Hi! I'm here to convince you Counter-Strike players to use the M249 Para. Yes, I know that it is pricey, and yes, it is inaccurate, slow-shooting, encumbering, slow-reloading, etc., as compared to a Colt M4A1 Carbine or AK-47 Assault Rifle. But what most people don't see are the virtues of this truly magnificent hunk of metal.
The para has many virtues that people don't see; and its faults can all be covered up by buying a deagle to go with it. It is excellent for sniping, and amazing for close-range combat. True, the para is VERY inaccurate when running, whether spraying or firing in bursts. Even when just standing still, spraying is a deathly mistake. I have run at people head-on spraying my para until I was at nearly point-blank range, without hitting them more than once. And true, I have better accuracy with a mac-10 in these situations. However, I believe that this is not what the para was designed for. If you crouch and shoot one shot at a time, waiting about 1/2 second between shots, you can easily snipe people off from close to the same range as that of the colt/ak. I myself have sniped many multitudes of colt/ak'ers with this gun, as well as some sig commandoer's and scouters. I have personally seen somebody snipe an awper with the gun (and a pretty damn good awper at that). The inaccuracy for spraying, true, does spread to the sniping as well. The bullets will never hit the dead centre of the crosshairs, but the accuracy is good enough that if you aim at someone far away, it will hit them anyways. Do NOT by any means try to snipe an awper/scouter, but if one sees you, by all means take one or two potshots at him before you run. The best thing about the inaccuracy is that if you aim a just a little to the side, you have a 50/50 chance of hitting the person anyways; and if there are lots of targets running together, you can most likely hit another person. Unlike the colt and ak, its crosshairs go back down VERY quickly when crouching, and thus you can take shots somewhat faster than you could with one of these guns. Thus, once you find a nice place to stay, you can camp there for a while and snipe off anybody who pops out.
Another thing the para is good at, is shooting through boxes and walls. In cs_italy, for example, I once saw a guy camping behind the box in the downstairs part of the house... not until I was dead though. You see, he had a para, and the moment he heard footsteps, he started spraying through all the walls in the general direction of the footsteps, often hitting the target. The poor ct trying to get in would have to run around the building, in the door, back around the wall, and around the box before he could hit the t, but the t would already have nailed him around 6 times through the wall, resulting in the ct having around 20hp left.. and then one or 2 shots from the para would clean him out. When his teammates saw what he was doing, another 2 guys joined him, and then groups of 2 or 3 ct's trying to storm the building would get cut down before they saw the t's. Finally, I managed to kill him and his goons, but only by buying a para myself, sneaking up, and spraying through the wall at the exact spot that he was every other round.
In de_dust, a common problem of camping and sniping is that around 3 people will circle around and attack you from one side, while another 3 go another way. With a colt/ak, you can run to meet one group and try to take that group out first, before the other group reaches you... however, by the time you have that group dead, the other group will have reached you, and you will have run out of ammo. Then, you are officially dead. However, with the para, you can run to intercept one group, camp behind some cover, and spray through walls to try and hit them. Once they come into view, they will be within the para's deadly gun-melee range, and you can easily dispatch them by simply aiming at their chests and holding the trigger down. Four or so bullets should take care of one of them, and once you have finished skinning their hides, you can turn around and whoop up the other group with your remaining 75 bullets, at the same range... and you STILL won't have to reload.
Alright.. so the para's good for camping, but nothing more, right? WRONG! Assisted by a deagle, you can run along with the main attack group and lay waste to the enemy team. Running with a deagle, you can mostly take out anybody who jumps out on you, so you won't be helpless. Then, as you reach a suitable spot to snipe from, you run, jump, pull out your para, and land crouching... if somebody's there, you can either rip them apart at gun-melee range or if they're farther away, snipe them off. If they run behind a box, you know what to do... slaughter them anyways through the box! After you've waited for a little while to make sure nobody's coming, you whip out the old deagle and keep going. If you pop out and see a sniper, you can often snipe them off anyways. Simply keep your deagle, strafe out, and when your crosshairs hit him, pop off a shot. Then you strafe back, and do the same thing.. repeat this several times, all the while running towards the sniper, and you will often kill him.
So summing up, this is how you use the para: don't run with it no matter WHAT you do, unless you're counting on being very very lucky. And if you're not going to run with it, buy a deagle and run with that... either that or a usp tact. Don't spray unless you're at gun-melee range (as in, really close but not point-blank). If you run out of money, buy a deagle and look for a para. When you spray, crouch first. When someone runs behind a box, shoot through it. When they call you a hacker, point them to this page.
If you take these guidelines to heart and keep them in mind, you are on your way to becoming a truly l33t PARA TROOPER!