FN FNC: The Belgian 5.56mm NATO Carbine 

Ian bringing the HEAT with this one.

Sweden's addition of green paint and the mitten friendly trigger guard is such a good look

Hi Ian: a Canadian modification that FN adopted for all production was teflon coated tubes for the folding stock. This was due to one of my soldiers (I was an officer on the Canadian winter trials) lost part of his nose when it froze to the metal tube while firing prone at -40°C. When he pulled the rifle away from his face, part of his nose remained stuck to the stock! FN immediately supplied teflon coated folding stocks and he had a top plastic surgeon repair his nose.

Would be cool if Ian could get his hands on a AK5 to a comparison.

Fal - FN Mag - FN Minimi - FN M2 HMG - Browning/FN Current issue M4s - FN H&K goes to bed and checks under it for FN every night.

Captive pins = a good way to improve how soldier-proof your weapon is.

We want to hurt no one! We're here for the bank's money, not your money. Your money is insured by the federal government, you're not gonna lose a dime! Think of your families, don't risk your life.

The dust cover is a good design. It 's also used in the FN minimi (m249), galil ace and the AKV-521.

Indonesian here. So I've heard from former service man that early production SS-1 (our domestic version of the FNC) is rather sucks because the firing pin often broke. They prefer the original Belgian made FNC or the M16. Anyway Pindad would create more variants of the FNC/SS-1 like SS-1 M series for Indonesian Marine Corps, SS-1 R5 a 10.5 inch carbine for CQB, SBC-1 a semi automatic version of SS-1 R5 for Indonesian Customs Agency and probably the weirdest or I should say unique one is Pindad Sabhara series for police use. The Sabhara rifles were chambered in 7.62x45mm. Basically a 5.56 cartridge necked up to 7.62.

You: "Semi-auto". Me, an intellectual: "One round burst".

Funnily enough, the one time i've experienced this rifle firsthand is when some armory guys from the local garrison came to my high school to teach us how to field strip it and a 1911. Good times. Edit for clarification; I'm Indonesian, and the school culture, especially highschool, is very militaristic compared to the us. Some are even run by current and former army officers. I imagine they came to teach a few skills in case we decided to enlist.

It’s a shame we don’t have FNC parts kits in the US, I bet an FNC lower would be easy to make, and then we could have some more FNCs on the market.

The Indonesians pretty much also made a significant upgrade to the FNC in the 2000s, replacing the original SS1 rifle that was the original FNC, very much in the same spirit of the current Ak5s in Swedish service. The SS2 is a lot more M16-like than the original as well as having an angled gas block that is very much AK47/AKM like. They also added an M16-style bolt hold open system. Other upgrades include a rail system for mounting optics and accessories. Speaking of being M16-like, the SS2 V5 A1 carbine has a very M4-like sillhouette.

This gave me flashbacks. The Swedish version, the AK5, was my service rifle during my National Service in the Army. Just seeing Ian dissmantle the FNC made me remember all the drills we had in dissmantling and cleaning it. I also remember a bloke from my neighbouring platoon who lost his charging handle during the timed blindfolded test and was pretty much usless during the rest of the exercise because of it. And yes, he did get a good yelling from the Lts because of it. What I do remember most though is that is was quite heavy to run around with in the begining and that it constantly got caught in the cammo webbings for our tents. The last cleaning I did of it I blew out cobwebs from the barrel due to not having fired it for 2 months, having a red cross on your arm tends to do those things.

Gun jesus if only we had more teachers like you teach us

I will now start calling semi auto “one round burst”

Beautiful… the FNC is nice too.

I have heard from several sources that there are actually more registered FNC sears to convert them to full auto than there were host guns imported into the US. If true, that's pretty funny.

This is the model for paratroopers with foldable stock, standard model had a fixed stock. It was my personal wapon during my time in the Belgian army. Later moved to the minimi. It was a smooth shooting rifle even in full auto. Never failed.

I am so proud that my tiny little country has so much iconic and high quality guns. Exept for that time some Drunk liege people tried to convert old m88 Steyr mannlichers to fire the 8x57mm IS round. What were they thinking?? The m88/24 is like putting av gas in a model T ford!

And as Ian starts talking about going to the range and full auto, I frantically search the screen for the like button, only to find it already activated. Tomorrow, I tell myself, tomorrow...

The guys that make FALs here in the states need to make a run of these.

