FN 30-11

     Notes: This is the one of the standard Belgian sniping rifles. The FN-30-11 can be easily assembled, disassembled, concealed, and (most importantly) recalibrated and re-zeroed. It uses the same action as the Mauser 8mm rifle (it is, in fact, a heavily-reworked big game rifle). The FN 30-11 has a stock that is adjustable in two directions; this is done with spacers in the butt and a rear portion of the stock that can be removed and replaced to suit different snipers. It is normally issued within a wide variety of sights and tools.  The FN 30-11’s bipod is the same as the bipod of the MAG machinegun.  The barrel, while heavy, is quite short for a sniper’s weapon, and this inhibits range potential; for this reason, the FN 30-11s primary users are police forces and antiterrorist units.  The FN-30-11 is designed to use the same bipod as the MAG machinegun. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: As the storm clouds of war brewed, Belgian special operations units replaced most of their FN 30-11s with more capable rifles; by the time hostilities started, most Belgian military snipers were using other weapons.  Later, FN 30-11s found their way into civilian militia and partisan units in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and even Denmark and Germany.  Police forces retained theirs.

     Merc 2000 Notes: This became only one of several sniper rifles employed by the Belgian military.

FN Ballista

     Notes: The Ballista is a highly-accurate multi-caliber rifle, designed to satisfy the needs of many civilian shooters and snipers. The Ballista allows the shooter to move between 7.62mm, .300 Winchester Magnum, and .338 Lapua Magnum with only a change of bolts and barrels.  The US Military (especially SOCOM) is taking a hard look at the Ballista, and it has been popular with competition shooters for years.

     The FN Ballista began as the Unique Alpine TPG.  Unique sold the rights to FN, and it is currently manufactured in FN’s US facilities.  The receiver is aluminum, but the bolt is all steel, as is the barrel extension.  The bolt is beefy and locks onto the barrel extension firmly.  This type of bolt is a good way to set up headspace in a multicaliber rifle.  The connection is so well on tolerances that it is unlikely to fail. It has a T-shaped slot that helps guide the multicaliber barrels into sharp alignment.  The bolt handle has a 60-degree throw, with a lever that is light to lift and cycle. The bolt handle is swift and sits close to the receiver, so as not to interfere with the optics.  The bolt has guide lugs and three lockup lugs to further increase accuracy and cycling.  The extractor is a spring-loaded plunger.

     At the back of the receiver is one of the Ballista’s safety, a simple up-and down three-position switch. This locks the firing pin. The second safety is a grip safety.  The trigger is tuned and is 3-5 pounds, adjustable by the user; it has only a very slight takeup before actuating the trigger. The pull weight is due to the need for engagement of the grip safety.

     The Ballista stock is made from aluminum finished in Desert-colored Cerekote.  The stock is side-folding inside the bolt handle (though it cannot be fired with the stock folded).  The stock is adjustable for LOP, and the stock has an adjustable cheekpiece. The buttpad can also be adjusted for cant, 7 degrees to the left and 15 degrees to the left. Atop the receiver is a length of MIL-STD-1913 rail that runs from the receiver to the front of the handguard. A second rail is beneath the handguard, which also is where the bipod attaches. The barrel sits on an elastomer pad that effectively makes the barrel floating.  The barrel is of hammer-forged stainless steel, button-rifled, and 26 inches long, with a heavy profile and a twisted profile. It is tipped with a propriety muzzle brake.

FN Mk 20 Mod 0 SSR

     Notes: The SSR (Support Sniper Weapon) is a highly-accurized and modified version of the SCAR-H (designated Mk 17 Mod 0 by SOCOM), designed for use by the spotter of a sniper team.  Modifications include a heavy match-quality hand-fitted 20-inch barrel tipped with a flash suppressor, a non-folding precision stock with an elastomer-covered, adjustable, sloped cheek rest and adjustable length with a recoil pad, an extended Picatinny rail above the receiver, a strengthened barrel extension, and an enhanced, two-stage, modular trigger. In addition to the upper Picatinny Rail, there is one below the handguards and one on each side of the handguards. The Mk 20 Mod 0 comes with removable and folding iron sights which are completely adjustable. The bipod is adjustable for height, angle, and cant. Currently, all Mk 20 Mod 0’s are furnished by FN in Flat Dark Earth, though they may have received other finishes on duty.

