Have new FN SPR, and ?'s...

[vanfunk]

Hello fellow High Road Warriors,

I just got home from the gunstore with a "like new" FN Special Police Rifle (A1 style) in .308 . The previous owner had planted a Springfield Armory 10x illuminated scope on it and fixed a Harris Bipod to the front swivel stud. There is ever so slight bluing wear on the bolt locking lugs, slight scuffs on the bolt face, and no appreciable barrel wear. The rifle came with a test target showing a less-than half-inch group . I got the whole thing for $1300, minus the box . Does this sound like a good deal?

Now, the questions -
How do I tell if I have a McMillan or HS-Precision stock? I *think* this is one of the old ones with the HS stock, but I can't be sure.

What is the twist rate of the rifling? I have a veritable boat load of Black Hills 168 gr. stuff and am wondering how it'll handle it.

How's the Springfield scope stand up against the Leupold mil-dot scopes, in terms of brightness, clarity, etc.?

How 'bout trigger adjustments? The trigger breaks clean with no take up and little overtravel, but is heavy (I'd guess 5-6 lbs). Can I get it down to 3 lbs without "real" gunsmithing?

Anything else I need to know about this beautiful thing?

Thanks!
vanfunk

 

[hksw]

The current A1 SPR: (IIRC, as you mentioned, the very early ones had HS.)

FN A1 SPR
These are what we call standard rifles, but they have many features other gunmakers call extra and charge extra for. Features a Pre-'64 Winchester®-type action with claw extractor and controlled round feed and a three-position safety. The FN SPR A1 has a heavy, chrome lined 24" bull barrel, a McMillan A3 tactical fiberglass stock and your choice of a detachable box magazine or hinged floorplate (300 WSM only available with floorplate).

Trying to save up for the A2 SPR myself (McMillan A4).

IMO, $1300 sounds like a good deal, particularly scoped and podded. Only concern is how many actually rounds went down the tube and if they were hot reloads. Otherwise sounds pretty good.

From what I've read concerning Springfield optics here and on other boards, should be close to Leupold looking through it. Durability, though, has been brought up a few times.

I've had no problem adjusting my Win Mod 70s down to ~2.5 lb and dialing out (almost all of) the overtravel. [As measured by a Lyman trigger pull gage.]

As mentioned on other posts, the only shortcoming to adjusting the Win/FN trigger is sear engagement. Can't adjust it without some stoning/filing. Otherwise, the trigger is very easy to work on yourself.

As heavy as the SPRs are (if they are similar in weight to my old Mod 70 Custom Sharpshooter), they (.308 Win) should feel like shooting .223 Rem off a bench.

 

[Al Thompson]

Talked with one of the factory reps the other day and they use the 168 grain loads for testing. You should be fine.

 

[vanfunk]

Thanks hksw,
Looks like I have the early model with the H-S precision stock.

Upon close inpection, it seems that this rifle was fired little, if at all by the previous owner. These barrels are apparently rated for 40000 rounds, so it's not surprising that I can't make out any signs of wear in the barrel. The boltface, however, should show signs of firing fairly readily, and there were only a few brass streaks evident on my rifle. They wiped right off with a little Break-Free. The only lamentable issue is a few light scuff marks on the barrel, no doubt due to careless handling.

Anyone have any tips for touching up bead-blast blue?

As to the scope, owner #1 apparently tried to GLUE the Butler Creek lens covers to the scope, which fortunately didn't work. However, the adhesive is all over the objective of the scope. Can I use acetone to clean off this glue (if that's in fact what it is) without taking the finish off the scope?

Otherwise, I'm pretty psyched

Thanks,
vanfunk

 

[hksw]

"...apparently tried to GLUE the Butler Creek lens covers to the scope,..."

Holy cow! If he got the proper BC lens cover size he shouldn't have had to do anything to it. If it is the wrong size (slightly bigger), build up the objective bell with some masking tape to get a tight fit with the cover.

Could try the acetone carefully. Not sure what Spring uses to seal in their glass but that is the only concern I would have, possibly getting some acetone on the gaskets and seals. Well, that and any (ink) printed labels and emblems on the scope as acetone is a pretty strong solvent for these.

 

[waynzwld]

Some people! If he got glue on the lens, you have some problems. All good quality scopes have coatings on the lenses to enhance light transmission and to reduce reflections. Isopropal alcohol will not harm the magnesium fluoride coatings, I am not sure about acetone??? That is a very strong solvent that will harm seals and paint. I'd try the alcohol first, get some from a pharmacy, I think its 90%, not the watered down 70% stuff they sell on the shelves. Use a Q-tip to soak it but don't over-do it. Keep it damp with alcohol and see if it softens it. If it does, very carefully try to wipe it off with a Q-tip and wipe it in a radial direction (from outer edge to the center)not in a circular motion (around the circumference). Good luck!

 

[vanfunk]

Thanks for the tips on the glue, guys. I've tried alcohol, and it just hasn't been strong enough to get the adhesive off. Fortunately I've had some success with flaking it off with my fingernail. There's none on the lens. Another problem with the scope that I just noticed is that the internal level is "off"slightly. In other words, when the bubble is centered in its brackets, the scope is canted ever so slightly from the horizontal. I emailed Springfield about this problem this morning; we'll see what they recommend. BTW, the rifle came with Leopold bases and rings .

vanfunk