lloydkristmas
Member
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2007
- Messages
- 281
Back around the beginning of the year, I told myself that if I got into medical school, I would reward myself with some sort of cool toy. I have always been an AK guy, and have been spoiled by the extreme reliability of the AK platform. Rarely have I encountered, tested, or owned another semi-automatic long gun with as much reliability as the vaunted AK. However, I wanted something more. The AK is a reliable tool, but I just couldnt love it as anything more than a tool. I wanted something better.
The problem was, I wanted something that was going to be just as reliable as my AK.
Now I was fortunate enough to land a decent job straight out of college, but I sure aint made of money, so I ruled out platforms on the extreme end of the spectrum. No SCAR's, no ACR's, no Steyr A3, etc. I wanted to avoid the AR platform and its derivatives. Nothing wrong with the platform, it just wasnt my cup of tea. Robinson's XCR was a contender, as was the SIG 556 and Galil. Then I ran into a guy with an FN FS2000. It was a funky looking weapon, but it had a certain exotic appeal to it. Just wierd enough to look like a Star Wars prop, but still of-this-world enough to grab my interest as a serious weapon. I went home and started researching the FS.
Thats when I discovered the biggest flaw with the FS2000. It suffers from a lot of negative "internet hype". I read stories of jams, misfeeds, broken parts, even triple-fed rounds. Wierd, because the guy who I ran into who owned one said he loved his, said it was a flawless weapon. I must have read every piece of text on the internet related to the FS2000, and I still wasnt sure what I'd be getting myself into if I bought one. It seemed like the reviews were 50/50 all across the board.
I got my acceptance letter, and that same evening decided to pull the trigger on an OD Green FS2000. I paid $1550 after shipping. The gun had fired less than 50 rounds. I got the gun a few days later, and thats when the love affair begain....
Its a thick, squatty gun. Its as bulky as the pictures make it seem, but its far more ergonomic than I ever guessed it would be. It shoulders up nicely, points quickly, and balances almost perfectly, with the weight of the weapon centered nicely over your strong hand. You could hold this weapon at the ready with one hand comfortably if need be, its that balanced.
First thing I noticed, it really needs an optic. The backup iron sights are just that, backups. The rear sight is a simple flip up post with a small hole in it. Much like the SIG 556 sight. The sights sit low, and the hole in the rear sight is very small, so these sights are not useful for quick target acquisition. The sight radius is short, so the small peep sight helps to offset this, I'm sure. I installed an optic right away. Much better. I can still cowitness the irons if need be, using an aimpoint low-mount ring.
The charging handle is alot like an HK G3 handle, it pivots, then slides backward to be locked in the upright position. One of the issues I read about with this rifle is breakage of the charging handle. Apparently, if you "HK slap" the polymer handle, it may snap off. The manual reccomends against this practice, and users who do not slap the handle dont report any issues. I have racked the charging handle hundreds and hundreds of times with no issues, and I dont expect any either. I dont plan on slapping it around, though.
Magazines. It takes any GI style 30 round AR mag. No PMags, no Emags, no Lancers or other polymer mags. The FN mag that the weapon comes with is junk, the follower sticks and the mag is worthless. I ordered 10 C-Products mags and have had flawless performance with all of them. They are by and large considered to be the best quality metal AR mag available, and they come equipped with Magpul antitilt followers. I'd reccomend loading to 28 rounds, as they are easier to insert.
This brings me to the next point. The mag well has a rubber seal inside that keeps debris out of the action and makes it nearly dust/sand proof. The trade off is that mags do not drop freely. Bullpup mags usually do not drop free anyway, and being a civilian, not in combat, I see this as a non issue. You have to give the mag a firm push to be sure it is seated past the rubber seal. The mag may FEEL seated, but it might not be. This results in a double feed when you chamber the weapon. This is the root cause of many many reports of "jamming" with this gun. Simple user error.