“The world calls for wetwork and we answer, no greater good, no just cause”-Kazuhira Miller

I would like to see that gas cutoff on more guns for suppressed use. "One-shot burst" 😆 I did not realize that this is what Sweden's AK5 was.

I'm not going to lie, HEAT and Garand Thumb made me love this gun and i put it as one of my dream guns now.

The gas cylinder is removed by pushing it back (spring resistance), if you want to compelete the disassembly. Nice to see the original! I'm only used to the swedish version.

"Imported as a semi-auto and then registered and converted to a machine gun" how far we've fallen, and how much we've lost

Ah, Funco-Chan, we meet again.

Not just this video, but Ian aways manages to carry whatever he's talking about without major editing or autoque, which is refreshing, but also very difficult to do. Appreciated.

Pindad : "This is SS2-V5 !" Indonesians : "Pindad, this is the 7th years in a row you've shown locally made FNC in class"

I shooted with a FNC from 1985 at the Belgian army. Not bad, but sometimes i was wounded by the sharp edges of the dust cover, near the ejection window, when i pushed back the bolt carrier... 6:34

I have only fired the swedish AK5C variant of this, nice trigger but akward grip angle and quite a heavy rifle

I did my basic military training in the Belgian Army with a FNC M1 (the initial model with the fixed rubberized stock). Regarding the cleaning, the main issue was the deep cleaning of the gas port block. For economic reasons, some of our FNC didn't featured the V-notch sight/alidade and had instead a mere flat bar, anyway, the rifle grenades were already phased out. The retaining pin of the gas cutoff valve wasn't so sturdy and you might lose it without realising it ! Then you will waste precious time wondering why your rifle isn't cycling properly... When not in use, we had to pull the "moving parts" (the bolt) to the back, then pull the bolt handle out to lock the bolt open. Some of my comrades had a bad habit to smash the stock on the ground in order to bring back the bolt in closed position. If anything should happens to your rifle, the FNC M1 replacement cost was 788€ according to the armory gunsmiths.

Waiting for Ian to become a character in "Upotte!" now

Watching Ian field strip it was such a flashback from my military service (in Sweden). I could do this in the dark in seconds (but we also consider removing the gas tube part of it. It is spring loaded and really simple to take out). I did service in 2001-2002 but my issued gun was from 1989, so one of the early Swedish production runs. It was still fantastic, not a single malfunction and dead accurate.

I don't see enough about Funco-chan and Upotte in comments

Nice video! The AK5-A was my service rifle in the Swedish Army. :) Never ever jammed even though being used two artic winters with -20 to -40 Celcius and tousands of rounds fired. So it did it`s job well.

I got excited when I saw the Morphy logo because I know tomorrow we'll get to see a shooting video. I remember back in the potato cam days Ian did a video on the FNC

to this date it still is the best rifle (and only automatic) i've ever fired. little known fact: you can easily knock yourself unconscious by opening the receiver with the bolt locked back.

Very interesting and iconic rifle often overlooked in popular culture, with the obvious exception of Heat

Can't wait to see that 3 round burst.

Ah, I remember seeing this name whenever I used to search "Top ten rifles" back in 2012

Anyone who knows *Upotte!!* will be delight of this. Watch out, Ian will strip any parts of the rifle.

Fun trivia about the AK5. I was in one of the first missions to use the AK5C in active service in Kosovo. At that time the "new" picatinny rail was mounted so that you could not change the gas setting. I believe that is why we had quite a lot of jamming during our exercises. As we were stuck with the gas setting that was chosen. After my tour and next time I used it, we didn't have those problems, so I think our reports about the problem helped. Not sure if the rail is still obstructing the gas setting. And the first revision of plastic mags were terrible... The lips broke all the time. EDIT: After some image googling, it's still obstructing.

Great deal of thought went into the engineering of that rifle ,the one piece bolt, carrier , spring , firing pin, and gas tube is impressive

The swedish AK5C implemented a bold holdopen, realy nice gun.

Ian: Made a video about the FN FNC GFL Shikikans: *Happi Chocolate noises*

Fnc sig 550 aug and the m16 are the glory days of gun designe!

Oh man, the nostalgia. This was my service rifle when I was in the Swedish navy 15 years ago. I used to be able to disassemble and reassemble it blindfolded. We didn't have the rifle grenade flip up sight/gas blocker thing though, and the folding stock was slightly different. Also, the charging handle was round and the whole thing was green.

