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FN FNAR info

neal007

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Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 6, 2013
51
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Powhatan,VA
Anyone have any info on these rifles? Im looking at one and cant seem to find anything on accuracy,reliability,ect....ect...
Thanks in advance
 
I'm no "expert", on the gun. Here's what I think. I "saw" one, and it looked like a "gun I'd like to have". Went through the question process, and a few guys said they liked theirs. They said they were "pretty accurate". One guy said that they're "pretty much" the same action as the old Browning BAR. A very reputable action. This was 6-8 mos. ago. I "decided" to buy a GAP, instead. Recently, I happened to spy an older BAR, with a really nice wood stock, not composite, so I got that. I think they're a nice gun, and a little different than the mainstream, here. That suits me, just fine. I've got a couple AR-15s, and a couple "AR-10s",and an M1A. Seems I needed to round out the 308's collection, with a Browning. Look for my thread, on the BAR, from a couple weeks ago. I got a few good answers. One guy had a really nice set-up, and some advice. As I "understand it", Browning and FN, are the same company. The gun comes in, next Wednesday. I'll let ya know how it shoots. Of course, I found one that was {I think but will be verified}made in Germany. They are put together in Portugal, now. FN is making guns in the USA, now.
 
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Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!
A response!!!!!!!!!
I KNOW there have got to be some FNAR owners in here!!!!
WTFE!!
I did the search engine thing and came up with nothing!
Thanks Josh!
 
I sighted one in for someone once. Rem. Core-lokt 150 gr. on a very wobbly Harris bipod and a Millett. 3/4-1"MOA at 100 yards without much effort. Could've used better technique for better results, but I had a time constraint. 20" bull barrel, shot 20 rounds pretty quick, barrel could be handled by hand afterword. Great trigger for out-of-the-box. Yes, mags are more expensive, but solid as a tank. Just pick one up. Need an Otis to clean the barrel, or just spray some BreakFree Powder Blast down the barrel and run a patch through every 100 rds. or so. I've heard people getting 1/2-3/4MOA with russian steel cased ammo.

The only way to do better for a similar price is Armalite SASS? Match grade, or put a decent barrel and BCG on a DPMS receiver set. Both would probably cost a few hundred more to $500 more than FNAR.
 
My $.02

1. Beautifully-made rifle and extremely accurate.
2. A major chore to break-down and re-assemble.
3. Its not a FN FAL their have been a few reports of ammo issues with milsurp ammo, I however never had any.
4. Expensive mags
5. For me I did not like the ergonomics of the pistol grip stock on this rifle and if I would have kept it I would have swapped it out for a standard rifle stock.

If you want a precision semi-auto, the FNAR is a great choice at a reasonable price. If you want a battle rifle there are plenty of rifles that better suit that role.

Just for the record I unloaded it back in 2011 and bought a SCAR 17S as it better suits my needs, intrests, etc.

A few decent reviews:

Gunblast review - FNH 7.62x51 (.308) FNAR Semi-Auto Rifle

Nutfancy review - "FN FNAR: Heavy Hitter, Accurate" by Nutnfancy - YouTube


Hope this helps. Good luck.
 
If you like the stock, they're an accurate reliable semiauto 308. CDNN had them on clearance for awhile at $999 which was a great deal. Then the panic, and they were 2.5X that; I'm not sure what they sell for these days. There's not too many aftermarket parts for them. There have been reports of some of them being very accurate.
 
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If you don't like the pistol grip, you can switch it out with a Browning Short Track I believe. I've seen some for sale on here in that configuration.

There was suppose to be some type of new version coming out a couple of years ago, with more bells and whistles then the original version. It looked more for comps, then the more common tactical version.

Check out some FN related forums online, and you might have more luck in your search.
 
I own the 20" heavy barrel model and what I can tell you is that the rifle is definitely a shooter. However, out of all my guns it is the biggest misfit. What I mean is that while yes, I get .75 moa or better with my hand-loads, it doesn't fit any specific role. It is heavier than my precision bolt guns (Blaser Tactical 2, Savage FCP-K), it lacks the versatility and modularity of my AR-10, it's goofy as hell to shoot off-handed (and heavy) so I'll never hunt with it, all the parts are proprietary and expensive, the recoil is the harshest of any of my gas guns and I dread taking it apart to clean it. All that aside, I really like it and that's why I won't let it go. It's like that stupid dog we've all had and loved that everyone else hated.