And with that, I'll say that this gun is NOT an AR. The manual of arms is different, very different. Expect it to behave like an AR, and you will be disappointed, and the weapon will probably malfunction. There is no last round bolt hold open. The design of the gun doesnt allow it, and I dont believe it is necessary anyway. If you insert a mag but dont seat it all the way, the gun will jam. If you insert a mag on an open bolt and ride the bolt forward instead of pulling and letting it fly forward, the gun will jam. If you experience a jam and yank back and forth on the charging handle, you will compound your problem and add more jammed rounds into the mix. You MUST remove the mag, THEN rack the charging handle, then reinsert mag. I would guess that 90% of the malfunctions with this weapon are user induced.
The other 10%? Well, its a 5.56 NATO weapon, and youre supposed to feed it milspec 5.56 ammunition. The gun is VERY tolerant of other types of ammo, however. About the only ammo it doesnt like is steel cased black-box WOLF ammo. This stuff is too underpowered, and the rifle will short-stroke regularly. Even still, just flip the gas switch over to the ADVERSE setting, and it will digest WOLF in a hurry.
Accuracy. Using an Aimpoint, it grouped just as good as my buddies AR (with EOTECH) at 75 yards. The barrel is 16.25 inches long, with a 1/7 twist. There is no reason not to expect great accuracy from the weapon, and I have been impressed so far.
Heres the BIGGEST ISSUE I have run into so far........You MAY have light primer strikes with some types of ammo. The FS2000 underwent a number of factory modifications (for 'our safety') that, to make a long story short, ended up making the firing pin hit too softly on some hard military primers. It all depends on the generation of your rifle, but if you end up with light hits, this is why. There are two solutions: you can either remove the firing pin buffer spring (or a few coils from it) as long as you plan on using mostly hard-primered ammo. Or, you can send the gun in to FN and have them install a stronger hammer spring, which supposedly alleviates the issue.
I opted to simply remove the buffer spring myself. I did that very early on, and have since put thousands of rounds through the FS2000 without a SINGLE JAM. NONE. I have used Barnaul Steel Cased, Winchester, Federal, old MilSurp, Wolf, Monarch, Remington, and several other types of ammo and had ZERO issues after removing the buffer spring.
Heres the cliff notes for those of you who dont care to read everything. The FS2000 is an extremely compact and ergonomic weapon, with a 16.25 inch barrel in a bullpup platform thats still shorter than most SBRs. Use quality GI mags with antitilt followers. Dont treat it like an AR, the manual of arms is more like an AK. FN installed a buffer spring in the firing pin that causes light strikes in milspec ammo. As long as you dont plan on using soft-primered hunting rounds, remove this spring (a thirty second affair) and restore the weapon to its original configuration. It will fire all sorts of ammo reliably, even the steel cased stuff. I havent had a jam in thousands of rounds. The FS2000 is an incredibly reliable, compact, manuverable weapon. Its not cheap, but its a solid and unique platform that will keep paces with the finest rifles out there.
PRO:
-uses the ubiquitous AR15 magazine
-despite its looks, it IS ergonomic
-very well balanced
-accuracy is on par with the average AR
-forward eject means its completely lefty-friendly
-extremely compact and light
-its a big time attention getter at the range
-its very reliable
CONS:
-the trigger. Its mushy, Glock-like, but at least lighter than an AUG
-its thick, and the foregrip is quite fat. Ergonomic, but too fat to get an effective hold.
-needs the expensive ($160) tri-rail to be able to effectively mount a light/vertical grip
-The firing pin buffer spring needs to be removed before it will reliably ignite milsurp ammo
-chamber access is limited.
-most malfunctions can be cleared by stripping the mag and racking the bolt, but more severe ones require disassembly
-the charging handle cant take (IMO) battlefield levels of abuse
-parts, while available, are expensive and a pain to get
The verdict? The FS2000 is a great gun, but dont pay the MSRP, I dont think its worth that. It simply isnt durable enough for HARD military use (namely the charging handle) but it would make a great carbine for law enforcement or civilian personal defense, i.e. someone who wont subject it to battlefield-levels of abuse. Its compact, accurate, reliable, attractive, and ergonomic. It has its flaws however. Its simply up to the buyer to decide if its worth it or not.
The FS2000 in its current configuration, with the FN Tri-Rail installed. This allows for use of a vertical grip, which I think really benefits the controllability of the weapon. I can also slap a light on there for night time use.
