The FN Special Police Rifle (FN SPR) is a

bolt-action Bolt action is a type of manual Action (firearms), firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt (firearms), turn-bolt via a cocking handle, bolt handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the firearm (a ...

sniper rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long range shooting, long-range rifle. Requirements include high accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment, and optics, for anti-personnel weapon, anti-personnel, anti-materiel rifle, anti-materiel and sur ...

marketed by FNH USA, a subsidiary of the Belgian company

FN Herstal , trading as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale, or simply FN, is a leading firearms manufacturer based in Herstal, Belgium, and former vehicle manufacturer. It was the largest exporter of military small arms in Europe . FN ...

Design details

The rifle is manufactured at the U.S. Repeating Arms Company (owned by FN de Herstal) to FN specifications using Winchester Model 70 actions. All current models of the SPR come in one of a variety of McMillan synthetic stocks. The earliest rifles were shipped in the H-S Precision aluminum chassis fiberglass version of the Winchester Marksman stock. While these "First Generation" rifles were simply dropped into the aluminum bedding blocks of the H-S Precision stock, the later guns are all glass bedded by hand. FN Special Police Rifles of all iterations are noted for being both very accurate (0.5

MOA Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. Moa or MOA may also refer to: Arts and media * Metal Open Air, a Brazilian heavy metal festival * MOA Museum of Art in Japan * The Moas, New Zealand film awards People * Moa ...

or somewhat less is not uncommon) and very low maintenance, featuring

Parkerized Phosphate conversion coating is a chemical treatment applied to steel parts that creates a thin adhering layer of iron, zinc, or manganese phosphates to improve corrosion resistance or lubrication or as a foundation for subsequent coatings or pai ...

metal finish, synthetic stocks, and a chrome-lined bore in the barrel. A chrome-lined bore offers a more durable, more corrosion resistant, and easier-to-clean barrel for the end user to maintain and is rarely found on precision bolt-action

sniper rifles A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long range shooting, long-range rifle. Requirements include high accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment, and optics, for anti-personnel weapon, anti-personnel, anti-materiel rifle, anti-materiel and sur ...

. The barrels of the "First Generation" rifles were said to be made from the hammer-forged blanks used for M240

General Purpose Machine Gun A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is an air-cooled, usually belt-fed machine gun that can be adapted flexibly to various tactical roles for light and medium machine guns. A GPMG typically features a quick-change barrel design calibered for ...

production at the FN Manufacturing Inc. plant in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

. Later barrels are said to be from hammer-forged blanks intended exclusively for FN Special Police Rifle production.

Variants

*FN SPR 1st Generation: HS Precision Marksman-pattern stock, heavy 26-inch barrel. *FN A1: McMillan A3 stock, heavy 24-inch barrel. *FN A1a: McMillan A3 stock, heavy 20-inch barrel. *FN A2: McMillan A4 stock with buttpad spacers and adjustable cheekpiece, 24-inch barrel. *FN A4 Shooting System: FN A2 with scope and bipod. *FN A3G: McMillan A3 stock with buttpad spacers and adjustable cheekpiece, 24-inch heavy fluted barrel. *FN A3G Shooting System: FN A3G with scope and bipod. *FN A5M: McMillan A5 stock with buttpad spacers and adjustable cheekpiece, 20-inch heavy barrel or 24-inch heavy fluted barrel. *FN A5M Shooting System: FN A5M with scope and bipod. *FN A5M XP: FN A5M with 5/8 x 24 tpi threaded barrel.

Users

* : The SPR was one of two rifles (along with the H-S Precision HTR) approved in 2004 by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

for use of by their Hostage Rescue Team. The FBI variant has the model name FNH SPR-USG (''USG – US Government''), and is also called the ''A3G'' by FN.

References

External links

* —FNH USA *
FNH Firearms Blog

"FNH USA SPR A5 M .308"
(''Guns & Weapons for Law Enforcement Magazine'' article) ; Video
Official promotional video
{{FN Herstal firearms 7.62×51mm NATO rifles Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Police Rifle Sniper rifles of the United States