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Thread: The FN FS2000: A Complete Review *several updates*

  1. #11
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    Posted this elsewhere a while back, but thought it pertinent. I still hold with my read on the carbine.

    Off the top impressions:

    This weapon leaves me in a dither. Not one I would run out the door with knowing I may never come back, but boy is it small and cute. But I have a dangerous love for things small and cute. It is a much more serious weapon than many give it credit for and it is very European, urban, mechanized in its optimization. Truly ambidextrous, which is good.

    Various Notes:

    No particular order.

    Definitely not simpler is better time.

    Followed me home when I went to buy a sling last year. Boy was that an expensive sling! Speaking of slings, probably the one weapon I may end up keeping a single point on.

    Space or ray gun for sure. Very different than a traditionally laid out weapon, but makes a lot of sense once you learn it. Very fast repeat shots and very fast on target with an Eotech. Really needs to have an optic BTW and after a number of experiments, the Eotech is the one for this weapon.

    Safety and trigger are just fine.

    Not the POS a lot of net chatter makes it out to be, not a death ray as the fan boys make it out to be, but rather a very good implementation of a euro interpretation of a MOUT or mech inf weapon, fast house clearing, handy, but not what I would want out in the mountains per se.

    Never would have bothered if it wasn’t ambi, no favorite sword, no favorite shoulder. Had an AUG back in the 80s and it wasn't one to shoot on the off hand shoulder.

    First firing was in a spring blizzard. A couple of malfunctions that in retrospect were operator induced. You need to download your GI 30 rd mags to 28 and given them a good whack and tug to ensure they are seating. Don't buy into the web crap about difficult immediate action drills or it being hard to clear.

    The mags don't drop free. I like that. The AUG had a habit of bumping the mag release on things and dropping the mag.

    Lots of room inside ala the AK to move crap around in so the gun keeps going. Given the design not much will get in anyway.

    Getting a cheek weld even with the eotech a bit odd. With a bit of practice you get there. Eotech definitely the optic for this rifle.

    The weapon is plump feeling and has lots of surface area. In lots of wind it is something like a sail boat and blows around. Put a rough zero on the Eotech on a howling day. (Not much mild weather around here.) Needed to shelter with the shooting bag to get stable.

    Had a strange series of malfunctions shooting Wolf. Short stroking to include a weird lock up of the action. Putting the gas valve on the adverse conditions setting cured that. But not easy to clear the malf. Just fiddled and jiggled until it unlocked. The weapon literally locked up tighter than a drum. Had long discussions with FN about it. They had not run into same. (FN is very nice to deal with and really cares about their customers.) Still don't know why, some odd harmonics or something. Bottom line is that if you aren't using US GI ammo, put the gas valve on the adverse setting and all is well. Side note, per FN, if you run the gun on adverse all the time it will start to wear prematurely around 13,000 to 15,000 rounds. OTH, given ammo like Wolf is so under powered, I suspect that isn't a worry! FN probably did their testing with SS109.

    Double taps faster than M4s, but a wee bit slower than with the SIGs.

    The piston shaft is small. Drag ass a bit as it got dirty with wolf. A big piston ala AK or SIG would be better with all the crappy ammo we have currently. Does get dirty inside. All this crap about piston guns running super clean is just crap IMHO.

    Definitely needs to be used with patrol carry or single point slings.

    Good for shooting of moving things. Tracks really well.

    The bolt carrier group is fiddly! Watchmaker’s delight. Not something to take apart with cold fingers at night in the mud. Just rinse it with carb cleaner or gasoline, dry in the sun and douse in Breakfree.

    Several colleagues noted that the real issue with this gun is its odd manual of arms compared to everything else. Hard to argue with that comment!

    Use GI mags only, better to use DSG Arms Teflon coated with magpul ranger plates. Makes mag manipulation a lot easier. No noticeable difference to date with GI or magpul followers.

    My bottom line? Once the gun market recoverers I may yet sell it on, having had my experiments with it. OTH, I have always liked bullpups and it is a fine example of the breed. Just don't try to run it like an AR or AK and feed it good mil spec ammo and when you can't give it more gas.

    - RCK

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by RCK View Post
    Posted this elsewhere a while back, but thought it pertinent. I still hold with my read on the carbine.

    Off the top impressions:

    This weapon leaves me in a dither. Not one I would run out the door with knowing I may never come back, but boy is it small and cute. But I have a dangerous love for things small and cute. It is a much more serious weapon than many give it credit for and it is very European, urban, mechanized in its optimization. Truly ambidextrous, which is good.

    Various Notes:

    No particular order.

    Definitely not simpler is better time.

    Followed me home when I went to buy a sling last year. Boy was that an expensive sling! Speaking of slings, probably the one weapon I may end up keeping a single point on.

    Space or ray gun for sure. Very different than a traditionally laid out weapon, but makes a lot of sense once you learn it. Very fast repeat shots and very fast on target with an Eotech. Really needs to have an optic BTW and after a number of experiments, the Eotech is the one for this weapon.

    Safety and trigger are just fine.