The FS2000 at the range
The FS2000 with factory handguard, which is comfortable but can be slippery and doesnt seem to give as firm of a grip as a vertical grip does.
The problem was, I wanted something that was going to be just as reliable as my AK.
Now I was fortunate enough to land a decent job straight out of college, but I sure aint made of money, so I ruled out platforms on the extreme end of the spectrum. No SCAR's, no ACR's, no Steyr A3, etc. I wanted to avoid the AR platform and its derivatives. Nothing wrong with the platform, it just wasnt my cup of tea. Robinson's XCR was a contender, as was the SIG 556 and Galil. Then I ran into a guy with an FN FS2000. It was a funky looking weapon, but it had a certain exotic appeal to it. Just wierd enough to look like a Star Wars prop, but still of-this-world enough to grab my interest as a serious weapon. I went home and started researching the FS.
Thats when I discovered the biggest flaw with the FS2000. It suffers from a lot of negative "internet hype". I read stories of jams, misfeeds, broken parts, even triple-fed rounds. Wierd, because the guy who I ran into who owned one said he loved his, said it was a flawless weapon. I must have read every piece of text on the internet related to the FS2000, and I still wasnt sure what I'd be getting myself into if I bought one. It seemed like the reviews were 50/50 all across the board.
I got my acceptance letter, and that same evening decided to pull the trigger on an OD Green FS2000. I paid $1550 after shipping. The gun had fired less than 50 rounds. I got the gun a few days later, and thats when the love affair begain....
Its a thick, squatty gun. Its as bulky as the pictures make it seem, but its far more ergonomic than I ever guessed it would be. It shoulders up nicely, points quickly, and balances almost perfectly, with the weight of the weapon centered nicely over your strong hand. You could hold this weapon at the ready with one hand comfortably if need be, its that balanced.
First thing I noticed, it really needs an optic. The backup iron sights are just that, backups. The rear sight is a simple flip up post with a small hole in it. Much like the SIG 556 sight. The sights sit low, and the hole in the rear sight is very small, so these sights are not useful for quick target acquisition. The sight radius is short, so the small peep sight helps to offset this, I'm sure. I installed an optic right away. Much better. I can still cowitness the irons if need be, using an aimpoint low-mount ring.
The charging handle is alot like an HK G3 handle, it pivots, then slides backward to be locked in the upright position. One of the issues I read about with this rifle is breakage of the charging handle. Apparently, if you "HK slap" the polymer handle, it may snap off. The manual reccomends against this practice, and users who do not slap the handle dont report any issues. I have racked the charging handle hundreds and hundreds of times with no issues, and I dont expect any either. I dont plan on slapping it around, though.
Magazines. It takes any GI style 30 round AR mag. No PMags, no Emags, no Lancers or other polymer mags. The FN mag that the weapon comes with is junk, the follower sticks and the mag is worthless. I ordered 10 C-Products mags and have had flawless performance with all of them. They are by and large considered to be the best quality metal AR mag available, and they come equipped with Magpul antitilt followers. I'd reccomend loading to 28 rounds, as they are easier to insert.
This brings me to the next point. The mag well has a rubber seal inside that keeps debris out of the action and makes it nearly dust/sand proof. The trade off is that mags do not drop freely. Bullpup mags usually do not drop free anyway, and being a civilian, not in combat, I see this as a non issue. You have to give the mag a firm push to be sure it is seated past the rubber seal. The mag may FEEL seated, but it might not be. This results in a double feed when you chamber the weapon. This is the root cause of many many reports of "jamming" with this gun. Simple user error.
And with that, I'll say that this gun is NOT an AR. The manual of arms is different, very different. Expect it to behave like an AR, and you will be disappointed, and the weapon will probably malfunction. There is no last round bolt hold open. The design of the gun doesnt allow it, and I dont believe it is necessary anyway. If you insert a mag but dont seat it all the way, the gun will jam. If you insert a mag on an open bolt and ride the bolt forward instead of pulling and letting it fly forward, the gun will jam. If you experience a jam and yank back and forth on the charging handle, you will compound your problem and add more jammed rounds into the mix. You MUST remove the mag, THEN rack the charging handle, then reinsert mag. I would guess that 90% of the malfunctions with this weapon are user induced.
