(courtesy kitup.military.com)

“FN Manufacturing has outbid Remington Arms Company and Colt Defense LLC. to win a contract worth just under $77 million to make M4A1s for the U.S. Army,” kitupmilitary.com reports. “The award notice was posted on Federal Business Opportunities on Feb. 22 with an initial value of $9,370,615.” Wow. Didn’t see that one coming. Last I heard Colt forced the Army to reconsider its decision to go with Remington and then BANG! FN’s in like Flynn. The Belgian gunmaker’s success comes hot on the heels of a $31.5m contract to supply Peru with 8,110 FN SCAR-H rifles. With Cerberus pledged to punting The Freedom Group—Remington’s corporate overlords—one wonders if the company still has the juice to get it done in the rough-and-tumble world of military procurement. And if Uncle Sam would let a foreigner buy them? [h/t Kodiakco]

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47 COMMENTS

  1. Increases or decreases the chance of Colt or Remington joining the NY boycott…? Wadda y’all think?

    • I think that Colt and Remington would be wise to join a select boycott of New York and New Jersey. Whatever sales they get there will be more than made up in the civilians who will flock to the companies. Will they make that decision? I wouldn’t bet on it, but it would be kind of cool if Wayne LaPierre payed them a visit and let them know that a boycott would be very good for business. The US government is their biggest customer until they aren’t. The civilian market is bigger than any single domestic LE market.

      • I agree for different reasons. I wouldn’t hold my breath that Colt or Remington would boycott because, when you have a federal government that wants to do the same thing that New York and California has done, you might be shooting yourself in the foot if you decide to boycott one of the states. They still want those big contracts. They might have lost the Army contract, but that doesn’t mean they won’t win and maintain contracts with other federal agencies.

  2. I see the administration found one way to help defund the NRA. It dilutes the money by sending it to Belgium first.

    • Given how Boeing kept protesting the EADS/Lockheed USAF tanker awards until the government was basically forced to give the award to a US only firm (Boeing), I wouldn’t necessarily count on this contract going forward.

      • I guess I’m confused on this one. In my years of service, all equipment used by the armed forces had to be American made by law.

      • The guns will, I assume, be manufactured in South Carolina. My Win 70 .30-06 barrel from that factory is excellent. I think they’ve been producing M4 barrels there already, as a sub-contractor. I’m certain they’ve been producing M249 barrels there.

      • it will go forward because, those FNH guns will be produced in the United States, like other FNH guns used by the armed services.

        That is why many of these companies (beretta and HK for example) expanded production to the states.

  3. I know a couple of people who have passed on new Remington products because of concerns over QC. Losing government contracts and citizen sales can’t be good for the company.

    What does Colt even make these days? AR’s and 1911’s? Are they even still selling to citizens?

    • I don’t get the modern Colt. I’m a Colt fanboy of the oldschool, and I understand they are turning out some fine pistols nowdays (the Series 70 reproductions are beautiful, from what I’ve read), but they seem to be gone immediately after they make a run of them. I guess they try to suppress supply to increase demand, but it seems like they could take on a few $100 more and increase volume a bit. Maybe quality would suffer in that case.

  4. Makes you wonder when NJ and othe states or municipalities (chicago) all pass legislation prohibiting use of public funds for investment in companies that manufacture arms. In fact…. Rahm Emanuel went so far as to pressure banks to do the same. Now, the feds buy from a foreign company. That in and of itself is pathetic given the state of our economy and our current employment levels but if you couple it with the possibility that it could be an intentional snubbing it couldnt get much worse.

  7. Its a big bad globalized world we live in. Why is it that Fords made in Mexico upsets no one, but if the US Military buys from a European firm something dastardly and un-patriotic has happened?

    Maybe Im just an ignorant whelp born in the late 80s, but I don’t get the vitriol.As long as FN makes a quality product for our boys and girls in uniform, who cares?

    • Because the national defense of the United States, the only constitutional standing for the US Armed Forces, cannot be dependent on foreign nations. By federal law as I recall.

      • If it’s made in the US then we get the factory if Belgium decides to boycott the US. The problem is not foreign ownership but the source of the goods. If it’s made in the USA then its a secure source.

  8. Cool. Congrats to FN. The folks at the FN manufacturing plant in South Carolina should be happy. This is what happens to Colt when they overcharge for their product.

  9. FN does have a factory in America last I heard, that’s probably where the rifles will be manufactured.

    PS. some google-fu shows that FN makes the m249 already in a factory in South Carolina

    Colt makes the 6920 and 6940 sporter models. They are 2 of the best ar-15’s out there and near m4 clones. The only difference is no auto/burst and a 16 inch barrel

  11. Interesting. I had not heard about the M4A1. Ditching the silly 3-round burst in favor of full auto is sensible. Yet another thing that the Canadians have been smarter than us about.

    • I’d agree. I mean, we hardly ever switched over the C-7/C-8s to full auto, but if you did want to do so for room or trench clearing, you might as well make it full auto.

  12. FN made the lower receiver’s to the M16a4’s I was using in the Marines. And of course they were the manufacturer’s of the M249, and the Gau-21 is also made by FN.

    • Depends most of there best line up are Colt copies of M-16s and its new carbines. The M-240 vs M-60 debate never ends. All of the new gun line FS2000 and SCAR where junk had alot of hype but never matched the M-4 or M-16 or in Europe the G-36 and HK 416. Its a opinion and yes FN makes good M-16s lets see how troops like the new M-4A1 in combat.

      • Can you provide some proof to those claims? All the tests I saw the SCAR-16 had fewer failures than the M4. Not sure about the HK 416. That’s a hell of a weapons platform. But I do not buy that the SCAR-16 is junk. From what I’ve seen, the Army chose to stay with the M-4 due to cost of replacing the platform.

  14. So now the question begs…is FN on the good list or the bad list…for dealing with a government actively trying to take our rights away to own that very weapon…?

  15. An ACOG, a DBAL, and a partridge in a pear tree!

    So why the heck does that A4 upper have an A2 front post sight?

    Weird!

    Charlie

  19. I just think it is sad that Americans can’t even make their own guns…

    I wonder how much of this decision was because Remington is a part of freedom group and is basically a bushmaster used in the recent tragedies.

  20. A Belgian company, arguably the cruelest of all colonial powers. But you should say,
    “underbid”, rather than “outbid”. Most of us know what it means, but it’s slightly vague language.

  21. I don’t know when the original solicitation came out, nor did I read the PWS or RFP,,,but does FN build all components (barrels, bolts, BCG, receivers, firing pins, etc..) in house? Are they depending on sub-contractors for components? I’m guessing this $9.3M award is for 11,000+ units. Not a lot of “M4/AR” components available right now. Makes me wonder if FN can fulfill it’s deadline obligations…but still excited for the folks in the SC plant…

    • The entire weapon is made in SC by Americans, as is the M240, and M249, all made by FN, and FN has been making parts for the M4, and M16 for quite a few years now. Just ask anyone in the Military such as myself. I spent 15 years in the Army with 2 tours in Iraq and I was a Crew Chief and Gunner on Blackhawks (UH-60A), and all of our Helicopter guns were made by FN, as well as most barrels on the M4 and even quite a few entire M4, and M16A4’s used by our battalion. FN has been totally making weapons in the US for over 20 years now, and makes some of the best machine gun barrels made today.

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