I never minded the weight that many talked about back then, because it was so sturdy and reasonably balanced. (AK5 variant with the same old metal stock and no extra junk up front. ) Oh, and having some pine needles in the lower reciever was never a problem. 😉

I knew a guy who've fired both the original FNC and Pindad-made Indonesian variant. He said compared to the original, the Indonesian variant kicks back slightly harder and ejects the cases a bit more aggressively. I assume that Pindad overgassed their FNC variants to increase it's reliability in Indonesia's often humid and muddy terrains, and hence its harder recoil and ejection pattern.

Fella Commanders will recognize the T-Doll counterpart as an 3* AR we begin with, and also an sweet snacks lover, particularly chocolate.

Okay after years of watching Ian I have to say it, My favorite line of dialogue from him in every video is "it's worth pointing out".

I remember reading a manga where the main character was the personification of this carbine. Her nee-san was the fn fal. She went to school with m-16 chan and that garbage British bulpup.

Funco, or Fucco as M16A4 would call her

Ian: One round burst Alphabet boys: Writr that down, write that down!

Ah, gun jesus telling Funko-chan's story

I owned one of these back in the 1980s, the commercial semiauto variety. It came with two original magazines (which incidentally were steel, not aluminum), the clamp-on optic mount, and of all things a dummy/practice rifle grenade with an inert warhead. I owned it for only a couple years. What I liked about it the most is what every owner of an FN rifle loves about them the most, that rock-solid folding stock that was so rigid when open it was like it was welded in place. With the stock folded the rifle was surprisingly compact, at least in length. As far a reliability, so long as you had the gas system set to give maximum impetus to the bolt carrier, the thing would chamber and fire just about anything you put in it from old 60s surplus US ammo to crappy handloads to somewhat bent and battered cartridges. If using clean, quality ammo the thing was best left on the softer setting as it was easier on the gun and created less recoil. I did manage to discover on my own that yes, the dished-out section on the top of the grenade sight was designed to use the tip of the grenade as a front sight. It's interesting that the civilian commercial version of the rifle retained that feature. As it goes there was very little change between the military and commercial version, only the fire control group so far as I know. No, I never put a blank in the rifle and fired the dummy grenade. Once I looked into how rare they were and how much they were worth, I was more inclined to keep the grenade in a velvet-lined box under lock and key. Would have been fun though. I will say that this was without doubt by far the toughest, most rugged 5.56 military-type rifle I ever owned. If I needed a rifle for the apocalypse I'd take the FNC in a heartbeat over any AR-pattern rifle. The gas system makes it extremely reliable. But it shares a shortcoming with the AK type rifles from which the gas system is largely copied: it ain't terribly accurate compared to any decent AR pattern rifle. For the FNC that would be consistent 2.5 to 3 MOA groups at any range. By contrast, the old, battered M-16 A1 I trained with at Ft. Knox would easily shoot sub-2 MOA groups all day long. At least in my hands. At the time I was transitioning from college student to someone starting a law enforcement career and only had the resources to own a single rifle of this type. Ultimately, what finally turned my opinion against the rifle was more than anything, its weight. You never truly know how heavy a rifle is until you put a sling on it and cart it around the woods for a few hours. Surprisingly, with the folding stock this thing outweighs the FAL by a couple of pounds, and is several pounds heavier than any AR pattern rifle I ever handled. It's chunky, it's clunky, and while I found the controls and mag release to be a lot better for someone like myself with relatively small hands than any of the H&K rifles I ever owned, it still was far inferior to AR pattern guns. Simply stated, as far as I'm concerned, when it comes to ergonomics the AR is the best combat rifle ever made. It's telling that when I finally sold the FNC, my next purchase was a little Korean Daewoo 5.56 carbine with a 16-inch barrel and a wire collapsible stock. While the stock on the Daewoo was not as suitable for bashing skulls as the massive folder on the FNC, that little Daewoo handled like a pistol compared to the FNC and would shoot rings around it anytime. With the right sling it was concealable under a long coat and I carried it that way on a few stakeouts. It was a delight, particularly as an "oh shit" rifle I was allowed to carry in the trunk of the Sheriff's vehicle I drove on duty. While it wasn't "as much rifle" as the FNC, not by a long shot, it was far handier and more accurate and that made it better for my uses. Eventually I bowed to the inevitable and started buying AR-pattern rifles and have owned nothing else, at least in 5.56, ever since. OF COURSE I wish I'd kept the FNC as the rifle, particularly in near-mint condition and with the original optic mount, magazines, and inert grenade, would be worth a fortune nowadays. Alas I let it go for about the same amount as I'd paid for it, less than $500 at the time (which was still a lot of money). But then don't we all have those ones we sold off in a hurry, only to kick ourselves about it years later? To be fair, I wish I still had the Daewoo carbine too. Many thanks Ian for helping this old geezer to take a trip down memory lane.

