FN Action for Custom?

[15Tango]

Mudcat,

I've got a Creedmoor and I'd always imagined a full house 140 grain load would be too much for white tail. It appears I may have been correct in that assumption, haha.

I too was able to get 140 VLDs up to 3100 w/R17 - W/H4350 the max seems to be about 2975 with a 140. It's a pretty impressive little cartridge.

Wayne

 

[Mudcat]

Wayne,

Naw, not too much cartridge at all. Didnt lose a bit of meat out of this one...netted out with 42 pounds of burger and jerky blocks. But, I do make sure I avoid the meaty parts when I shoot them though. Which is why I love the Berger VLDs. Hit lungs and 99% of the time you have a DRT kill, no tracking whatsoever. I like that, for several reasons.

Though, i find my 243 with even the new 87vld to be just as effective. But I built this rifle specifically for hunting one of my fields where most of my shots are going to be 300+ yards, so I like the heavier bullets for that purpose. Oh, and when I shot this deer, she was far enough away that I heard the report of the bullet hitting, first time I can recall noticing that.

 

[skeetlee]

One of my good friends has some of these actions to sell if anyone is needing one. These actions offer a great deal for the proper usage. I wouldnt build a shortrange 6ppc benchrest rifle with one of these but i would build a varmint or tactical rig any day with one of these actions. I know a guy that has one of these actions and all he did was put a custom barrel on it and it shoots very very small groups! I think he did a 22-250AI varmint rig. I was impressed to say the least how that rifle would shoot. I dont mean a wallet group either. that rifle would repeatedly shoot in the .3's!! Go for it, or give me a call and i will set you up with a fella that has these actions and he can also install the barrel for you if you so choose! Lee

 

[Marksman]

I had a 6.5x47 Lapua hunting rig built on one and love it. For whatever reason I can't single feed them and get the extractor to slide over the rim, but seeing as it's a hunting rig I'm more interested in positive feeding. I'd do it again in a heart beat.

 

[shortgrass]

Found then today on CDNNs' 'dealer only' web site,,, "Out of Stock".

 

[linedrive301ft]

Just finished a 6CM on one of these actions. Krieger 28 in. in
a Macmillan/w drop box AICS mag set up.

Fireforming brass at this time.

Regards

Mark

 

[Laurie]

As said by several correspndents, the FN SPR action is basically a Winchester M70, but it's an M70 plus in that it uses the stiffer WSM receiver casting allied to a 'pre-64' type bolt with external extractor claw. It is very smooth operating and the magazine feeds very well too. It operates both in controlled-feed and single cartridge drop-in mode, the latter working very well as the magazine has guide lips that you simply drop the cartridge onto through the ejection port. As noted, any and all after-market Winchester 70 triggers can be fitted - mine has a Jewell. It is an inherently sound design with a large flat bedding area and integral recoil lug - many commentators consider it the equal of the Remington 700 design as the basis of a target rifle action, if not its superior. The FN SPR rifle comes with a top quality 20-MOA slope Badger Ordnance Picatinny scope rail and the advert shown in the original post suggests that comes as part of the deal which makes it an even better buy.

It is a repeating action though when all is said and done with large holes top and bottom. I would consider the single-port Savage PT or LRPV action far stiffer than this design, if nothing else because they have the minimum number and size of openings in the receiver tube. The detachable mag has only four-rounds capacity which limits its use for tactical type competitions that require more than five shots. It is also very COAL-limited - I don't think it accepts even 2.85" length cartridges, although I'd have to go and check on the rifle to be sure. So far as truing-up factory actions go, FN claimed to have done that on the actions it used on the production .308W SPR models as well as building the rifles with SAAMI minimum headspace - the latter certainly true in my example. Whether the truing applies to actions sold separately is another question, of course.

One negative element to consider is that it has a great big fat firing pin that is a relatively loose fit in the bolt-face - in a tactical rifle developed for law-enforcement agencies that need 100% reliable operation in abusive environments, in particular looking to win sales to the FBI in its tendering exercise for sniper rifles around five years ago, this is presumably a good thing. It is not if you want to use the action with high-pressure cartridges that employ the small rifle primer, to wit BR and ....X47L and similar. Having rebarrelled mine to 6.5X47L, I find it pierces CCI-BR4 or 450 primers at loads barely over starting load levels. We don't have any equivalent to Gre-Tan Engineering offering relatively cheap rectification here in the UK, so the rifle is going to be rechambered to .260 Rem to get around this issue.

IHMO it would be a very good buy for an accurate hunting or varminting rig like Mudcat's, but lacks the aftermarket goodies that you can get for a Remy 700 for building a tactical rifle around. I wouldn't use it as the basis of a target rifle because of the big cut-outs in the receiver body. Knowing what I know now, I'd choose 6.5mm Hornady Creedmoor from the off - this cartridge is ideal for the action if you want to load the longer 139-142gn bullets. (My .260R conversion work will see the barrel throated for 120-123gn match bullets.)

Laurie,
York, England