We get cool stuff in all the time. Police trade-ins, customers selling us something they want to unload, lots of different opportunities. Recently we had the opportunity to grab a really cool sniper rifle. A French FR F2 rifle to be exact. The FR F2 is the 7.62x51mm version of France’s FR F1 sniper rifle which was then redesigned and re-barreled to accept the 7.62x51mm cartridge when France began using standard NATO ammunition.
The FR F2 Sniper Rifle was first pressed into service in 1986 to meet the French military’s demands for a precision rifle that could accurately strike targets at ranges up to 800 meters. Both versions were built to be a Squad Sniper Rifle rather than a Designated Marksman Rifle.
Mechanically, the FR F2’s action is identical to the French military’s primary rifle of WWII, the MAS-36. The bolt utilizes dual rear locking lugs, a sizable flat spring extractor, and a fixed ejector – this elegantly simple configuration makes disassembly/assembly quick and easy and makes sure you have reliability even in the worst conditions. To get the best accuracy, the FR F2 employs a free-floating barrel which is topped with a proprietary muzzle device that can be finely tuned to the user’s preference. The FR F2’s features a thermal shield that covers the barrel and part of the receiver. This was chosen to conceal the weapon from night vision and thermal devices that would detect the heat generated from firing multiple shots. The thermal shield is also used to alleviate the mirage caused by heat coming off the barrel. The FR F2 also includes a unique integrated bipod, which attaches to the rifle by a sleeve that sits over the barrel. This bipod structure allows the rifle to effectively “hang” from the bipod instead of “sitting” on the bipod and allows for some degree of swivel movement. Other features of the FR F2 include a wide, flat-bottomed surface on the handguard, allowing the rifle to be braced on a surface.