FNAR Simplified...
Pros:
Great shooter (sub-moa)
Reliable action
Comfortable cheek-weld
comes with several cheek pads
Chrome-lined (if that is an issue for you)

Cons:
Brick shithouse heavy
harsh-ish recoil
Need to be a Rocket Surgeon to disassemble
mags are expensive ($60+)
Red-headed stepchild territory

All in all I'd say pull the trigger if the price is right. If you do end up getting one, want some load data or have any other questions send me a PM and I'll help out if I can.
 
No need. I saw you " hangin out there", with no response, so I threw in my thoughts. I had the same thing, with the BAR question. Not alot of guys use them, so you won't get a lot of feed back, on them. I "personally", think they're a nice gun.I'd "suggest" that U look for an older browning. Some of the "older hunting rifles", are nice. Made in Germany, if you can find one. You could shoot it, and practice, with it, for a while.At least you could sell it,eventually, for what you "put in", or for a profit. The FNs are nice, but I think she'll go down, in value, over time. That's where I was.It was "more" of an investment gun. I figure I'll shoot her, for a while, and either send her to my Nephew in Texas, or sell, when she "doubles in price". Could take a few years.
Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!
A response!!!!!!!!!
I KNOW there have got to be some FNAR owners in here!!!!
WTFE!!
I did the search engine thing and came up with nothing!
Thanks Josh!
 
My friend has one. We took it to the range, sighted it in and every shot I took with the crappy 150 something grain hunting ammo he brought was touching at 100 yards. I was super impressed until we took it back and cleaned it. 3+ hours, innumerable curse words and a small amount of blood later I had to talk him out of selling it.

It has more parts than any other firearm I've had apart and none of them go together intuitively or easily. If it weren't for that and the fact that I have no idea where I'd get or how much magazines would cost I'd say it's an awesome rifle.
 
I have the 20"heavy barrel FNAR and it is my favorite all around weapon. It shoots great is accurate with all ammo but loves 175 SMK. I found I have no problem with servicing/cleaning and it fits me just fine in all shooting positions. Mags are a bit high but last forever and I have a great supply. No its not a AR 10(big friggin deal) but comes with rails top, sides, and bottom.The pistol grip works for me. and you can adjust cast,cant and comb hight as well as length of pull with included parts .Trigger is fine or Short Action Customs offers trigger jobs. Its never not gone bang and always hits where its pointed. Add your favorite glass and go out shoot all the wiz bang MilSpecers. This thing just plain works.No aftrermarket crap needed.
 
It's not that difficult to disassemble.
Getting the bolt out is the hardest part; there's a video on youtube that is helpful.
Fortunately it's a very clean running rifle, at least mine is, and doesn't need cleaning often. Chrome lined bore so it's pretty forgiving.

Joe
 
As it is a piston gun, you don't have gas blowing back into the action like an AR-15 so it stays pretty clean, IMO.

I bought mine lightly used from a co-worker....it had an issue and wouldn't produce a good group. I sent it back to FNH and they put a new barrel on it and returned it with a proof target (sub-MOA). I paid shipping to the factory and they picked up the rest of the tab. As was previously mentioned, the mags are solid....built like a tank. I don't expect a failure in one of those for many years to come. I've had no problem finding them.

I don't personally consider the recoil objectionable as was mentioned above. In fact, I think it is pretty soft shooting. Compared to my much lighter .308 hunting rifle, the FNAR is very comfortable. I run a Bushnell 4200 Elite 6-24x50 FFP on it, a take off from my bolt rifle.

fnar-2.jpg
 
I would appreciate load data for the FNAR? Particularly 175 MK's. My go-to load for my Remington 700 308 is 43.5 Varget over 175 MK. Using the same load in the FNAR results in ejector marks and loose primer pockets. From what I have read, ejector marks and loose primer pockets seem to be somewhat commonplace with the FNAR. I did send the rifle back to FN and they advised not to be concerned about the ejector marks. But I do not know what would l cause these other than over pressure. Reading various blogs, some FNAR owners have advised that they have adjusted the gas system. Prior to messing with this, I was hoping to get some input if others have had the same issues and how they have addressed these.
 
