Thinking about picking up a FN303

[A2theK]

I was wondering if anyone has used one? If so, how do you attach it to the M4/AR platforms?

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[CommandoJoe]

Never heard of that before... Did some Googling and found that apparently it isn't always less than lethal:

The FN 303 was involved in a controversial 2004 incident in Boston in which Victoria Snelgrove was accidentally shot in the eye and fatally wounded.[4] Subsequent tests by Boston Police indicated that the 303's accuracy "decreased significantly" after about three hundred firings. This is circumstantially corroborated by testimony of the officer who fired the weapon, stating that he was aiming at a rioter throwing bottles and did not even know that a bystander had been hit.[5]

A fifteen million dollar wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Boston and FN Herstal was settled in July 2006.[6] In 2007 the Boston Police destroyed their remaining FN303s, stating they were more powerful and lethal than had been anticipated.[7]

During violent protests in front of the ARCELOR [former ARBED] building in Luxembourg city on May 11, 2009, the weapon was used for the first time by Luxembourgish police forces. An RTL cameraman was shot at the hand, breaking one finger.[8]

Here's a pic of one mounted to an AR, maybe it will shed some light on how it is attached:

View attachment 203202

Seem like that would add quite a bit of awkwardness and weight to a rifle. Looks to be basically an overly complicated and expensive paintball gun (About the same price as a basic AR) with some unique projectiles. If it was me, I wouldn't want to carry all that around on my rifle - I would just buy a good paintball gun for half the price and find some .68 cal dense plastic balls if you wanted some good punch without making holes in someone... Or for something small to carry with just as many shots as the M303, try this <broken link removed> with the same hard plastic balls. No big airtank, just a small CO2 cartridge, 2x 8-round mags.

Did a bit more searching and it looks like the mount is a separate item you have to order to mount it to your rifle - FN also makes a <broken link removed> that fires the same projectiles (6 round mag) as the 303.

Although the FN ammo is interesting, I would still go with the regular paintball pistol though - cheaper, and you could load the first couple rounds as regular paintball, and then the rest with the hard stuff if the person doesn't back off...

Hmm, is a paintball pistol considered a firearm? could someone carry it concealed without a permit?