The Indian INSAS borrows atleast some mechanical and design elements from the FNC, albeit, crammed into what is mostly an AKM. The gas regulator works in the same manner but they moved the latch to the front to make space for the rather complex cocking slide housing.

The FNC is my favourite rifle of all time. Thanks for your review!

Me: Oh, the gun from Heat. Also me: Dat thong girl. Also also me: PTSD Chocolate Addict.

This firearm is the subject of a very HEATed debate on the internet.

I enjoy Ian's insights (like the captive firing pin) that have come from disassembling thousands of unfamiliar firearms, and probably having a few tiny parts fly across the room or roll off the table.

I did my basic training with the C7 and my experience with that makes me wish Canada had kept to Belgian designs and adopt the FNC, albeit with a Canadian twist. Every C7 I had ever used was prone to repeated issues: Fail to fire, fail to extract, double feeds. Maybe I just had a bad run with lemons. My dad used the FN FAL back in the 70's and raved about the thing. He'd laugh about guys messing with the gas system on range and nearly blowing out their shoulders as a result LOL.

I would love it if these cam back onto the market. I'd definitely be okay with spending 2k for one. 3k if it was a modernized AK5 variation.

Did realy like The ak5 back in the army days. A good rifle, Light, mobil and 5,56.

One big incorrect fact in the video is @5:55. GunSouth and Howco are importers. They have nothing to do with converting these guns to FA. Howco is much more rare, and more desirable. You can distinguish the two by the muzzle brake and barrel. (Shorter brake and barrel= Howco, Long = GS). Howco imported 1000 FNCs. GunSouth imported 5K+. I bought a Howco Imported FNC, registered sear converted FA FNC by S&H. Most of these guns were converted by S&H/Flemming. They were stamped 4 position at the time, but came in Safe Semi Auto only. Now you can get a reversed engineered 4 position pack for $300, which I did. I got my new condition transferable FA FN FNC in 2012 for $7500. I'm sure they are double that now. Which is why most of my investments are in transferable machineguns.

Hey look, it's one of the main girls from Uppote!!

Been waiting for this one for a while. Upotte!

Had 2, bought them cheap in high school maybe sophomore year. Sold one in '95 (along with Aussie FAL) to finance move; then in October of 2004 traded the other for 3 Colt AR-15s, a Smith M317, and bunch of AK ammo to SOT in St. Louis. Thank you, Mike Grasso, for including FNC in HEAT!

Movie buffs, if you know, you know. I think Heat is the only movie I've ever seen this one used in. Maybe a couple of others, but that scene will stick out the most for anyone who's seen it. Still one of the top 5 best scenes of all time.

I found this rifle to be remarkably controllable and accurate in full automatic, firing short bursts without bothering with the burst setting. I was quite impressed. If it wasn't for the fact that the FN SCAR guys found out the registered conversion sets designed for the FNC would fit the SCAR, id own one of these with the Go Faster parts - so few rifles were imported relative to the number of conversion kits registered that the combined cost of the semiauto sporter and a registered conversion kit was actually really affordable... right up until the SCAR hit the market (driving the prices of the conversion sets through the roof).

FNC rifles are freaking sweet. FN needs to bring them back to the US market…

I'm delving down a rabbit hole prompted by Ian's recent video firing the FN CAL, the overly complex design the FNC replaced. I have to say, the FNC looks really slick, I'd love to have one though I am sure I'll never be able to afford a U.S. legal full-auto version. Apparently Belgium donated 3,000 FNCs to Ukraine a few weeks into the current war, and I'm sure the Ukrainians were happy to get them. I am not all the way down this rabbit hole yet; now I want to investigate the FN SCAR, which has apparently replaced the FNC in Belgian service. I'd love to see Ian do a video on the SCAR.