The other 10%? Well, its a 5.56 NATO weapon, and youre supposed to feed it milspec 5.56 ammunition. The gun is VERY tolerant of other types of ammo, however. About the only ammo it doesnt like is steel cased black-box WOLF ammo. This stuff is too underpowered, and the rifle will short-stroke regularly. Even still, just flip the gas switch over to the ADVERSE setting, and it will digest WOLF in a hurry.
Accuracy. Using an Aimpoint, it grouped just as good as my buddies AR (with EOTECH) at 75 yards. The barrel is 16.25 inches long, with a 1/7 twist. There is no reason not to expect great accuracy from the weapon, and I have been impressed so far.
Heres the BIGGEST ISSUE I have run into so far........You MAY have light primer strikes with some types of ammo. The FS2000 underwent a number of factory modifications (for 'our safety') that, to make a long story short, ended up making the firing pin hit too softly on some hard military primers. It all depends on the generation of your rifle, but if you end up with light hits, this is why. There are two solutions: you can either remove the firing pin buffer spring (or a few coils from it) as long as you plan on using mostly hard-primered ammo. Or, you can send the gun in to FN and have them install a stronger hammer spring, which supposedly alleviates the issue.
I opted to simply remove the buffer spring myself. I did that very early on, and have since put thousands of rounds through the FS2000 without a SINGLE JAM. NONE. I have used Barnaul Steel Cased, Winchester, Federal, old MilSurp, Wolf, Monarch, Remington, and several other types of ammo and had ZERO issues after removing the buffer spring.
Heres the cliff notes for those of you who dont care to read everything. The FS2000 is an extremely compact and ergonomic weapon, with a 16.25 inch barrel in a bullpup platform thats still shorter than most SBRs. Use quality GI mags with antitilt followers. Dont treat it like an AR, the manual of arms is more like an AK. FN installed a buffer spring in the firing pin that causes light strikes in milspec ammo. As long as you dont plan on using soft-primered hunting rounds, remove this spring (a thirty second affair) and restore the weapon to its original configuration. It will fire all sorts of ammo reliably, even the steel cased stuff. I havent had a jam in thousands of rounds. The FS2000 is an incredibly reliable, compact, manuverable weapon. Its not cheap, but its a solid and unique platform that will keep paces with the finest rifles out there.
PRO:
-uses the ubiquitous AR15 magazine
-despite its looks, it IS ergonomic
-very well balanced
-accuracy is on par with the average AR
-forward eject means its completely lefty-friendly
-extremely compact and light
-its a big time attention getter at the range
-its very reliable
CONS:
-the trigger. Its mushy, Glock-like, but at least lighter than an AUG
-its thick, and the foregrip is quite fat. Ergonomic, but too fat to get an effective hold.
-needs the expensive ($160) tri-rail to be able to effectively mount a light/vertical grip
-The firing pin buffer spring needs to be removed before it will reliably ignite milsurp ammo
-chamber access is limited.
-most malfunctions can be cleared by stripping the mag and racking the bolt, but more severe ones require disassembly
-the charging handle cant take (IMO) battlefield levels of abuse
-parts, while available, are expensive and a pain to get
The verdict? The FS2000 is a great gun, but dont pay the MSRP, I dont think its worth that. It simply isnt durable enough for HARD military use (namely the charging handle) but it would make a great carbine for law enforcement or civilian personal defense, i.e. someone who wont subject it to battlefield-levels of abuse. Its compact, accurate, reliable, attractive, and ergonomic. It has its flaws however. Its simply up to the buyer to decide if its worth it or not.
The FS2000 in its current configuration, with the FN Tri-Rail installed. This allows for use of a vertical grip, which I think really benefits the controllability of the weapon. I can also slap a light on there for night time use.
The FS2000 at the range
The FS2000 with factory handguard, which is comfortable but can be slippery and doesnt seem to give as firm of a grip as a vertical grip does.
Last edited:
pics arent there!
