You can own a belt fed, (M249S and Fightlite MCR, featuring kit setup) 

The fact that Micah bleeped everything out but left In John saying fuck the atf is hilarious

Fightlite MCR with forced reset trigger is the stuff ATF's nightmares are made of

Time stamps: 1:29 caw 1:33 caw 4:31 caw 6:17 caw 7:15 "fondle your load-out" 9:25 caw 11:08 caw 11:59 caw 13:11 caw 13:42 caw 14:57 caw 15:25 caw 18:43 caw

Owning a semi auto belt fed m249 is like owning a brand new Corvette with a four-cylinder from the 80s in it.

Garand Thumb- You can own a belt fed! My bank account- You cannot own a belt fed.

If you've ever watched a review on a rifle you can never afford and have, just stop being poor and hit the subscribe button.

John: "...Not as applicable on the S version because it fires from the closed bolt to begin with." Garand: "Or with a little bit of crime, it could be"

I carried a M249 SAW for about 2 years in the USMC, and I had a lot of fun with that thing. It's been a while now, but it rarely jammed or had trouble feeding. The only not so fun part was running around with a SAW and 1000 rounds of ammo on you. Of course, I got rid of half of that as fast as I could before starting with the "proper" 8 round burst.

John just casually disregarded the entire “can’t swear it’s a family channel” and we love him more for it.

John's facial expression is what you want in a machine gunner.

John freakin' ROCKS! Please bring him back for other videos. This was a GREAT video that opens up a new world of capabilities to civilians that is an order of magnitude beyond the typical M-4, AK-47/74!

For those who are wondering, the m249s sells from anywhere between 9,400-12,500 regularly. Yes, you can absolutely own a belt fed saw, and if you have the means to do so and have a dedicated SAW in your arsenal- God bless- but a well sorted ar is probably going to be more useful and cost efficient.

My guns aren't limited by their ammo and heat capacity, they're limited by my wallet

“With a little crime, it can be” this is my new life slogan.

I won an MCR on a GunBroker auction a few years ago and it's absolutely my favorite rifle. It was a quick 24-hour auction and I was the only bidder. It came with about 10K worth of extra stuff. Dozen brand new 100 and 200 nut sacks, two adapters the one you guys had and a side feed adapter for tripod or if you wanted to vehicle mount it and 10000 links. Had 50 rounds fired through it and looked like the gun was never fired when I got it. Paid 3200 guy had to sell it because he was moving to Hawaii and his gun collection was the last thing left in the house he was selling and couldn't take it with him. My local gun shop I transferred it through couldn't believe it.

Please bring this guy back. The ATF comment in minute 12 was pure gold.

After being a M249 gunner in the army I gotta say.. it's so painful to see you have to squeeze the trigger for each shot. 😢

0:41 Damn, that reload was smooth

I remember way back in 1995 when I joined the Army and was handed my 1st M249 saw... I remember reading "U.S. Machine Gun" stamped on the receiver and the feeling of badassness lol.

John is definitely the look of almost every SAW gunner.

How crisp that gunner’s reload shows how much time he’s spent on that wonderful freedom machinery.

I gotta say, John is maybe the most stoic man I've seen in years. That man has been to hell and told the Devil to hold his beer.... edit: the more I watch John, the more I like him :)

That’s a badass intro man. John looks like a beast on the MG. Thanks!

The fact that Fightlight uses a standard AR lower means you can easily add all kind of fun accessories that make it more fun in times of red dawn situation

Random SAW Tip: When loading from the bipod pivot the gun toward your right shoulder to allow gravity to hold the rounds in the correct place on the feed tray while you slap it closed. Hit that subscribe button for more EIB tips and you might be a Go at this station.

Baby faced assassin! John had some really good advice as a SAW operator, good choice having him on!

Real talk, This is one of the best channels online, period.

The M249 was one of my favorite machine guns while in the service. It punished the hell out my right forearm with links and brass standing, but well worth it.

Absolutely loved how John explained the SAW and shared his know how!

I built a 1919A4 w/ Crankfire for my trucks turret gun. It is actually a really effective setup for a "Semi auto" weapon. Tripod setup works very well too. The Semi auto M249 could easily fill that roll but I'm kind of a poor.

"If you thought the PKM was the only belt fed machine-gun, go ahead and hit that like button"

I dunno why but that reload just before the 1st minute was awesome. Unfortunate I've never seen a belt feed upper that wasn't over $1000

Genuinely informative. The Army M249 school probably takes a week to get through in what you did in 26 minutes.

I loved the SAW. When going on over watches it was reassuring to have a gunner with you, in case you needed the firepower. The 556 doesn't punch through shit like 762 or of course 50 cal. But it kept peoples heads down and in urban environment really did work. Good on Garand to get John on the show.

