M249 vs. M4A1

It is a common debate in the community whether the M249 is better, or the M4A1 is better. I would like to set the record straight on this issue in an official wiki article.

The M249
The M249 has all of the following going for it:

Positives

 * Incredibly high relative damage output.
 * Will always 4-shot normal opponents.
 * One of the only weapons capable of shredding a DB.
 * Good accuracy.
 * Largest clip size in the game.
 * LMGs are awesome.

Negatives

 * Slow but steady firing type makes it harder to hit cowardly-avasive targets for players without very good or better tracking.

The M4A1
The M4A1 has all of the following going for it:

Positives

 * Extremely fast firerate.
 * Okay damage.


 * Average ammo capacity for a rifle.

Negatives

 * Relatively low damage, compared to M249 or RPK.
 * Needs to headshot to meat m249's STK.
 * Small clipsize poorly compliments its fast firerate, causing reloads to be frequent and the weapon to be less practical.
 * Very poor accuracy makes medium-range engagement against common criminals or police officers somewhat risky.
 * Very poor accuracy also more importantly makes long range engagement impractical and difficult, and very long range engagement impossible.
 * Accuracy makes engagement on cowardly-evasive or jump-heavy combatants much more difficult than need be.