FN FN-15 Carbine

[spencer60]

One thing to note, your carry handle should be made like this one from Larry on Midway USA YouTube video (Yes, I know he is working on an A2 upper, but the aperture should be the same). . The elevation and index knobs should be independently adjustable for proper zero/adjustment. Many el-cheapo carry handles are cast and the knob is all one piece (pile-o-scrap).

The handle for this seems to be a cast part, but the aperture sight itself and the windage mechanism seem to be a machined sub-assembly that is pinned in place. The elevation adjustment mechanism is mounted in the main body of the handle and they both are adjustable independently, with decent tactile 'clicks'. Overall the handle and rear sights are a pretty decent part, definitely not one of the low-budget knock-offs.

EDIT: See correction below, this is a forged part.

From what it seems, that FN is just like a Colt 6920 or a PSA Premium carbine minus the CHF barrels. I agree, that I would rather have a Colt over this, but at $730, its really not an awful price. I really doubt you would ever see the true benefits from a CHF barrel as well for the average shooter.

Yup, $730 isn't a bad price, and I'm sure it and the follow-ups will do decently. I just compare it to my Ruger AR-556 that was $100 less and has more features and better fit as well as a CHF barrel.

 

[spencer60]

LOTS of GI triggers are gritty. The proper stones and patience will smooth the sear and trigger surfaces out though to make them WAY nicer.

The stones listed below last a pretty good while as long as you don't drop or abuse them.

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...ring/stones/arkansas-stone-set-prod16625.aspx

Past that, a good drop in replacement would be easier and nicer, → Geissele, CMC, Timney, KAC, etc....

Actually, I have a Geissele I got from the AAC 'Damn the Man' promotion. After reading the reviews I figured I'd have to swap it in to make this gun shootable, but that turned out not to be the case. I'm guessing FN got hammered so badly on the trigger that they upgraded the parts kits, because the one in this gun is pretty good for a GI trigger.

 

[Wallace's]

Actually, I have a Geissele I got from the AAC 'Damn the Man' promotion. After reading the reviews I figured I'd have to swap it in to make this gun shootable, but that turned out not to be the case. I'm guessing FN got hammered so badly on the trigger that they upgraded the parts kits, because the one in this gun is pretty good for a GI trigger.

I assume you got the G2S?

GI triggers do vary. I would recommend the stones anyway of you have a few AR's as its a good way to smooth out triggers until you can afford to swap out with a nice CMC single stage, Geissele 2-stage or Timney.

 

[Wallace's]

The handle for this seems to be a cast part, but the aperture sight itself and the windage mechanism seem to be a machined sub-assembly that is pinned in place. The elevation adjustment mechanism is mounted in the main body of the handle and they both are adjustable independently, with decent tactile 'clicks'. Overall the handle and rear sights are a pretty decent part, definitely not one of the low-budget knock-offs.



Yup, $730 isn't a bad price, and I'm sure it and the follow-ups will do decently. I just compare it to my Ruger AR-556 that was $100 less and has more features and better fit as well as a CHF barrel.

Take a pic of just the right side of the carry handle. I am pretty sure I see a forging mark on it.

 

[user 71]

My $600 PSA rifle has FN CHF CL barrel but FN can't put a FNing FN barrel on their FN rifle?

What the F?

 

[spencer60]

Take a pic of just the right side of the carry handle. I am pretty sure I see a forging mark on it.

Yup, you're right, I completely missed that. There's a small square there that the Intewebs tell me means this part is forged by BA Forging and often used on 'Colts and FNs' according to the ARF.com article I found.

 

[spencer60]

My $600 PSA rifle has FN CHF CL barrel but FN can't put a FNing FN barrel on their FN rifle?

What the F?

LOL.

It is an FN barrel, just not their cold hammer forged part.

 

[spencer60]

I assume you got the G2S?

GI triggers do vary. I would recommend the stones anyway of you have a few AR's as its a good way to smooth out triggers until you can afford to swap out with a nice CMC single stage, Geissele 2-stage or Timney.

Yup, that seemed to be the only one they offered.

I will be looking into the polishing stones though, that's something I will need for general work in the future anyway. Thanks for the link.

 

[spencer60]

Just a quick follow-up after taking the gun to the (indoor) range a couple of times.

I wasn't able to shoot from a rest, but once I got it sighted in, the rifle seems pretty accurate. I can believe their claim (again, from the podcast) that these rifles shoot under 1 MOA.

I shot 55gr HPX, some 55gr Freedom reman, 55 grWolf Gold, 62 gr Silver Bear (zinc coated steel), 55 gr Wolf WPA and 62 gr Wolf steel cased. About 300 rounds total, with about a 50/50 split running with or without a Griffin MSD-II suppressor.

The gun was completely reliable, even switching from brass to steel and back. I had no failures at any point, and with the can the gas blow-back was surprisingly tolerable. Before its first range trip I had cleaned off the factory protectant and lubed the lower and bolt with some SLP 2000 synthetic lube, but that was the only cleaning done so far. I plan on running it 'dirty' until it hiccups, just to get an idea on it's cleaning requirements

Operation was smooth and the trigger really did well for a GI part. I will be taking Wallace's advice and get a stone kit to try and see how clean I can make it, but out of the box it was very shootable.

All in all I was very happy with how this rifle performed, and while it's too early to tell for sure, it 'feels' like it should be a good, light-duty carbine going forward. It's not a gun I'd mount a SlideFire to and mag-dump with, but as a light, no-frills carbine it seems to work pretty well.