    Not the POS a lot of net chatter makes it out to be, not a death ray as the fan boys make it out to be, but rather a very good implementation of a euro interpretation of a MOUT or mech inf weapon, fast house clearing, handy, but not what I would want out in the mountains per se.

    Never would have bothered if it wasn’t ambi, no favorite sword, no favorite shoulder. Had an AUG back in the 80s and it wasn't one to shoot on the off hand shoulder.

    First firing was in a spring blizzard. A couple of malfunctions that in retrospect were operator induced. You need to download your GI 30 rd mags to 28 and given them a good whack and tug to ensure they are seating. Don't buy into the web crap about difficult immediate action drills or it being hard to clear.

    The mags don't drop free. I like that. The AUG had a habit of bumping the mag release on things and dropping the mag.

    Lots of room inside ala the AK to move crap around in so the gun keeps going. Given the design not much will get in anyway.

    Getting a cheek weld even with the eotech a bit odd. With a bit of practice you get there. Eotech definitely the optic for this rifle.

    The weapon is plump feeling and has lots of surface area. In lots of wind it is something like a sail boat and blows around. Put a rough zero on the Eotech on a howling day. (Not much mild weather around here.) Needed to shelter with the shooting bag to get stable.

    Had a strange series of malfunctions shooting Wolf. Short stroking to include a weird lock up of the action. Putting the gas valve on the adverse conditions setting cured that. But not easy to clear the malf. Just fiddled and jiggled until it unlocked. The weapon literally locked up tighter than a drum. Had long discussions with FN about it. They had not run into same. (FN is very nice to deal with and really cares about their customers.) Still don't know why, some odd harmonics or something. Bottom line is that if you aren't using US GI ammo, put the gas valve on the adverse setting and all is well. Side note, per FN, if you run the gun on adverse all the time it will start to wear prematurely around 13,000 to 15,000 rounds. OTH, given ammo like Wolf is so under powered, I suspect that isn't a worry! FN probably did their testing with SS109.

    Double taps faster than M4s, but a wee bit slower than with the SIGs.

    The piston shaft is small. Drag ass a bit as it got dirty with wolf. A big piston ala AK or SIG would be better with all the crappy ammo we have currently. Does get dirty inside. All this crap about piston guns running super clean is just crap IMHO.

    Definitely needs to be used with patrol carry or single point slings.

    Good for shooting of moving things. Tracks really well.

    The bolt carrier group is fiddly! Watchmaker’s delight. Not something to take apart with cold fingers at night in the mud. Just rinse it with carb cleaner or gasoline, dry in the sun and douse in Breakfree.

    Several colleagues noted that the real issue with this gun is its odd manual of arms compared to everything else. Hard to argue with that comment!

    Use GI mags only, better to use DSG Arms Teflon coated with magpul ranger plates. Makes mag manipulation a lot easier. No noticeable difference to date with GI or magpul followers.

    My bottom line? Once the gun market recoverers I may yet sell it on, having had my experiments with it. OTH, I have always liked bullpups and it is a fine example of the breed. Just don't try to run it like an AR or AK and feed it good mil spec ammo and when you can't give it more gas.

    - RCK



    Well said, as far as I can tell, your experiences have echoed mine almost to a T.

  3. #13
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    Thumbs up

    Great writeup- thanks for taking the time to do it.

    I've owned an FS2000 since 07 and it's grown on me. It will never supplant my SR15E3 as my go to carbine, but it's a cool carbine that turns heads at the range and is fun to shoot.
    SSG Jimmy Ide- KIA 28 Aug 10, Hyderabad, AFG

    1SG Blue Rowe- KIA 26 May 09, Panjshir, AFG.

    RIP Brothers

  4. #14
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    Johnny Rico called and wants his carbine back.....
    Employee of colonialshooting.com

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Templar View Post
    Johnny Rico called and wants his carbine back.....
    Haha I've gotten Buck Rodgers gun, Halo gun, Star Wars gun, but never Starship Troopers

    Tim, if I remember right, youre not a big fan of the FS2000, but I dont really recall why. Have you gotten some good trigger time on them?
    Last edited by lloydkristmas; 08-09-10 at 23:35.

  6. #16
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    I want to like it, I really do. I like a lot of different weapon systems, not just AR's.

    However, the inability to quickly and easily clear a double feed or other malfunction without having to field strip the rifle, in the field, is a deal breaker for me.

    I have shot them, but I haven't put a lot of rounds down range with them.
    Employee of colonialshooting.com

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Templar View Post
    I want to like it, I really do. I like a lot of different weapon systems, not just AR's.

    However, the inability to quickly and easily clear a double feed or other malfunction without having to field strip the rifle, in the field, is a deal breaker for me.

    I have shot them, but I haven't put a lot of rounds down range with them.

    Of course my experiences cannot be taken as gold standard, BUT in the thousands of rounds I have put through my FS2000, I have had 11 malfunctions. 9 of these were light strikes / failures to fire that were caused by FN's 'updated' firing pin. I discussed this issue in the review. Once I removed the captive pin spring, I never had another light strike. Its been several thousand rounds since then, and the issue hasnt repeated itself. Because of this, I sort of consider those malfunctions null and void.