I have an FNAR and quite honestly I wish I had a nice AR-10. I have an angled mount for a red dot that I mount on the front rail (left side - my turret obstructs it if it's on the right) a Bi-pod on the front and a sling. It is accurate. My brother shoots a Remington 700 that is set up really nice and he kicks my ass in long range shooting +650 yards but a lot of that may be optics since we are both shooting .308 Win. I agree with what LVMED said about it being a Red Headed Step Child. It's nice...but it's a compromise all around. Too heavy to hunt with, Unbalanced - very nose heavy, proprietary parts and so forth... I thought about threading it for a break because it seems to "hop" pretty good to the left everytime that I shoot making me lose my target.

I know that a lot of the people say that guns should be built for a defined mission IMO: The FNAR 20" Heavy Barrel is built for providing shooters a "one trick pony" to have fun shooting yotes, range plinking, and being Tacticool. I honesty would see more benefit in the light barreled 16" version as a hunting rifle with the five round mags. I always go to my safe and make a minor grimace when I think about toting the little anchor around the woods.

I can shoot sub MOA with it though... take that for what it's worth.
 
Anyone have any info on these rifles? Im looking at one and cant seem to find anything on accuracy,reliability,ect....ect...
Thanks in advance

I've owned two and I think they are neat. In the end I didn't keep either of them. Sold one to a police officer at the range who really wanted one. He really wanted it since he could see for himself how it ran and I also sold him some mags with it (they were hard to get then).

The best I was able to get with my loads was .62" at 100 yards.

In the end I just didn't like it enough to keep one. I have to compare them to other firearms and I prefer my 308 AR to the FNAR. The AR is a lot easier to dress up and clean up in my opinion and the mags are a lot cheaper. Replacement parts on the AR are a lot easier to get. I'm really not knocking the FNAR, but am just trying to explain why I got away from it. For me the balance of the FNAR was an issue and the way it came apart. The FNAR ran well without issue and was accurate. I think it's easier to get an AR trigger how I want it than it is on the FNAR.

It's not like I didn't like the FNAR, but I never could make mine into a keeper.
 
I used to own one. Very reliable rifle. Accuraccy was acceptable, around MOA, sometimes better, sometimes not quite as good. I prefer the free float system available on the AR10 style 308's. It is essentially a sporting rifle that has been "militarized", and I have always felt that re-purposing something usually doesn't work out as good as a system that was designed from the ground up for a specific purpose (like the AR10). The short barrel gives up a bit of velocity, but it is still a viable 800 yard rifle.

I sold mine, kept my AR10 pattern rifle, and have not regretted the decision. I just never really warmed up to it, and I thought it was a funny looking rifle. The thing that bothered me most was my belief that it is a sporting rifle that FN is trying to repurpose into a semi-military rifle.

Having cheaper magazines would help it out quite a bit, but for what amounts to a designated marksman's rifle, I don't think you would need all that many magazines in any case.
 
Dedicated FNAR Forum

For all interested in the FNAR, I recommend the FNAR forum you can find here:

FNAR

While not well attended, most of the posters are pretty passionate about the FNAR, good and bad. There are a couple of threads on hand loading and accuracy. If you are interested in the FNAR, I suggest you check the forum out.
 
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I have owned the FNAR since it came out. I really do like it. For the most part its a gun i like to use at the range or for yote hunting.

A couple of things that i don't like about it..... I wouldn't ever take it for long walks due to its weight. Every picture you see of it has a bipod on for the weight. Also, the breakdown of the weapon is a pain. Every time i break mine down it takes me almost an hour for disassemble and reassemble unlike any AR which is mostly in seconds. The bolt carrier part of it is a pain to get it to fit just right.

People here also don't like the price of the magazines for the rifle. My question for them is " What from FNH is not expensive?". I also own the Five Seven which i bought for $700 brand new and the FS2000 for $1300.00 new (Fore-Grip was $300.00) . Both were smoking deals. All the weapons that FNH have are well built that i own. But everything for them is costs $$$.

Would i recommend the FNAR.... YES!

I definitely have way more PROS than cons.
 
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I own one, bought it used on calguns. It didn't produce the guaranteed accuracy so I sent it back to FNH. It came back with a completely new upper half. Not new mind you, reconditions. Shot it, still wasn't impressed so I bought a gap 10. It's been sitting in my safe ever since. It is heavy, it does kick and it's kinda ugly. One upside, when it came back from the factory they screwed up and sent me two mags, a 10 and a 20. This might help.

FNAR