M249
High damage, high rate of fire, belt fed light machine gun.
The M249 is an automatic weapon in Rust. Its default ammo is the 5.56 Rifle Ammo. It deals 65 damage per shot at 500 shots per minute from its 100-round magazine, the second-highest damage per second of the 11 automatic weapons. It cannot be crafted, and Helicopter Crate drops it most often, at 10%.
About the M249
A full reload takes 7.5 seconds, and switching to it takes 1.8 seconds. Aiming down the sights narrows its spread from 4.2° to 0.2°, 21 times tighter than firing from the hip. Its 11 compatible attachments include a silencer. Mounted in an Auto Turret, it deals 35% of its normal damage.
There are 4 kinds of ammo for it: 5.56 Rifle Ammo, Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo, Incendiary 5.56 Rifle Ammo and HV 5.56 Rifle Ammo. With the other ammo types, its damage per second is 361 for the Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo and 335 for the HV 5.56 Rifle Ammo. The HV 5.56 Rifle Ammo flies fastest, at 585 m/s, and the Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo and Incendiary 5.56 Rifle Ammo slowest, at 293 m/s.
From full condition it fires 2,000 shots with the 5.56 Rifle Ammo before it breaks, which is 20 full magazines. With the Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo, which wears the barrel harder, that drops to 667.
M249 damage and stats
Loaded with the 5.56 Rifle Ammo, the M249 deals 335 damage per second. The Incendiary 5.56 Rifle Ammo raises it to 376.
How to repair the M249
A full repair at a Repair Bench costs 12 × High Quality Metal and 31 × Metal Fragments, and no blueprint is needed.
×12 
×31 M249 compared with other automatic weapons
Among the 11 automatic weapons it ranks 2nd for damage per second, 1st for damage per shot, 6th for fire rate and 2nd for magazine size.
The closest to it in damage per second are the Minigun, HMLMG, Assault Rifle and Uzi.
5.56 Rifle Ammo 65 335.4 0.2° 488 ×226–130m 
Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo 70 361.3 0.7° 293 ×226–130m 
Incendiary 5.56 Rifle Ammo 72.8 375.6 0.2° 293 ×226–130m 
HV 5.56 Rifle Ammo 65 335.4 0.2° 585 ×226–130m Damage & DPS are per-shot with the listed ammo; aim cone is the spread in degrees, velocity in m/s.
Variable Zoom Scope –––––+50 %– 
Weapon flashlight ––––––– 
Holosight ––-20 %–––– 
Weapon Lasersight ––-20 %-50 %––-90 % 
Muzzle Boost –+10 %+0.15+0.5––– 
Muzzle Brake -15 %–+0.5+2–-50 %-100 % 
Simple Handmade Sight ––––––– 
Oil Filter Silencer -30 %–––-30 %–– 
Military Silencer -25 %–––-25 %–– 
Soda Can Silencer -30 %–––-35 %–– 
8x Zoom Scope –––––+50 %– What the M249 recycles into
A green recycler always gives back 20 × High Quality Metal, 3 × Metal Spring and 3 × Gears for one.
×20 
×3 
×3 
50% ×24 ×3 ×3 60% 60% 60% 
×30 ×4 ×4 75% 50% 50% 
×16 ×2 ×2 40% 40% 40% 
Gold Egg
Large Loot BagThe chance is for a single roll of what the item gives when opened.
Where to find the M249
Helicopter Crate has the best chance at 10%, followed by Bradley Crate at 8.3%.
Stats checked against the Rust game files on 13 November 2026.
