Talk me out of an FN SPR A5 M in .300 WSM

[Littlelebowski]

For the money, the Remmy is hard to beat. I have a new production 700 SPS AAC and am very well satisfied with it. I liked my FN SPR a lot but the mags and the price were turnoffs.

[orkan]

they got rid of a lot of staff so they start outsourcing a lot of there work apparently.

Where did you see that? Can you provide a link? I know they were bought by cerberus, as was a lot of companies, but I wasn't aware they were drastically changing their business practices.

The primary factor that need to be considered in discussions like this, that compare one product to a comparable product from a different manufacturer is sample size.

How many rem700's have been sold?
How many FN SPR's have been sold?

If you compare the ratio of complaints rather than the number of complaints, you will see the SPR isn't shining so brightly. It's new and exciting, but hardly what I'd consider a remington destroyer. I have yet to purchase a rifle from a big box manufacturer of any kind in the last 15 years that didn't require a new stock and new trigger at the very least to bring up to my standards. Remington or otherwise.

The FN is yet another option for those wanting something different. However I do not see it as a solution to a specific problem, but rather a company realizing they want to take advantage of an ever expanding precision rifle vertical market.

[mrwickwire]

A company called CDI makes a bottom metal for the FN SPR which would allow it to take AICS magazines.

http://cdiprecisiongunworks.com

FN SPR is an excellent rifle, and the 300wsm is an excellent cartridge.

[maximus83]

For the money, the Remmy is hard to beat. I have a new production 700 SPS AAC and am very well satisfied with it. I liked my FN SPR a lot but the mags and the price were turnoffs.

Those rifles seem like an excellent deal and a great base rifle to just take out and shoot, or to build on. I wish these had been widely available at the time I bought my SPS Tac. It's been a great rifle too, no regrets, but I would have liked having the 2 additional features on the AAC (the threaded barrel and the 1:10 rifling). Since they sell these for a pretty similar price point to the SPS Tac, this model seems like a good deal.

[KAC Lover]

The FN is a good gun, but imho they are egregiously pricing what is essentially an m70 at its core. As far as Remmy's, I HATE factory 700's with a passion. I've always thought they have a somewhat cheap feel and I never understood the fascination with them. That being said, I think Surgeon is GTG and absolutely wonderful. I actually ordered a surgeon XL in 338 a while back as well as a custom surgeon 308 with a schneider barrel and I haven't touched my AI AE since. (Not that the AI isn't a great gun, it is, but my surgeon can outshoot it with 155g scenars all day long.) Another option you have if you like the FN action is to get one of the super cheap actions from CDNN, throw a good barrel on it and drop it in a mcmillian.

[d90king]

FN makes a very nice bolt gun and generally they are all sub moa or better out of the box with many shooting .5 or better in capable hands. You have a little less aftermarket support with the 70 action but there are still plenty of options available. CDI for metal and most of the big guys make stocks for them.

Personally, I like the pre 64 70 action, but that is a personal preference and not based on one being "better" than the other. The controlled feeding (claw extractor) and ejection (fixed blade ejector) and the lock are features I prefer to have. I grew up shooting some great M70's so I am probably a little bias.

I had both a 26" 700P and 20" FN TSR XP and got rid of the 700. I was able to get comparable performance out of the TSR in a shorter rifle. I not only preferred the action, but I also prefer a "patrol" length rifle especially when I'm not sacrificing accuracy.

The A5 is a nice rifle out of the box and I would think it would easily be a .5 or better rifle.

[win_nut]

I have a FN SPR A1 300WSM, it shoots lights out. I run 175gr SMK 66.5 gr RL19, 0.007" off the lands. It's not cheap to run, but with the chrome lined chamber and bore it will last a long time. I had it pillar bedded and the trigger tweaked, 1.6lb. But if I were to do it again, I would go with the Savage F-class or benchrest. The only reason why I would go that route is price of changing barrels. Savage barrels are very easy to change and doesn't require very many special tools. I still won't be giving up my SPR though.

[mkmckinley]

Thanks for all the great replies. Wing Nut, do you have any idea how much a rebarrel costs from FN? I had one of their reps on the phone and forgot to ask that detail.

[win_nut]

I don't know what FN would charge, or if they have the capability of switching the caliber like you were asking about. If I were going to change the chambering of my 300WSM, I would go to 7mmWSM. I have had barrels switched out (by Shilen) on my Sako and it cost me ~$850. That included barrel, chambering, fitting to the action, Teflon coating action and barrel and pillar bedding. You can visit their site and see what they are charging now (that was 5 years ago). I know they are not the cheapest but are very repected for the quality of their work. FWIW the Sako shoots much better. It shoots 1/4 moa consistantly and I have shot a handfull of groups <0.100". So it is much more capable than I am. The FN came with a sample target of 0.940" I did not fire the rifle before having the pillar bedding and trigger done. I shoots 0.300" to 0.0400" consistantly, never having anything even close to the Sako. BTW Shilen won't barrel a pre '64 win action, you would have to get a pre turned, chambered barrel, SS match runs ~$483 and will need to be fitted by a gunsmith. Shilen is the only barrel maker I have dealt with, you may be able to find cheaper.

[ronnie77]

I can't comment on the .300WSM, but my buddy has about a dozen of precision rifles, and I've shot them all. One of them is an SPR .308. Great shooting rifle, very accurate and not one mag issue did he or I experience.. So I decided to buy one myself (20" fluted barrel, adjustable stock .308)