FN Special Police Rifle

Design details

The FN Special Police Rifle is built at the U.S. Repeating Arms Company, which is owned by FN de Herstal, using Winchester Model 70 actions. Every current model comes in one of several McMillan synthetic stocks. The earliest versions used the H-S Precision aluminum chassis fiberglass version of the Winchester Marksman stock; these first-generation rifles were simply placed into the aluminum bedding blocks of that stock, while all later rifles are hand glass bedded. All iterations of the SPR are known for high accuracy—0.5 MOA or slightly less is common—and low maintenance, thanks to a Parkerized metal finish, synthetic stocks, and a chrome-lined bore.

This chrome lining makes the barrel more durable, more corrosion resistant, and easier to clean, a feature rarely seen on precision bolt-action sniper rifles. The first-generation barrels reportedly came from hammer-forged blanks originally made for M240 General Purpose Machine Gun production at the FN Manufacturing Inc. plant in Columbia, South Carolina. Later barrels are said to come from hammer-forged blanks produced specifically for the FN Special Police Rifle. For .308 Winchester models, the standard detachable 4-round magazine can be swapped out for a Tactical Box Magazine (TBM) kit, which is available in 5-round or 10-round capacities.

Variants

The FN SPR 1st Generation has an HS Precision Marksman-pattern stock and a heavy 26-inch barrel. The FN A1 uses a McMillan A3 stock with a heavy 24-inch barrel, while the FN A1a has a heavy 20-inch barrel. The FN A2 features a McMillan A4 stock with buttpad spacers and adjustable cheekpiece, with a 24-inch barrel.

The FN A3G has a McMillan A3 stock with buttpad spacers and adjustable cheekpiece, and a 24-inch heavy fluted barrel. The FN A5M uses a McMillan A5 stock with buttpad spacers and adjustable cheekpiece, available with a 20-inch heavy barrel or a 24-inch heavy fluted barrel. The FN A5M XP has a 5/8 x 24 tpi threaded barrel.

Did You Know?

• The SPR was one of two rifles approved in 2004 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for use 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.
• The other rifle approved alongside the SPR was the H-S Precision HTR.