     The Mk 20 Mod 0 replaced the Mk 11 Mod 0 in SOCOM starting in 2010 and with complete replacement by 2017. It has seen combat in most of the SOCOM areas of action, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Africa.

FN Special Police Rifles

     Notes: Based on the Winchester 70 action, the FN A1a SPR is a rifle designed for the needs of US law enforcement agencies.  It is one of a family of “Special Police Rifles,” that includes the A1a and the A4 (below).  It is designed for short-range sharpshooting, having only a 20-inch barrel, but the barrel is heavy and fluted for extra accuracy.  In 7.62mm, the rifle is loaded though a box magazine loaded though a hinged floorplate; the .300 WSM version is top-loaded one at a time. The stock is the same one used by the US Marines on their M-40A3 sniper rifle, but in matte black.  It has a rubber recoil pad and a MIL-STD-1913 scope base.  The front swing swivel can mount most types of bipods.  The A1A is a subset of the A1 rifle, which has a 24-inch cold-hammer forged floating barrel.  The trigger is adjustable for length of pull and pull weight.  The butt has a Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad.  The stock is black synthetic, and the external metalwork is bright stainless steel. Atop the receiver is a MIL-STD-1913 rail; there are no iron sights.  One of the forward sling swivels can be used as an attachment point for a bipod.

     Actually built by FN’s US branch, the A3G (A3 Government, sometimes called the “FBI Sniper Rifle”) is based on the Winchester Model 70 (the Winchester name is now owned by US Repeating Arms, which licensed the Model 70 design to FN for this venture).  It is, however, a heavily-modified Model 70, with a synthetic stock, fluted barrel (which is actually a modified M-240 machinegun barrel), rifling designed specifically for 168-grain bullets or lighter, an adjustable cheekpiece and stock length, and a MIL-STD-1913 rail for the mounting of optics.  Though the use of a modified machinegun barrel, with a chromed inner lining as the A3G’s is, is not normally conducive to precision shooting, the A3G is a very accurate as well as robust weapon, partially due to a free-floating barrel, and superb design.  It’s a heavy weapon, but very stable.

     The A4 is built on a classic pattern, the pre-1964 Winchester rifle pattern.  It has a deep grip-type stock and is made largely of fiberglass.  It is an extremely reliable but easy to cycle weapon that allows for quick follow-up shots, yet delivers good accuracy.  The A4 SPR may be had with a 20 or 24-inch barrel, fluted or unfluted, with civilian or mil-spec scope rings, and with a detachable or internal magazine.

     The A5M is the newest iteration of the SPR series; it is in many ways the ultimate of the SPR series. Metalwork is of steel construction; it has a short-magnum-length action, with controlled feed and blade and claw ejection for more positive loading and case ejection. Barrels for the 7.62mm NATO version is 20 inches, while the 24-inch barrel is used on the .300 WSM chambering. The barrels are cold-hammered forged, fluted heavy barrel, and floating; the bore is hard-chromed and the muzzle has a target crown. Atop the receiver is a MIL-STD-1913 rail.  The furniture is synthetic, made of fiberglass enclosed in a Kevlar shell, with textured grip surfaces. The pistol grip is deep, and the stock has an adjustable comb, with a rubber recoil pad on the butt.  The fore-end tapers toward the front to help position the shooter’s grip, and the bottom of the handguard is flat. The stock has four sling attachment points; the two forward sling attachment points can also be used to attack certain bipods.  Spacers are provided to adjust the LOP. The trigger is user-adjustable for pull weight and pull-length.

     The A5M XP is a version of the A5M that has extra weight added in strategic places to reduce felt recoil.  This reduction is added to the rubber recoil pad and an internal, integral recoil lug to further take up felt recoil. The stock is a McMillan fiberglass/Kevlar stock that is purpose designed for the A5M XP.  The stock is adjustable for LOP by use of spacers and an adjustable cheekpiece. The deep pistol grip wrist and the fore-end are textured to firm up grip. Much of the construction is the same as the A5M, but the mechanism has extra mounting screws at certain spaces to increase strength.  The barrel is available in 20 inches or 24 inches, and is floating, cold hammer forged, chrome-lined, and heavy fluted. One could mount a bipod or monopod at any of the four sling attachment points.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: These weapons do not exist in the Twilight 200 timeline; the earliest was introduced in mid-2005.