Occasionally I get to shoot some pretty special rifles. Sometimes I get to shoot some genuine sniper rifles actually used by the the real deal. Today was no exception. This particular rifle started its life in the A3G format working for a particular US agency before being refurbished into the A5M XP format you see here and later retired and sold on the civilian market. It has a pretty interesting history; however, that may be for a future article.
The FN SPR is a series of rifle based on the pre 1964 Winchester Model 70. It is a controlled round feed bolt action with a 90 degree throw and a cold hammer forged chrome lined barrel.
My friend (lets call him Jez) who owns this rifle generally makes replicas of genuine US Military sniper rifles; however, this time he went with an off the shelf option as used by various US LE SWAT agencies including the FBI HRT.
Overall the build quality of the rifle is excellent. The action is smooth, the lockup is solid and personally i would love to own one myself; however, this particular rifle is proving to have accuracy issues we are investigating.
For the last few months he has owned it he has tried factory match ammo and hand loaded ammo only managing to get around 1.2 MOA with a best of 1 MOA or so. Most groups are generally larger than this. This is not good enough for a SWAT sniper rifle. This has caused Jez to doubt himself and the rifle.
Today I watched him shoot the rifle as a bit of a coach. His fundamentals are pretty spot on and he followed the marksmanship principles we were all taught at basic training in the Australian Army which I still follow to this day.
Marksmanship Principles
The Position and hold must be firm enough to support the weapon
The weapon must point naturally at the target, without any undue physical effort
Sight alignment and aiming must be correct
The shot must be released and followed through without any disturbance to the position of the weapon.
These marksmanship principles are the basis of all my long gun shooting unless in a combat shooting scenario; combat shooting has its own rules.
Time for me to get behind the rifle and see what it can do. I loaded up 5 rounds of my known load that seems to work in most 308 Winchester rifles. 1st round, 2nd round and 3rd round all stacked. 4th round high. 5th round left. What happened? I applied the marksmanship principles, had a consistent amount of load on the bi-pod and released all my shots at the same point in my breathing cycle.
I tried another group and another. Similar results all round. Stack 2 or 3 and have a couple of flyers. I know it isn’t me as I produced this group below with my AI AX308 not 5 mins before.
What could it be? Action screw torque settings? Bad bedding job?
More to follow.
Precision Rifle Guy 
64 YO in Naples, FL. Bought an FN SPR A5M in .308 with 20-inch fluted barrel. Installed Harris bipod and Vortex 5-25x PST scope with milliradian reticle. Broke in the rifle in SW Fla. in 90-degree humid days using Federal Premium Gold Medal Match 168 grain. I was getting ready for a trip to a long-range marksman school in Montana. We spent 2 full days between class and gathering DOPE from 100 – 1000 yards then 1 day shooting targets of unknown range only using reticle to estimate range. We had 1 competition each day and I won all 3. There were 12 students and I know I performed so well because of my rifle. I have gone back each year since for the advanced school where for 2 days we shoot pop up and moving targets among other things. Can’t say I won a bunch but my FN SPR has performed flawlessly and accurately. I an very pleased with my rifle and have put it up against the newer modular style bolt actions and I would take the FN over any other.
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Sounds like you got a good one and are happy with your purchase mate.
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Strange I came across this story. Exactly the same as mine. Would be two or three within a 1/2 MOA and then throw the next however many, like a shotgun!
Let the barrel get completely cold again, two or three on top of each other, then buckshot! Considering the barrel is as heavy as they come, never found it’s sweet spot or what caused this lack of accuracy.
AI is now the only place to go for repeatability in stellar performance. Don’t know what those guys do, but it works!
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I have a FNH spr a5m xp as well, but I have not experienced any issues at all with it. I can’t wait for the rest of this story. I have been waiting forever. But I know the author of this article is probably very busy ridding the world of terrorists one head shot at a time.
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It is a strange one mate. One we now have an answer to. Ill have to get the next part done early next year when i have access to the rifle again.
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Ok, I had no idea, it just has been so long. I am glad you are safe and thank you for your service. Are you English ? It sounds kinda like you are with using “Mate” in your words. Do you think you could give me some advice on a 338 Lapua Magnum and a can to go with it. I just need a completely independent 3rd party opinion to help me a make a wise decision, between the rifle and glass they can get obscenely expensive. Any thing will help. And again I apologized. I have been home from work because I fell off a fire truck at work and completely blew out my right knee, 2 surgeries later and still not functioning properly. Been diagnosed with a severe nerve issue caused by a combo of the trauma and 2 surgeries. But no excuse I should not of been a wanker.
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All good mate. Im Australian. As for your advice you want. What country are you in so I know what’s available where you are? No need to thank me for my service either mate. I do it because I want to and I’m good at it. Cheers
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I live in America, you know I would love to go to Australia, even when I was a kid I wanted to go. But good grief after doing research I discovered that almost everything their wants to kill you, even the bugs. Lol. That’s probably why you are good at what you do, you are used to being stalked by EVERYTHING! BUT I have always, even when I was 12, really loved the Aussie women, just something about them. Lol
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Lol. Without knowing how much you have to spend I would look at the Accuracy International AXSR or the Barrett MRAD. Then go for the Thunderbeast Arms Suppressor
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We are all waiting for the follow up to this story, what happened ? This whole thing is beginning to sound fishy as you are the only person I have ever heard of having issues with a SPR. And my SPR is a thing of beauty both functionality and optically. On a perfect day I am constantly, AT LEAST, within a minute of angle at 500 yards running black hills ammo.
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Hey mate. The 2nd part is coming. I’ve been living away from the guy who owns it and I’m currently deployed OS on ops. It will come. When I get time to shoot it more. Plus Covid has closed all our ranges for almost a year.
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Are you going to give an update ? I have been waiting a looong time.
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Funny story. I bought a rifle exactly like you are describing and may be having similar issues. I’ve heard of people having the chrome lining flake in some cases. That’s what I’m starting to suspect. As far as CHF inherently have enough residual stress to wander when hot, just shoot a tikka. There is obviously a way to get them to shoot. Looking forward to the follow up
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James Jay, you may very well have some good shooting hammer forged barrels. I’ve had a couple that shot well warm, but many more that didn’t. It’s why 90% of barrels used on top match rifle builds are not hammer forged. Generally cut or button rifled are preferred. Hammer forged barrels are generally quite consistent when cold, and tough as nails.
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FN makes some of the best, most accurate, and durable production firearms in the world. I personally own a spr a5m Xp and I think that I may of found the problem. You stated that it was reformatted from an a3g into a a5m, that by itself, and I am assuming that he actually did major work on it, lends to maybe the work done to it hampered the accuracy in some way. FN clearly states that their firearms should not be altering and doing so voids the functionality or accuracy of said firearm. So I think somehow, by horrible accident he turned his tack driver into a wall hanging talking piece, and I feel terrible for him. Still waiting for the follow up article. Thanks
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Hey mate. The work was done factory by FN USA. It was done correctly. Part 2 will be coming.
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Wow……then I will really be waiting for the next installment. I hope it wasn’t something serious or that could not be fixed. Thanks for the quick reply.
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I’d say it was all the stress in that hammer forged barrel. When it gets warm it’s all over the place.
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Negative sir. You could not be farther from the truth. I own said barrels and they are phenomenal works of precision and craftsmanship.
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