I feel like owning a belt fed without the fun switch would taste luke warm. It's awesome but: I'd just be left wanting more.

John has this whole "Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again" look about him the whole time as he stares off into the distance lol

John, I feel you on that dad advice. The Corps caused lots of explative experience, and I have yet to learn a PG replacement

Good advice John, knowing and acknowledging you limitations and not trying to fake t to impress people.

GT: This is a family-friendly channel, you can't swear. John: "So I started swearing." Such a lovely and friendly person.

Guys like John are why I have absolute confidence in American troops.

Thanks boys great video, very informative like always. I know what I want for christmas

Mike, I wish You had covered Barrel Change Intervals and Mandatory Round Counts of the SAW vs. Flight-Lite MCR. Thanks for another Excellent Video.

In the 90s USMC we still had many original 1980s M249s. At that time all we were issued was CLP for lube, though heavy guns got LSA. The SAWs of that era were roundly cursed by all users, though I discovered that using LSA and paying attention to the guide rod/recoil spring made everyone think I knew some kind of black magic; mine always ran great.

The MCR actually looks like a pretty great set of compromises to have a belt fed system for expected uses. Starting an engagement with 100-200 rounds linked and subsequent reloads from magazine to frontload firepower and still have a lighter package to scoot with. Great video gents.

Garand Thumb and Make-A-Wish: The collab we never knew we needed.

Very good video and great information. Thankyou to you both .

I carried an M249 in 3/5 for my first couple years. I found it to be reliable and very effective. Carrying it sucked but it could lay down some hurt when needed.

excellent video- your guest wasnt a clown either- very squared away and knew his shit- more like this please

I love the color grading in this video, looks really nice

Dude that things sounds awesome. I think thats gotta be one of my favorite gun sounds.

Thank God there's still people with enough balls to push back!

I live in a pretty dope community. I have a local gun store and they get some amazing rifles in. Earlier this summer they had a 249s. Started talking to the shop manager and he said “we have 3 more in the back”. Came back 3 weeks later and they were all gone. I’ve seen barrels, scars, rattlers, honey badgers, and just a slew of amazing firearms. It’s awesome to know my community is stacked.

i love watching johns facial expressions through the whole video

Absolutely loved how John explained the SAW and shared his know how

"Metal on metal" is pretty well how we were taught too. As for the reload, because of how the bipod is I always just sent the gun to the right so that gravity would help me feed the belt onto the tray. Did the same with the C6 (M240B for you guys down south).

Thank you guys for the video, appreciate it.

Wow John what a great intro, better than an action movie 😂 a lot of money flying.😂 I learned something new today about these firearms and lubrication.

This guy is such a machine gunner.

I work at an FFL. The FN249S is the most gawked at and touched firearm we have, the M107 is a close second. The $10,000 price tag on the FN makes it a wish list item though.

I love belt fed firearms. I've owned a Maxim MG08, an M60, a Colt Ciener Belt-Fed AR, a Tippmann 1919, a FightLite MCR, an Ares Shrike, a Valkyrie Armament BSR Mod 1, & a Slidefire Conversion AR15. My favorite will always be the M60, though the Shrike / MCR is *a bit* more practical, affordable and runs awesome. I'd LOVE to have a Stoner 63A, but the right opportunity hasn't presented itself. I'm happy to see proper attention to these on your channel. And just a pro tip, the Shrike / MCR runs awesome with a Fostech Echo. 😎🇺🇲👍🔥

Dude that dad advice is right on the money

Pretty cool seeing the detail about carrying a flathead. We would also carry a steel cleaning rod on our kit whenever we were gunning the .50 so we could use it to unjam stuck bolts. Great guests you're bringing on here GarandThumb.

I had a 249s and I absolutely miss it. It fed like a champ.

John is cool as fuck. It would be great to see him on the channel a lot more often in the future. Dude is a legit machine gunner. Taught me something with the flathead.

Garand this is your best video! M249 is my dream gun just like the SIG 552!

I love how he swears so naturally like using the word the or and. Being a saw gunner everything being said is completely accurate

Absolutely amazing…John is unimpressed just war face 😂🇺🇸🔥

that reload in the beginning was so clean

Freedom Ordinance makes a 9mm Beltfed upper that's actually pretty nice. Haven't gotten much trigger time on one but the little bit I got it was a hell of a time

I remember talking to some Navy SEALs and they showed me their M249. They took off so many parts that it looked bastardized lol. But it made it a lot lighter to carry.

This is what our founding fathers would have wanted 💪

Great video like always! It would be cool to see some more unique handguns or shotguns!

