AK-47 vs M249

Damage

The AK-47 deals more damage (27) than the M249 (24).

The AK-47 fires slower (600 RPM) than the M249 (750 RPM).

The AK-47 deals less damage per second (270) than the M249 (300).

The AK-47 loses less damage due to distance (1.9 %) than the M249 (2.9 %).

The AK-47 has lower armour penetration (77.5 %) than the M249 (80 %).

Accuracy and mobility

The AK-47 is more accurate (7) than the M249 (9.7).

The AK-47 less movement penalty (14 %) than the M249 (22 %).

Economy

The AK-47 is cheaper ($ 2700) than the M249 ($ 5200).

The AK-47 earns the same kill reward ($ 300) as the M249 ($ 300).

Other attributes

The AK-47 has a smaller clip (30) than the M249 (100).

The AK-47 has less ammunition in reserve (90) than the M249 (200).

The AK-47 reloads faster (2.4 s) than the M249 (5.7 s).

The AK-47 deploys faster (1 s) than the M249 (1.1 s / 1 s - No Reserve).

Closing thoughts

As the defacto Terrorist rifle, the AK-47 is likely the strongest all-round weapon in the game. While its stellar damage at a distance and other attributes are what you would expect from a rifle, compared to other rifles it also has a notably fast reload time at merely 2.4 seconds.

The M249 behaves like a rifle, but gives up accuracy and movement speed in exchange for higher armour penetration and rate of fire, which results in extremely high damage per second. Coupled with a huge magazine capacity, the main drawback is its high $5200 price tag.