FN FN15 5.56 NATO Tactical 16 CAR 30R Flat Dark Earth - FDE/Tan, 16" Barrel, Synthetic, Collapsible Stock

First of all, I admit to not being a professional in the defense or LE industry. My experience with firearms is from a 7-year stint in the USMC, with an aviation MOS. So, I didn't use or carry in my daily activities while a Marine. Today, 40 years later, I will admit to having purchased and owned many, many firearms. I've owned at least a half dozen AR type rifles. All have been 5.56. None have been used in extensive training regimen. Each has been evaluated in the same manner as the FN is now being evaluated. Field accuracy, reliability, utility and a fairly subjective concept of "feel". So far with the FN I've not been able to determine field accuracy or reliability. I'll hopefully report more on those after I've had the gun to the range, and experienced other firing situations. For the time being, though - I will give the weapon a positive evaluation in regards to "feel", and perceived utility. This gun has a SOLID feel. It's somehow more solid than the previous FN, or the two Colt's, one Sig, or one Bushmaster that I've owned in the past. This is a small thing, but it made me positively consider FN in a new light - this AR came out of the box with lubed bolt and operating pins. Not so with any of the other guns. They seemingly were test fired dry, and put into the shipping box and sent off to the wholesaler.

I rarely write reviews, but this is an interesting rifle so here goes...This rifle is quite accurate. I was able to get a 4 inch 5 shot group at 300 yards with 62 grain mil spec ammo using a 8x optic. It is a little heavy for a mil spec type 16” AR—it weighs 7.5 lbs vs typical 6-6.5. I suspect this is mostly the barrel, which is high quality. The color is more bronze than FDE shown in the photo. The trigger is mil spec. It was the first thing I changed. The rail is awesome, and is made by Midwest industries. Lastly, I did have one really odd failure within the first 100 rounds. The magazine did not want to come out with the action locked back and tension OFF the magazine. This happened once and I have no idea why. Two people with WAY more experience than me saw this happen and were equally puzzled. It could have been a bad magazine, really not sure. I would recommend this rifle if you do not mind the extra weight and are looking more for a recce type deal than a run and gun imho.