Fabrique Nationale’s FN 15 Guardian

This year, FN America released the FN 15 Guardian, billed as an affordable yet high-quality AR-15.

There’s no shortage of good AR-15s for sale, but every company out there is still fighting for its share of the market. One of the latest contenders to join the fray is a rifle from FN America that was introduced earlier this year. Called the FN 15 Guardian, the 16-inch 5.56 NATO carbine is being advertised as a high-quality and feature-rich AR that’s being offered at an affordable price point.

Starting at the muzzle and working back, the FN 15 Guardian sports a standard A2 birdcage flash hider mounted to a hybrid-profile, nitride-coated barrel. The 16-inch barrel is also button-broached, machined from 4150 chrome-moly vanadium steel and features a 1:7 twist. FN says that with match ammo, the barrel is capable of shooting sub-minute groups.

As for the furniture, the FN 15 Guardian comes with FN’s free-floated 15-inch aluminum M-LOK handguard with a continuous top rail. It has a total of 24 slots spread between the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions. The adjustable stock, pistol grip and magazine are all in-house FN products too. Other noteworthy features include the rifle’s mid-length gas system for reduced recoil, its 9310 nitrided alloy steel bolt carrier group and its slick-side upper receiver with no forward assist for less snag points. The upper does, however, still have a brass deflector. The trigger, charging handle and selector switch are all mil-spec.

Scott Vilardi, Senior Product Manager for Law Enforcement and Commercial Carbines at FN, said this about the FN 15 Guardian:

When we created the specification for the FN 15 Guardian, our focus was on perfecting the foundation of the rifle to ensure the high standards for FN quality remained, cutting corners to reduce the purchase price was not an option, our customers expect more from our brand and we have to deliver on that trust … When you handle our newest carbine at the gun counter and shoot it on the range, you’ll notice the premium fit and finish stands out at this price tier. We’ve paid special attention to the core components to overdeliver on accuracy potential, ergonomics and fast-handling capability. With the new Guardian, FN customers have a dependable and high-quality carbine that’s ready to perform right out of the box and can be easily customized with most AR-pattern components.

Each FN 15 Guardian will ship with one FN 30-round magazine, a box and an owner’s manual. MSRP is $999 and it’s available now.

For more information, please visit fnamerica.com.

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