For the past few days, I have been shooting a
truly remarkable rifle. Right now in the United States, we are
greatly blessed with a fine variety of exceptionally accurate
sniper-type rifles. Some prefer the term “designated marksman”
or “tactical” for such rifles, but “sniper” is a very
accurate term for the style of rifle and those who use it, so we
will just call it such. The term “tactical” is way overused,
and today pretty much refers to any weapon that looks black and
sinister, and has mostly become a marketing term. Anyway, there
is a wide selection of sniper rifles available today, and most
are very accurate. However, mechanical accuracy alone does not
define a proper sniper rifle. The weapon must also be
user-friendly. In other words, it must be designed to operate
smoothly, reliably, and be comfortable to shoot, so that the
shooter can use the full potential built into the rifle. This
new A1a SPR rifle from FNH is built to shoot.
With the A1a SPR (Special Police Rifle), FN
spared no expense in choosing the best components, and it shows
in both the quality and the price of this rifle. It is by no
means excessively expensive when compared with the custom and
semi-custom sniper rifles on the market today, but with an MSRP
of $2249 US as of this writing, it is not something that
everyone at the local range will be shooting. However, for a law
enforcement agency or an individual shooter who wants as near
perfect of a bolt action sniper rifle as can be purchased today,
this A1a SPR is a very good value. From my thus far limited
experience with this rifle, it just might be the ideal police
sniper rifle.
Starting with a forged steel action that is
very much like the legendary pre-1964 Winchester Model 70, FN
added a very stiff, heavy, fluted match-grade barrel. The hammer
forged barrel is rifled one turn in twelve inches, is chrome
lined, and wears a target crown. The barrel diameter measures
1.14 inch just forward of the receiver and .966 inch at the
muzzle, and has six flutes to reduce the weight a bit without
sacrificing rigidity. The barrel in the A1a measures twenty
inches in length. The action has the famous huge claw extractor
and fixed-blade ejector for reliability, and it has functioned
perfectly throughout my shooting tests, feeding smoothly from
the four-shot detachable box magazine. Extraction has also been
positive and flawless. The very crisp trigger releases cleanly
with three pounds, nine ounces of pressure. While the trigger is
adjustable, FNH has applied a hardened glue of some type over
the mechanism to discourage fiddling with the trigger pull. No
problem , as the trigger feels really good to me as delivered.
Mounted atop the receiver, the rifle comes
equipped with a 1913 Picatinny rail which has twenty minutes of
elevation built in for long range shooting. This is the perfect
scope base for such a rifle, and I am glad that it is included
in the package. The barreled action is mounted into a McMillan
fiberglass stock with two bolts through the all-steel one-piece
magazine floorplate/trigger guard. The McMillan stock is an
excellent choice, and is heavily textured for a positive grip.
It is matte black, and the finish compliments the matte black
steel of the barreled action and bottom metal. The stock has a
high comb for scope use, and a very comfortable pistol grip,
which has ambidextrous palm swells. There are sling swivel studs
fore and aft, and an extra one on the forend for attaching a
bipod. The sock wears a thick synthetic rubber butt pad that is
non-slip and very comfortable on the shoulder. The barrel is
free-floated it entire length within the generous barrel
channel.
For accuracy testing, I mounted my “mule’
scope atop the Picatinny rail using a one-piece ArmaLite mount.
I call this Leupold my mule because it is the scope of choice
for me when I have to prove or disprove the accuracy of a rifle.
I trust this scope completely, as it has served me well on
dozens of rifles, and has never let me down. The optics are very
clear, making it easy on the eyes for long shooting sessions. It
is a Mark 4 8.5 to 25 power, and the target resolution from
twenty-five yards on out to several hundred is very good. I
gathered up four different types of 308 Winchester ammunition
that has proven to be very accurate in the past, along with a
quantity of Lake City military ball for getting to know the
rifle before settling down for serious accuracy testing. I only
had my one hundred yard range for accuracy testing, but that
range is far enough to determine if the rifle will be an
accurate shooter, and this A1a SPR proved to be a very accurate
shooter indeed. Hopefully, I can hang onto this rifle long
enough for some long range shooting at the Whittington
Center in early June. I would love to try this SPR out to at
least 600 yards, and maybe do some plinking out past 1000 yards.
As can be seen in the pictures, this rifle
will shoot. Buffalo Bore Sniper ammo turned in the best
performance, consistently shooting one-quarter inch groups at
100 yards, with Federal Gold Medal Match doing almost as well.
FNH promises one minute of angle accuracy with these rifles, but
they are being modest. If they all shoot like this one, they
could easily cut that promised group size in half. I want to
emphasize that it is not only the mechanical accuracy built into
this rifle that makes it so sweet, but it is the ease at which a
shooter can take full advantage of that accuracy that makes this
rifle stand above many of its competitors. The rifle just has a
good, comfortable feel to it. It is easy to sit behind at the
bench or to lie behind in the prone position. The test gun
weighed in at ten pounds, two ounces empty, which is plenty of
weight to soak up the recoil of the 308 Winchester cartridge.
Combined with that wonderful McMillan stock, the heft makes the
rifle very easy on the shoulder. There is a discrepancy in the
weight of this rifle on the FNH USA website. One chart lists the
weight at 11.3 pounds, and another lists it at 12 pounds, 6
ounces, but I weighed this rifle repeatedly, and ten pounds, two
ounces was what it weighed consistently on my scale. I verified
the accuracy of my scale with a test weight just to be sure.
The FN A1a SPR is a fine rifle, well-suited
for police or military sniper work, as well as for any shooter
who just wants a highly accurate precision rifle, built right,
and built in the USA.