That reload was smooth

I’ve got 2 Savior bags and am really happy with both of them, glad to see them on the channel

Great way to get around magazine size restrictions 👌🏼

great video and comparison on the workings of these systems; i have been wanting that belt system for a while; i want to build one with a heavy profile fluted barrel with a binary trigger; best to you guys; thanks.

Another fantastic video!

Always loved the MCR concept. Would love to someday add it to the safe. Thanks for the great content as always GT!

Nothing scarier than a man with a highpoint 9mm in a minivan. That person clearly has nothing left to loose. The perfect deterrent in a shtf

Always appreciate the NTC shout out🤘

As a saw gunner this hurt to watch but the kit section was brilliant. I never thought of putting zip ties on the nut sack and using a carabiner instead of squeezing them into a dump pouch.

As a veteran cod player I know all of those attachments decrease aim down sight time by a lot

This man is truly a Master SAW man. There's always Civilian Carbine/pistol Courses dudes can go to or listen to to understand their weapon system better. There's no love for machine guns, and that leaves a hole in professional development of army machine gunners because everything they know is just what they learn from their unit. Need more better machine gun teachers on the internet.

Wow, you guys have access to so many nice weapons, would love a holiday over there one day just to go to a gun shop and have a look.

As a navy parachute rigger, I got the opportunity to qualify as a helicopter detachment gunner which carried two M-240. Door mounted in our newly delivered H-60S forward deployed on Guam. Very dependable. NATO ball, not so much. Easy to clean. Disassembly and reassembly is quick and painless.

Great video. Almost lost an eye to a 249. Completely my fault. We went to the range and afterwards was cleaning time before we checked weapons back into the armory. My 249 was no ammo but charged. I dropped the butt stock and went to remove the firing pin that fits in the groves. I have know idea how I did it but Shreck hands here pushed the firing pin under full spring pressure out of the holding grooves. Did you know that a firing pin under full charge flies out of a 249 at a high rate of speed? Caught me on the eyebrow right side. Instant blood bath. I had to get 10 stitches in my eyebrow. 😂 worst part was they shaved my eyebrow to sew me up. So for like 2 months I had to look in the mirror at my singular brow and be reminded of how dumb I am. 😂

Repurposing a Mio for lube is genius. I'm no stranger to repurposing Mio's but I only ever used them to get my troops attention (with water) in noisy situations where yelling is less likely to be heard. Depending on your grip you can get about 15ft of range out of a Mio. Haha

I've used the saw a bit and never knew about using the starter like that I've definitely been removing them I had to get a muscle memory down pushing the belt in with a certain amount of pressure I memorized the hard way

John needs a permanent spot on this channel.

I miss that M249 badly, giving the squad the support they needed.

"You don't need to be a Yakuza to go to the Headquarters of the Yakuza. We need weapons right?" -Batou from Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

John’s thousand yard stare has confirmed kills out past 2,000 yards

Our MC was a huge woman from Sherman Texas. Hern was/is her name and she is the toughest lady ever. She reminds me of my mother, tuff as a wood Peckers beek. The lube is important, heard frog oil is best. Thinnest, but I ran Lucas extreme gun oil through me.50 Cal M2 anti-tank uranium-tipped machine gun ammo. Never want lube on the rounds. It can damage the primer mechanical system, which extinguishes its purpose. Lube the casing lightly with a rag and Lucas Extreme gun oil. Lightly lube the mid-casing portion. They, also lube the links with that rag. Oil will move without you knowing it. Enough not to ruin the rounds firing from oil-drenched gunpowder or primer not going off or properly(anti-tank style, Mud Hut!). ATF fluid works for water-born issues. It has higher anti-rust compounds but you ruin the warranty for the machine guns, FN- Browning website. Manuel states after taking a shower with the 249 to suds ot up with ivory mild soap only. States CLP right afterward of the shower of the weapon with mild soap, as the only type of lube, used CLP-rated lube, like Lucas's extreme gun oils only. I love Lucas oil as an oil driller, trucker, and sports shooter, in Iraq playing soldier for .25 cents an hour. You learn fast, Hydrate hydrate. Hydrate!

Damn..that reload was clean af

John is a stone cold badass 😎. Thanks for the info GT and John!

M249 for large scale battlefields and/or site security, MCR for urban CQC or shock unit type engagements.

I would have liked to see about 10 more min on the kit lol!! Such a unique style of kit to run and there’s really not a whole lot of info out there on good kit setups

"Or with a little bit of crime it could be" I love it!

There's really only one complaint I have about the M249 and that's that the trigger mechanism has a nasty habit of biting your glove which causes the trigger to fail to disengage and basically causes you to just ride the lightning until either you run outta belt or the weapon melts down or you manage to rip your glove out of the trigger mechanism

Kid reminds me of the guy who was promoted to PFC 3 times, yet everyone wanted him on a patrol.