one — in 300 BLK.

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63 COMMENTS

  2. Get me a legal bump fire version and I may be interested. Vanilla semi-auto, no thanks.

    • I’ve seen pictures from “the sandbox” of what appear to be AR style stocks mounted on M249’s. I would be surprised if you had very much trouble putting a bump fire stock on one of these.

  4. My guess is they want to sell them to average guys so the price point shouldn’t be that bad relatively speaking. My guess is under 3K

  8. Only problem I could see with one of these is that when you open the top up to reload with the gun hot from firing, if there are any rounds left, they can cook off and explode in your face. I would be afraid some unsuspecting new gun owner might end up having that happen to them.

    • The M249 is supposed to come with a spare barrel. You shouldn’t be cooking off rounds if using it properly. It would help if this worked like the real thing and was open bolt, but unfortunately the NFA exists.

      • I see; I went through Army One Station Unit Training for infantry and the Drill Sergeants always emphasized this to us. Overheating the barrel and cooking off rounds I suppose occurs in combat situations.

        • That’s not much of a concern for the semester auto version. Maybe for Jerry Miculek, but not for mortals.

        • Definitely a concern with full auto weapons that fire from the closed bolt. I’ve had this happen with M16A2s. Should be fine on a semi-auto.

  12. I can already see the anti crowd throwing a hissy fit about this one.

    On a bright side, can I get a legal 100 round belt for this puppy in ca? We have a 10 round detachable mag ban but I haven’t heard of a belt ban.

    • I think the ban applies to belts as well, I believe the law refers to detachable “ammunition feeding devices” capable of holding more than 10 rounds, that covers pretty much everything.

    • I bumped into a site that was selling links for the belts and they said no sales to mag limit states. So yeah, even the parts to string together a 100 round belt seem to be considered a large capacity feeding device

  13. Better put in a bulk ammo order, with auto renewal, at a friendly supply house… and get a linking machine at the same time you order the rifle, or your delicate little fingers will be raw pretty quick!!!

  15. Dear Tac-Con,

    Do you make triggers for FN’s new M249? Asking for a friend.

    kthxbye

    -TK

  16. Need:

    slide fire stock

    Brass and spent link catcher

    Dillon 1050 with auto drive and bullet feeder

    relinker

    Shoot load link repeat

  17. Maybe I’m the only one here thinking it, but lame. I guess people can start living out their Call of Duty fantasies on the range.

    • “Maybe I’m the only one here thinking it, but lame.”

      No, you’re not. While I won’t go so far as “lame,” I don’t see the draw here either.

    • It’s like a Masseratti or Porsche 911 with a 2.0L natually aspirated 4 cylinder engine developing 104hp.

      Looks so good, with so much potential – and yet sucks so bad.

  18. Will Surefire 60 and 100 round coffin magazines work in the magazine well? Would be a decent alternate to policing spent links and relinking belts all the damn time.

    Now, if it sells well, maybe IWI will have a reason to bring semi auto versions of the Negev and Negev NG7 stateside.

    • Exactly the comments I most wanted to make. I also would like to see a Slidefire stock and Tac-Con trigger made available. The Surefire mags would be a good idea, the new Magpul 60-round drum would also be good and is much more compact. Lots of superior higher-capacity 5.56mm STANAG mags have hit the market in recent years. Magpul also has a 40-rounder, and X-Products has a 50-round drum. These products are better than the unreliable crappy higher-capacity mags that came before. If the price is relatively affordable this will be good for the nation’s well-regulated militias. Still, I would much rather have a Negev. I think Leghorn is making a tongue-in-cheek joke since 300BLK would be a poor choice of chambering for this weapon (most obviously the 20.5 inch barrel and cost of ammo).

      • You mess up your nice mags. Well maybe not, if this thing is closed bolt. But in the full auto variant it chews mags up

      • As soon as you start putting normal mags on it, it makes me ask why you don’t just build a piston AR of some sort.

  19. According to Wikipedia the Unit cost for these suckers to the military is $4087. So I’m guessing this will be around $5000 or more to consumers.

    Still that’s amazing. I’m genuinely surprised that FN did this. What an amazing company.

    • The military is the government, no? If they pay $4000 of our money, open market will probably be closer to $2000.

      • Yeah, I know, $10,000 hammers, but as I remember it, when civilian HUMMV’s came out they cost more that the government was paying. Sometimes even the government can buy in bulk and save big.

  20. What do you want to bet they mucked with the internals to make it fire from a closed bolt? If they redesigned anything other than the trigger group, I would hesitate just on reliability issues alone. I have a rather nasty scar on my hand from creating a malfunction on a real one at MCT.

    • If by “they mucked with” you mean “the ATF made them modify it to legal closed bolt operation” then you’d be correct. Who knows, it might actually make the gun more reliable somehow (cook offs from that light barrel, aside)

      • I’ll wait for the first YouTube video of some genius trying to feed from both a magazine and a belt at the same time.

  21. Wow, it didn’t jam once?! That’s not like the M249’s I shot in the ‘Corps. They also fed like garbage using 30 round M16 mags. Still, cool guns.

  22. Wow, only two tries to get the site to load far enough that I can jump out to the Youtube link before it freezes! A new record! Anyone else thinking FNH is seeing their contracts’ prospects drying up? First HK bringing over the G36 (unwanted/overpriced), the Remington with their fancy bolt rifles and ACR (unwanted/overpriced) and now FNH gets their turn (people “think” they want them, for now, and it will for sure be overpriced) –it’s like they think we’re stupid and will buy anything, or something, lol

    Will it come in 300BO?

  23. This lurker has been drawn out of the shadows to object to the headline(and only the headline). “Leaked” implies that this is something that FN didn’t want to get out, Marketing departments don’t leak, they set up shills. There is nothing in the story that suggests this is anything of a bona fide leak.

    If you want to take pride in not being industry shills like most of the gun rags, then don’t be industry shills no matter how minor. It always starts small. Blow it off as nitpicking if you desire but even lurkers notice.

  26. I hate it when it is full-auto and free. Why the hell would I pay good money to buy it and then shoot my own ammo through it one round at a time?????

  28. FN is doing cool stuff on the civilian market. Wish they enjoyed a more robust share of the handgun market as I feel their products are easily as good as competitors in the striker / plastic hammer fired segment.

  31. I can’t watch this video because your ads autoplay, have no mute button, and are louder than the video itself.

    I understand you guys gotta make money, but your ad provider sucks. When it’s not this, it’s crashing my flash player, or doing worse…

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