Our friends at Frag Out! Magazine have been gracious enough to allow us to share their exclusive look at the Sport variant of the Polish MSBS/GROT rifle.
Civilian MSBS/GROT S16 FB-M1 coming soonToday we had an opportunity to pick up one of the first .223 Rem GROT S16 FB-M1, the long-awaited civilian-legal version of MSBS/GROT.
223 Rem GROT S16 FB-M1 is semi-automatic version 5.56×45 NATO Fabryka Broni ?ucznik-Radom MSBS/GROT C16 FB-M1 assault rifles, initially adopted by Polish Armed Forces in 2017. The Fabryka Broni ?ucznik-Radom announced that rifles will be available for sale next week.
The pictured GROT S16 FB-M1 comes from the first production run of 500 pieces. First 100 pieces will be limited, to commemorate Polish Independence (regained in 1918), edition which will have some special laser-engraved markings and certificate. Every rifle will come with engraved Polish White Eagle on the right side of the upper receiver.
Semi-automatic GROT S16 FB-M1 comes assembled with side-folded collapsible stock, Magpul M-LOK attachment system handguard (officially licensed by M-LOK) with three short MIL-STD-1913 rails, folded ironsights, Magpul MOE handguard, green translucent polymer 30 round magazine, cleaning kit, manual, warranty card, etc. The rifle comes factory wrapped in anti-corrosion foil (in the past, rifles were packed in paper…, future is here!) and packed in the hard case.
What are the differences between the GROT S16 FB-M1 and GROT C16 FB-M1, except being a semi-only rifle? Of course, the standard fire control group was replaced with two-position (Safe & Single) selector lever (90 degree rotation). Icons are stamped, but not painted. FCG is ambidextrous. Next thing is the above mentioned M-LOK handguard with four mounting slots at the 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9 o’clock and three at 2 and 11 o’clock. The 16” MIL-SPEC quick-changeable fluted barrel with 1:9 twist has 1/2-28-UNEF-2A thread, so the users can easily change the muzzle device. The GROT version adopted by Polish Army has muzzle device which can be only removed by armorer. Rifle is compatible with .223 Rem and 5.56×45 rounds.
The civilian version of the rifle does not feature the bayonet lug. Since the bayonet in military rifle is attached to the lug and to the muzzle device itself, it is impossible to fix it to the S16 FB-M1. The QD sling attachment point location was changed accordingly to the feedback from military users.
There were also some changes in the internals of the rifle – except the lack of full-auto capability. The bolt carrier was modified and the six wolfram plunges were removed. The S16 FB-M1 trigger works different too, it’s not MIL-SPEC one either the Match. The trigger reset is quite long, so no quick double taps. Unfortunately, it is not modular and cannot be replaced without some serious modification of the rifle.
Driving home from the FB Radom, we decided to have a short trip to shooting range to check this piece out. Well, basically it shoots close to the military rifle. It is stable during shooting, fully ambidextrous and comes with the 90 degree rotation fire control group. The selector switch has quite strong resistance, but we hope it will soon go on. There was some wobbling in the collapsible stock. We were using cheap GGG rounds and there was no stoppages. According to the manual, the S16 FB-M1 is compatible with almost all STANAG magazines, except the Magpul PMAG M3… In upcoming days and months we will see how the rifle will perform when we will get it some serious use.
Some tech specs:
Caliber: 5.56×45 mm NATO/.223 Remington
Overall length: 681 mm (26.81”) with folded stock or 903 mm (35.55”) with stock fully extended
Barrel length: 406 mm (16”)
Barrel twist: 1:9
Weight: 3.7 kg (8.16 lbs)
