Well the FNC has been here for a few months but aside from the blasting trip to test function I have not had a chance to shoot it properly. Until now.
Well the Belgian guys who put this thing together did a great job. Er Kinda....
Function,
This thing runs great. I did my typical run with 2 mags loaded with various ammo. It was a mix of commercial, mil surp, and a few reloads. On auto and semi it worked without a hitch. It ran everything just fine. It was fun to listen to the rate of fire change on the auto mag dump. I even tried a full mag of WOLF lacquer coated ammo. It ran fine but the gas regulator needed to be bumped to the "adverse" setting. So in all it runs great.
Accuracy,
Well as I sat in the blowing cold winds the sights were typical FN. Seems to be a direct copy of those found on an FN FAL. They work well enough giving me a solid 2 inch group at 100 yards. Now that would be shit in my book usually but there is a kicker here. The trigger is HORRID!!!!!!!!!!!! It is a 2 stage that has a great action and is smooth, however it is damn heavy. I called up a buddy of mine who has quite a bit of time working on these and he told me that it is a quick easy fix that can be cured with a little work. However I am kinda hesitant to go bending springs on my rifle with out extras on hand. Looks like vulcan imports will be getting some of my money considering they are the only people who have parts for the FNC.
Ergonomics,
Pretty good overall except for the manipulation of the safety selector. The Angle of the FN pistol grip which is right off of an FAL makes reaching the selector with the thumb of the right hand hard. This can be cured with a purchase of a TAPCO SAW grip. Plus I think it looks cooler. In addition I feel the fixed stock is a bit long for my needs. I guess i can find a junked out FAL stock and cut it down and make it work.
The Future for this thing,
Aside for the afore mentioned improvements that I listed I am going to ad an optic. It seems that the FNC has only one super reliable mount available in the US. A B&T made by the swiss and marketed in the US by DS Arms. I would like to throw an extra ELCAN I have sitting around on it but who knows if it will clear the rear sight or perhaps it will be too high for a good cheek weld.
Overall I like this thing quite a bit.