One of my fellow Firearms Instructor (back in the 90's) had an FNC (one of the few civilian semi-auto versions that made into the US before Bush senior banned the import of that class of firearms). He had gotten it from his father as a present. It was a neat little 5.56 rifle compatible with M16 mags. We got to test fire on the range one day and it shot pretty well. It was accurate, pleasant to shot, and it's controls easy to use. I even offered him a decent amount for it, but he hung on to it. From what I hear it didn't do well in live testing and had some reliably issues.

Pleased to meet you, Commander. Want some chocolate?

Funco-chan!!

Pindad in Indonesia build a LOT of these under licence, to replace their aging BM-59 clone variants across the Indonesian armed forces.. They also made, and offered in their export catalogue, semi-auto versions in both 5.56 x 45 (for potential export) and the unusual 7.62 x 45, Not the 1952 Czech round, but basically a 5.56 based proprietary" wildcat. These were apparently made for game-keepers and forest service rangers. Indonesian FNCs have chrome-lined, hammer-forged barrels.

The trick with the foregrip clip is to hold the receiver inverted facing away from you, fingers gripping the front sight (on the underside) and push both sides of the clip forward at the same time with the thumbs. Nice and easy, and no tools. :)

Finally ! Yes, I'm from Belgium...

The FAL's little sister.

Gnarly, my Belgian FAL was imported by Gun South. So I got to learn more than I knew before from that blurb.

i have waited for this video for years :D thanks Ian!

I really hope that one day Funco-chan will graduate and be the best Raifu she can be.

15:16 The FNC seems to mechanically be almost identical to the Swedish AK5 A and B versions, so that would mean that you can also remove the gas-tube by pulling it back slightly and lifting the front end off the gas block.

ian its my birthday today and this is the perfect birthday gift thanks buddy love the channel keep it up

the good move to desassembly the handguard si more simple , press the two opposites buttons , slide the handguard forward and spread it , not need tool to remove the clip ;)

Having some Upotte vibes right now watching this.

The British would've been better off getting a licence for production of these than the L85. Shooting the L85 from behind right hand corners or cover is basically impossible.

As always, a very well done video. The only aspect that I would have mentioned was that somewhere around 1984 time frame Steyr was blowing them out the door at approx. a $500.00 retail. Lastly, the Semi-auto FNC's were available in both a 1/12 and a faster twist for the SS109 bullet. If memory serves they were 1/9 twist, (although I could be wrong on the twist rate).

Very informative. Only thing to add is the plastic hand grip has a little spring and door on the bottom that houses an extra firing pin and other little parts.

Yay gun jesus is reviewing funco

Funko is best girl.

The following things are changed on the AK5A (standard version) *Front grip *Pistolgrip - slitghtly different angle *Trigger guard - to fit gloves in winter *Front sight - a ring instead of a open) *Magazine release with a bigger button *Different attachmentpoint in the front *Bigger charging handle (metal and then plastic) *New ejector *New hammer *No switch for grenades *No attachment for bajonett *Fire selector lever - bigger for easier use in winter with gloves *Only safe, semi and full auto *Green colors with a different harder coating And, I also think that the rear sight has a different scale then the FNC. Great review Ian! I can tell you that the Ak5 is very stable in full auto, but extremely front heavy, and that probably helps with the recoil. I have used the AK5A, AK5C, and both the shorter older and newer AK5D. Also used the AK5C with a M203, and man that thing was front heavy!

That spring-loaded dust cover is one of my favorite features on any gun. Seeing that thing work in slowmo is pretty hypnotizing.

Was wondering when you were going to get around to "Funco-chan".

Belgian military armorer here, these guns are just great and i love working on them! Sadly they're getting too old and replaced by the SCAR-L. Did my basic training with an FNC and it never stopped on me, even with 100's of rounds through them in extremely muddy environments. Hoping to get my hands on a civilian version but prices in Belgium go up to 10k for these...

The rifle is excellent. WORKS in adverse conditions far more reliably then M16 versions, and it proved itself very well in jungle environment in Indonesia during the three wars there, where gun maintenance was at best approximate

Something about the black 80s/90s ARs. It's like wooden-handled kitchen knife vs plastic-handled kitchen knife. I know the latter is cheaper, lighter and just as effective, but I always prefer the former.

We should have moved on to this from the SLR in the UK instead of the SA80.