    That accounts for 9 out of the 11 jams I have had with this rifle. The other 2? One was a result of me riding the charging handle forward. Caused a double feed. I simply removed the mag, racked the charging handle three times, and the jam was cleared, back to shooting. The second one was a double feed in the middle of a mag, probably caused by the cheap steel ammo I was using. Again, removal of the mag and three pulls of the charging handle sent the offending cartridge out of the ejection tube and I was back in action.

    Some 'severe' malfunctions might require you to strip down the rifle, but they would also require similar effort on an AR, right? A basic double feed will NOT shut the FS down mid-action. Something more might require field stripping, but that would be something like a ripped off casing rim, or some other more severe issue. An issue like this would also be extra effort to clear on an AR as well....

    Again, I've NEVER had a jam that couldnt be solved by a simple removal of mag and yank of charging handle. Sure it can happen, but based on my experiences after thousands of rounds, I'm gonna venture to call it a rare instance.

    If youre ever in the Dallas area, look me up, and maybe we can sway your opinion
    Last edited by lloydkristmas; 09-22-10 at 20:03.

  8. #18
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    I owned one of these for a little while, but I sold it when I came to the conclusion that it would never be a gun I would take to a fight when given the choice of other rifles in my safe. I bought it out of novelty, but quickly decided it was a range toy only.

    The manual of arms for this gun is too unlike anything I am used to. There is no way to do a speed reload on the FS2000 because you have to strip the mag from the magwell before inserting a fresh one and it takes two hands to strip it. Add that to a crappy trigger and I couldn't keep it in my collection. I just don't have room for range toys.
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  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by clasky View Post
    I owned one of these for a little while, but I sold it when I came to the conclusion that it would never be a gun I would take to a fight when given the choice of other rifles in my safe. I bought it out of novelty, but quickly decided it was a range toy only.

    The manual of arms for this gun is too unlike anything I am used to. There is no way to do a speed reload on the FS2000 because you have to strip the mag from the magwell before inserting a fresh one and it takes two hands to strip it. Add that to a crappy trigger and I couldn't keep it in my collection. I just don't have room for range toys.


    Its certainly not as fast as an AR, but not many rifles are.

    Its not really any different in terms of reload speed / manual of arms than an HK Mp5, HK53, FNC or AK

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3GR6XvOSfk

    Check out this guy, he doesnt seem to have a problem reloading the FS2000 quickly.
    Last edited by lloydkristmas; 08-10-10 at 21:34.

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by lloydkristmas View Post
    Its certainly not as fast as an AR, but not many rifles are.

    Its not really any different in terms of reload speed / manual of arms than an HK Mp5, HK53, FNC or AK

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3GR6XvOSfk

    Check out this guy, he doesnt seem to have a problem reloading the FS2000 quickly.
    Disclaimer: This is not all directed at the OP, just a summation of the thread.


    Yeah, he's fast, but he's still not following the manual of arms. Nowhere that I've seen does it tell you to lock the bolt back prior to reloading. In fact, many would say that it's the cause of many of the malfunctions associated with the FS2000. You hear click when you wanted bang after an extended string of fire.... you rip/toss the magazine and you stuff another one in and rack the charging handle. Sound familiar? *cough* AK *cough* (that's where the similarities end but still important with many Euro rifles) He'd shave off a lot more time if he focused on getting the rifle back into action by not locking the bolt back. It's an extra step that is not required.

    One reason that people were having their charging handle latch break was because they were "HK slapping" it after inserting a fresh magazine. Take a look at the tabs on the charging handle latch.... they're small pieces of plastic, that if weren't there, wouldn't affect the rifles operation to any great extent (aside from major malfunction, which could be attributed to the fact that it was used in the first place). Use the tool as intended, and it'll function fine. I've got about 4k round thru mine, and haven't had but two malfunctions, (using Mil-Surplus). Running regular .223 thru it, no problems... after those two malfunctions when running surplus stuff... I neutered the captive spring and bing bang boom, it runs like a Swiss watch... or a Belgian one, I guess. The only reason the extra spring was added was due to slam fires on softer primers (not found on Military grade ammo btw). It's just like anything else... you wouldn't take a Corvette mudding, nor would you put cheap ass gas in it. You'd put premium in it and drive it on hard, fast roads. Just like you wouldn't HK slap a gun that's not an HK, nor put 115's in an MP5 (going off the notion that 124's cycle it better, and yes, I've shot an MP5 plenty, and when it has 115's in it, they choke more often). My point... if anyone is thinking that the FS2000 should be like an AR... then they've already lost the fight. Just as if someone thinks an AK should be like an AR, or a FAL, or an MP5, or ad nauseam. It's different. If you don't want to commit the time to learning a new system, don't buy it, no matter how cool it looks/feels.

    The error isn't in the gun so much as it is in the user not learning how to make it go boom. Same could be said about a great many things in life... the most common error is operator error.


    ETA: wow.. just went back and read Loydekristmas's post... deja vu... sorry bud. Was keeping up on the thread on my Droid, and posted this on my computer. Woooopsie.
    Last edited by Zhurdan; 08-10-10 at 23:16.
    Time flies when you throw your watch.

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