marinecorpstimes.com sounds the death knell for ye olde M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) light (relatively speaking) machine gun. Incoming! The Marines have signed the final contract with Heckler & Koch to replace all their belt-fed SAWs with H&K’s magazine-fed M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR). The gun goes to all Marine rifle squads and light armored reconnaissance scout sections; every four-man fire team will have an IAR, with three per squad, 28 per company and up to 4,476 across the Corps. “The decision closes a chapter on a decade-long debate concerning whether the Corps should drop the firepower available in the belt-fed Squad Automatic Weapon in favor of a lighter, more accurate automatic rifle.” Or not, as TTAG commentators are sure to demonstrate. Thirty-round mags vs. 200? 5.56 vs. 7.62? We report, they’ve decided.