Introduction

M240 is the US military designation for the FN MAG, a belt-fed, gas-operated, air-cooled 7.62mm medium machine gun. Manufactured by Fabrique Nationale in the 1950s, the MAG (Mitrailleuse d'Appui General) was chosen by the US military in the late 1970s as a replacement for the M60 machine gun. M240 was first adopted as a coaxial tank gun, but the weapon eventually developed to a family of sub-variants for a wide range of applications… it is used in the infantry role, mounted on vehicles and helicopters, and as coaxial tank machine gun. All variants are fed from disintegrating ammo belts and are capable of firing most types of 7.62mm NATO ammunition.
M240B is the standard infantry medium machine gun of the US Army in Afghanistan and Iraq. By no way a beauty, it is extremely reliable and proven design, serving as a powerful supplement to the lighter 5.56mm-based M249, M16 and M4.

Live Resin has already released M240B weapon set and several vehicle mounts featuring M240B medium machine gun. This kit includes accessories for the weapon: US Army M240B spare barrels, ammo boxes, ammo belts (LRE-35016).

Review

The M240B accessories set is packed in a zip-lock bag and secured between a firm cardboard backing. The box art on the front shows all the kit parts, while the one on the back lists all the M240B basic sets this kit can be used with (LRE-35014, LRE-35015, LRE-35017 and LRE-35018). Most of these sets are already reviewed on Armorama.

The kit consists of 15 parts molded in grey resin. Although extremely thin and delicate, the pieces are cast perfectly. Here's the list of parts:

- M240B spare barrel assembly
- M240B spare barrel assembly with heat shield
- 7.62mm ammo box (closed, 3x)
- 7.62mm ammo box (open, 2x)
- 7.62mm ammo box lid (2x)
- short 7.62mm ammo belt portions (4x)
- long 7.62mm ammo belt portions (2x).

All M240B's include one spare barrel. The M240 air-cooled barrel is highly resistant due to the chromium plating of the bore and can be changed in only a few seconds under battle conditions. Propellant gas is used to operate a breech mechanism with a toggle-activated locking lever under the bolt. The machine gunner’s safety is guaranteed since the firing pin is an integral part of the slide and can not operate prior to complete locking of the mechanism.

The spare barrel assembly consists of a barrel, gas collar and plug, flash suppressor, front sight, carrying handle and heat shield. Both spare barrels included in this kit feature all these elements; the only exception is the omission of a heat shield on one of the spare barrels. As far as I can tell, both barrel assemblies look really good.

The M19 ammo box was adopted in 1946 and officially replaced the old M1 and M1A1 boxes by the early 1960’s. The box started out as a .30 caliber box but it was also adapted for use with 7.62mm NATO ammunition. The M19 measures 3-13/16” x 7-1/4” x 11” and accepts 200 rounds of 7.62mm cartridges in links and cartons. It features rubber gasket and a removable lid. Markings are placed on ammunition boxes to describe the caliber, type of packing, lot number and arsenal; these markings are usually applied with a rubber stamp in yellow paint.
The M19 ammo boxes in this kit are rendered very realistically in scale: three are depicted closed, while two boxes are open with the lid cast separately. The short ammo belt segments fit perfectly to the box opening and thus can be used to represent a box full of 7.62mm ammunition. The longer ammo belt segments can be used to depict ammo going from the box to the weapon itself; although very delicate, these resin ammo belts can be shaped to accommodate most modelers’ ideas. I would suggest adding yellow stencils (available from other aftermarket manufacturers) to further upgrade these ammo boxes.

Conclusion

The M240B accessories set includes M240 spare barrels, 7.62mm ammo boxes and ammo belts in 1/35 scale. The resin pieces are really tiny, but cast without any imperfections. To be completely honest, I'm not seeing a very broad spectrum of uses for the spare barrels, however, ammo boxes and belts can be pretty much useful for all those wanting to add some extras to their M240B weapons.

References

FNH USA

Global Security - M240 pt.1

Global Security - M240 pt.2

BrowningMGS