The "pig" served its purpose ... and served it well. But the 240 is such a better weapon. I can't really speak for myself as the 249 was my weapon when I was enlisted. It doesn't seem like much of a change, but shortening the barrel and changing out the stock to the fully collapsible para stock saves a lot of weight ... or at least it feels like it. Awesome for an urban environment, but not so great for open stretches like the desert or the highway.
The 240s rate of fire isn't as fast as the 249, but when you consider the increased size of the rounds that its chunking down range, its a nice pay-off.
During my 2nd trip, as long as the gunners 1/2-arsed cleaned out the 240s when we got back we never had problems w/ them. But as w/ any weapon, neglect is bad thing ... I don't care if you can soak your rifle in mud before firing off 10 mags or not. Weapons come from the factory clean for a reason. When someone recommends mud/ sand as a lubricant, then I'll change my mind.
Grim - Don't worry. I don't think anyone took your statement negatively. I fully agree in that the modelling companies need to step up their games. As stated before, if they can come out w/ a "newly tooled" version of yet ANOTHER Tiger I, I think that they can at least try to sculpt some of the "new" weapons systems that are out there.
I just for the life of me, can't figure out why everyone is SO stuck on building WWII German stuff. Its got to be something like at least 85% of the market!!!