Overview
FN's motto for the past several years is "The World's Most Battle-Proven Firearms," and it has the lineage to prove it. Founded back in 1889 to make Mauser pattern rifles for the Belgian government, FN promptly out-Mausered Mauser and remained in that bolt-gun business with its in-house upgraded Model 24 and Model 30 as late as the 1960s. By that time, FN had the FAL in production and later superseded it with the FNC and today's SCAR – all of which have seen combat around the world. Much like the way it took over where Mauser left off in the 1920s, FN jumped into the M16 biz in the early 1980s and out-Colted Colt, winning a $112 million contract to produce 266,961 M16s for the U.S. Army in 1988.
Now, with over 40 years in the AR game, FN has the game figured out and tends to market a lot of more top-shelf options such as the FN15 DMR3, which costs almost SCAR kinda money. That's where the FN-15 Guardian comes in, as a more mid-shelf offering with an MSRP of $999 and a cost at retailers usually a bit lower than that.
For full disclosure, FN supplied Guns.com with this rifle for T&E purposes, and we'll be sending it back once the testing is complete. All testing was done on this one gun.
The Specs
- Barrel: 16 inches, 1:7 RH twist, nitride-coated 4150 CMV
- Overall length: 32.1 to 35.5 inches due to six-position stock
- Weight (unloaded, sans optics): 6.6 pounds
- BCG: 9310 Steel bolt, M16-style bolt carrier group, MPI/HP tested.
- Handguard: 15-inch aluminum, free-floating, continuous top rail, 24 M-LOK slots
- Gas system: Direct impingement mid-length gas system, low-profile gas block
- Mag capacity: 30-round standard
Features
At first glance, the Guardian seems fairly standard for 2020s ARs, with a 16-inch 1:7 twist barrel and a mid-length gas system hidden under an aluminum handguard that is swathed in M-LOK. Keeping it simple, it has a bunch of mil-spec components such as the trigger, charging handle, and safety selector lever, as well as a simple A2-style flash hider on an industry-standard 1/2x28 TPI threaded muzzle.
One big feature that is missing compared to the rest of the FN-15s on the market is a forward assist.
But do you really need one?
When it comes to the forward assist, Stoner and Sullivan saw no need for it, and the original Armalite AR15s didn't have the feature, nor did the carbines ordered by the Air Force in the early 1960s. It was only added by the Army, as notes Ian McCollum, "as a confidence-building feature for the infantryman and because it might in some situations solve a malfunction." Further, Colt sold its commercial and LE R6000 series rifles and carbines ("SP-1" AR-15s) without a forward assist from 1963 through 1982, so don't die on the hill of the "jam enhancer" as a standard feature of the breed.
The fit and finish of the Guardian was excellent with no slop or play between the receivers. We found the castle nut to be staked in two different locations, which points to good attention to detail and QC in the build process. We've seen ARs from other – major – black rifle makers leave the factory without a single stake, which is no bueno.
Trigger
Reliability
Taking the Guardian right out of the box, we ran 500 rounds through the gun with no less than 14 different loads mixed together in the first magazine. Following a simple 10-minute field-strip-level cleaning and application of some Ballistol, we ran it for another 500, cleaned it again at the 1,000 and 1,500 round marks, and pushed it to 2,000. The ammo used in the end included some 20 different brass and steel-cased loads I had around, including German, Malaysian, and South Korean military surplus, Federal XM855 Green Tip, American Eagle AE223, Winchester NATO-marked overruns, Winchester black box BTHP 77-grain Match, bulk pack Wolf M193 NATO, and Tula 223 Rem 55gr FMJ steel case.
One failure was observed on a Wolf 55-grain round whose primer cap was well dimpled but didn't ignite, which can be chalked up to being ammo-related. A second, at around the 350-round mark, was a double-feed suffered with German milsurp MEN-made 55-grain M193 loaded in a PMAG that was easily cleared with a Type 3 clearance drill after stripping the mag. Likewise, we had several failures to feed from an old Colt 20-round mag that was probably too weak to work reliably. Ruling out the bad Colt mag, we just had two stoppages across 2,000 rounds – one of which was likely due to sub-par ammo – a record that isn't bad.
Speaking of mags, besides the single FN-branded THRiL polymer-matrix PMX 30-rounder, we tried at least a dozen other mags for function in the Guardian.
Accuracy
FN is known for its top-notch in-house barrel works, and the Guardian is a good reflection of that. It ships with a 16-inch nitride-coated barrel made of 4150 chrome-moly-vanadium (CMV) steel. FN told us it is MIL-B-11595 high-pressure tested and subjected to magnetic particle inspection after proof firing. As the Guardian ships without sights but with a full-length top rail, we went with two different optics during the tests: an Aimpoint Patrol Rifle Optic red dot reflex sight on a QRP2 mount and Swampfox's new Warhorse 1-6x FFP LPVO.
Pros & Cons
PROS
- Entry-level priced AR without an entry-level feel
- Light and functional
- Great build quality
- Reliable
- Accurate
- Runs suppressed
CONS
- Some may want a forward assist
- Stock is minimalist in terms of features (e.g., No QD sling points)
Conclusion
When all is said and done, the Guardian would be a solid sub-$1K entry into the AR market from just about any company. The fact that it comes from FN and carries the company's guarantee and support is a bonus. Another thing it carries from FN is the lineage of all those millions of battle-proven rifles stretching back to 1889. Is it good enough to stand up to that tough standard? Yes.
It ate everything we gave it, worked with everything we threw at it, hit what we wanted, ran suppressed, and didn't leave us crying on the range in search of a steel cleaning rod or a safe place to mortar the bolt.
When it comes to rocks, about the worse we can throw is that it doesn't have a forward assist, QD cups, or more standard M4-style furniture. If those features are a make or break, there is always the FN-15 SRP G2 which typically runs a few hundo more but can sometimes be found for a comparable price to the Guardian.
