M240

Lore & Background

The M240 has been a fixture of NATO infantry since the 1980s, and the Payday crew treats it with the same grudging respect a soldier does: it is not pretty, it is not light, and it is not forgiving of a shaky hand. But when the heist goes sideways and the police line up three deep on the stairwell, nobody is reaching for a pistol. They are reaching for the belt.

In the world of the heist crew, the M240 is the weapon you hand to the guy who has already lost his cool and needs something with enough recoil to keep him honest. Its slower rate of fire and heavier kick force a disciplined rhythm—short, controlled bursts that punch through cover and keep heads down. It is the sound of a crew that stopped running and started owning the space.

Fans of the franchise often describe the M240 as the 'adult' automatic: no flashy attachments, no cartoonish fire rate, just a steady drum of lead that says the job is not over until the last cop is on the floor. It fits the tone of the Payday stories perfectly—gritty, practical, and a little bit grim.

In Their Own Story

The safe room door was still open. Hoxton had the drill, the crew had the money, and the whole thing was supposed to be over in ninety seconds. It was not ninety seconds. It was four minutes, and the first SWAT team was already stacking up on the lobby, shields raised, muzzles low.

"M240," Hoxton said, not looking up from the safe. He slid the belt magazine across the table like a poker chip. "You heard me."

The guy who'd been running the SMG all night—fast, twitchy, already sweating—set the lighter gun down and picked up the belt. The M240 was heavier than he expected, the receiver cold under his palm. He racked the charging handle, felt the bolt cycle with a metallic clunk, and the whole room seemed to quiet.

First burst: three rounds, the first two punching through the drywall, the third taking the lead cop's shield and sending it spinning into the ceiling tiles. Second burst: two rounds, the second cop dropping. The rest of the lobby went silent except for the soft tick of the bolt settling.

"Ninety seconds," Hoxton muttered, finally looking up. "We got ninety seconds."

He did not. But he did not need to.

Reader's Guide

M240 — Automatic / Machine Gun The M240 is a belt-fed, fully automatic weapon in the Automatic category. It fires 7.62 × 51 mm NATO rounds and is built around sustained fire rather than burst speed. Expect a moderate fire rate, solid per-round damage, and a belt magazine that holds more rounds than a standard box-fed automatic, giving you longer windows of suppressive fire before a reload.

Attachments and customization follow the standard Payday 2 attachment slots: you can swap the belt magazine for a larger-capacity variant, fit a different barrel to tweak range and spread, add a stock for improved stability, and mount optics or a foregrip. The weapon also accepts the standard set of weapon mods (grip, laser, suppressor where applicable) that shift accuracy, ADS speed, and noise profile.

Unlock: The M240 is available through the standard weapon unlock progression in Payday 2—earned via in-game currency, contract rewards, or the weapon wheel. It is not a limited-time or DLC-exclusive item; it is a permanent part of the armory once unlocked.

Practical role: In a heist loadout, the M240 shines as the designated suppressor. Pair it with a larger belt and a stable stock, and assign it to the crew member holding the main corridor or the final safe-room door. Its 7.62 mm rounds penetrate light cover effectively, making it ideal for mowing down opponents behind thin walls or barricades. It is less ideal for close-quarters scrambles where a shotgun or SMG is faster to bring to bear, so keep a secondary weapon in your holster for the moments the belt runs dry or the fight closes in.

Did You Know?

• The real-world M240 is the NATO-adopted variant of the FN Minimi, giving the in-game weapon a lineage that spans dozens of actual military conflicts.
• In Payday 2, belt-fed weapons like the M240 typically offer a larger magazine capacity than box-fed automatics, rewarding players who commit to sustained fire over quick bursts.
• The M240's 7.62 mm rounds in-game penetrate light cover more effectively than 5.56 mm or 9 mm weapons, making it a popular choice for clearing rooms with thin interior walls.
• The weapon's heavier recoil and slower handling are a deliberate design trade-off: the M240 punishes spray-and-pray but rewards disciplined, burst-based shooting that fits the Payday series' emphasis on crew coordination