For decades now, the standard law enforcement precision rifle has been some form of bolt action. Usually it's a Remington 700, but departments also fielded quantities of Winchester Model 70s, Savages and various other models. Semiauto designs such as the M1A and AR-10 have always been rare exceptions.

Most people think a bolt action design is required simply because it's more accurate. However, recent combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan has led to renewed interest in the potential of semiautomatic sniper systems.

One company that has recognized this interest is FNH USA. It recently announced a new self-loading rifle, the FNAR, developed expressly for the law enforcement market but also available to civilians who enjoy precision, tactical-style rifles. A step away from the mainstream in concept, if not design, the FNAR is yet another demonstration of FNH USA's forward thinking.

Although semiautomatic sniper rifles are hardly new in the United States, they fell out of favor in the 1980s with the demise of the U.S. Army's M14 National Match-based M21. Although the M21 had many strong points, it was plagued by both a low quality optic and a substandard optic mount. These problems left a bad taste in the mouths of the tight-knit American sniper community.

For years afterward, "gas guns" were the red headed stepchildren among snipers. The Remington Model 700 bolt-action rifle went on to reign supreme as the precision rifle of choice for both the U.S. military and law enforcement.

However, recent combat experience in Afghanistan and Iraq has once again brought to light the usefulness of a quality self-loading sniper rifle. Although a magazine-fed semiauto lacks the intrinsic accuracy of a well-tuned bolt gun, it has other virtues--namely the ability to rapidly engage multiple targets, quicker follow-up shots, the ability to suppress enemy fire, and rapid reloading. The U.S. military has responded by fielding both M14-based systems as well as the Knights Armament M110.

When it came to developing a precision semiauto, FNH USA decided to base the design on Browning's BAR sporting rifle action. Browning is part of the FNH family, so it was a logical choice.

The Browning Automatic Rifle (no relation to the famous military squad auto designed by John Moses Browning) was first introduced to hunters and sportsmen in 1967. An upper crust self-loading hunting rifle, over the years the BAR has been chambered for not only short and standard-length cartridges but also magnum rounds as well. Available in different grades, the BAR quickly became the autoloader of the more affluent.

Although a BAR-based sniper rifle may seem a bit out of place considering its sporting rifle heritage, the concept is not new. Years ago the U.S. special operations community saw the need for a self-loading sniper rifle chambered for the long-reaching .300 Winchester Magnum cartridge. In response, Arms Tech Limited of Phoenix, Arizona developed a .300 based upon the Browning BAR that it dubbed the Super Match Interdiction Rifle or SMIR. As good as it was, though, the SMIR never gained much of a following and remains largely unknown.

The new FNAR is quite different from the SMIR, and the company will be offering two different models, a Heavy and a Light. The Heavy model is fitted with a heavy-profile fluted match barrel while the Light model sports a lighter weight fluted match barrel.