The FR F2 (french: Fusil à Répétition modèle F2; en, Repeating Rifle, F2 model) has been the standard

sniper rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long-range rifle. Requirements include accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment and optics for anti-personnel, anti-materiel and surveillance uses of the military sniper. The modern sniper rifle is a port ...

of the

French military The French Armed Forces (french: Forces armées françaises) encompass the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force and the Gendarmerie of the French Republic. The President of France heads the armed forces as Chief of the Armed Forces. France ...

since 1986. It is designed for shooting at point targets at distances up to 800 metres.

History

In August 2018, a tender was released by the French government for a replacement to the FR F2.

Design

The FR-F2 is an upgrade from the earlier

FR F1 The FR F1 is a French sniper rifle manufactured by the Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne (''MAS''); one of several government-owned arms factories in France. The FR F1 was France's first purpose-built precision rifle for sharpshooters. Introd ...

sniper rifle. The

rifle barrel A gun barrel is a crucial part of gun-type weapons such as small firearms, artillery pieces, and air guns. It is the straight shooting tube, usually made of rigid high-strength metal, through which a contained rapid expansion of high-pressure ...

is thermally shielded along a considerable part of the barrel by a polymer shroud. The barrel is free floated and is equipped with a flash hider. It uses a different bipod-stock configuration from its predecessor, which is built just ahead of the receiver. GIAT studies lead to a new three groove conical barrel. Tapering the barrel from the throat area up to the first 100 mm of the barrel and at the muzzle end reduced barrel wear caused by propellant gasses passing the projectile in the bore. The rifle's manual safety is located at the rear of the trigger. It uses

7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first been introduced in U.S. service fo ...

ammunition and is equipped with a

telescopic sight A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope informally, is an optical sighting device based on a refracting telescope. It is equipped with some form of a referencing pattern – known as a '' reticle'' – mounted in a focally appropriate ...

. French army standard issue is either an APX L806, with a bullet drop compensation calibrated for 7.62×51mm NATO ammunition from 100 to 800 m in 100 m increments, or SCROME J8 (Army) or Nightforce NXS (Air force) or

Schmidt & Bender Schmidt & Bender (often abbreviated as S&B) is a German company specialized in producing high end telescopic sights for hunting, sports, law enforcement and military arms. The company was founded in 1957 by instrument maker Helmut Schmidt and mas ...

6×42 mil-dot (Navy). Backup sights on top of the barrel shroud are standard on each F2 rifle. The rifle is also issued as part of the

FÉLIN FÉLIN (''Fantassin à Équipement et Liaisons Intégrés'', Integrated Infantryman Equipment and Communications) is the name for the French infantry combat system developed by Safran Electronics & Defense. It combines a modified FAMAS rifle w ...

infantry combat system outfitted with a SAGEM Sword Sniper 3-in-1 optic, which serves as a telescopic sight, thermal weapon sight, and laser rangefinder. The FR F2 utilizes the same basic bolt design as the older MAS-36 infantry rifle. The MAS-36 bolt action was however extensively modified and strengthened to reduce accuracy-inhibiting flex in the FR F1 and FR F2.

Users

.Jones, Richard D. ''Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010''. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (January 27, 2009). . * : replaced by the

Sako TRG The Sako TRG is a bolt-action sniper rifle line designed and manufactured by Finnish firearms manufacturer SAKO of Riihimäki. The TRG-21 and TRG-22 are designed to fire standard .308 Winchester (7.62×51mm NATO) sized cartridges, while the TRG- ...

Lithuanian Armed Forces The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Naval Force and the Lithuanian Air Force. In wartime, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service ...

Gallery

File:Flintlock-2013-sniper.jpg, Senegalese sniper with FR F2 during Flintlock 2013. File:Sniper-FRF2.JPEG, French soldier of the Rapid Reaction Corps standing guard with a FR F2. File:FRF2 Afghanistan.JPG, French soldier using an FR F2 in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

. File:FR-F2 scope.svg, The reticle lay out of a SCROME J8 telescopic sight. File:French foreign legionairs training with FRF2.jpg, French Army on training site using FR F2 File:Bataille de Tigharghâr2.PNG, FR F2 sniper during the Battle of Ifoghas in

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

References

External links