FAL Q & A or FAQ's

[kajuntriton]

OK guys, I know I am asked quite a few questions from time to time about the Fusil Automatique Léger "Light Automatic Rifle" or FAL and I do my honest best to answer them. Some I know, some I have to look up and some I have to go to much more knowledgeable sources, BUT I do have some GREAT sources!
AKajun. MYTFAL, and Nomad also are some great sources for this topic, as well as others here. I know I enjoy it because I am learning more everyday about the History, Origin, and different contract requirements to FN from various countries, I have only begun to scratch the surface of the Metric version and variants of riFAL's and even less of the Inch versions and variants!
So let it start here and see where it goes It should be fun!

FAL CHAMBER is in BUSINESS! CHECK IT OUT HERE!

http://www.bayoushooter.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=138

 

[Tx_oil]

Ok..my question is "Why don't I have a FAL yet?"

 

[Born4spd]

Ok..my question is "Why don't I have a FAL yet?"

The trigger is ....

 

[kajuntriton]

Ok..my question is "Why don't I have a FAL yet?"

Does the sound SQUEEK SQUEEK mean anything to you OK that was not a good start was it?
Well I guess we know how this thread will progress!

 

[Tx_oil]

Fill my coffers with FALwisdom, O stepson of Dieudonné Joseph Saive!
Latecomer to FAL game here, wanting a decent priced shooter, not an FN built safe queen. Your opinion on...
DSA?
Entrepeise?
Century builds?
and finally....
homebuilds with kits: which kits are best?

 

[Nomad.2nd]

Fill my coffers with FALwisdom, O stepson of Dieudonné Joseph Saive!
Latecomer to FAL game here, wanting a decent priced shooter, not an FN built safe queen. Your opinion on...
DSA?
Entrepeise?
Century builds?
and finally....
homebuilds with kits: which kits are best?

Deal offa FAL files or Paun shop.
So long as it's a decent kit your good to go.
Right now the only reciever I'd buy would be Coonan for price:quality.
Rifles:
I'd buy a Century if I could shoot it
IMBEL, DSA, Or Coonan whenever.
Enterprise often.

I don't claim to be some 'great wealth of knowledge' I know very little about the design details other than what I've picked up along the way.

I'm mostly interested in the 'useability'

Picking up more all the time though.

 

[kajuntriton]

For a very nice assembled running rifle without fancy furniture with DSA, Coonan, Imbel or Enterprise uppers you are looking anywhere from $900 (that's a rare but doable price) to $1200. Start adding fancy wood furniture custom finish work, rare hard to find 100% matching number rifles and collectable rifles you are now from the $1200 to $7000 for RARE collectables. (Falfiles member has two on the market place right now, one for 6K one for 7K) so the sky is the limit......well not for me, it always goes back to my pocket book long before hitting the sky!

Now as far as things to look for, upper receivers, this is the BATFE registered part on a FAL, the list of receivers above I gave you is MY personal choice in that order. Stay away from century receivers, stay away from hesse receivers!
I mentioned metric rifles above, well there are two versions, Metric and Inch. Most countries used the metric rifles; a few however used Inch, such as Canada, Australia, and England. With that being said the metric parts are much more available as well as a lil less expensive, availability is the biggest thing we are talking about rifles and parts being built 50+ years ago.

Do some research, check out DSARMS.com they have some great looking rifles (not the best website but a lot of detailed info and pics) Check out gunbroker.com to get a feel of the style rifle and about what people are asking for them. gunbroker is a baseline for me, just because someone is asking $1700 for a rifle there doesn't mean it is worth that! Look at them and the prices, watch where bidders stop bidding, which is far more of an accurate value than the prices these guys are trying to get.

TXOIL stay away from KITS!......I am trying to hoard all the local ones!

No really a kit rifle is actually what any of the ones you will touch actually are! My suggestion is stay away from what I CALL frankenfals, these are generally mismatched parts, mixing Metric parts with Inch parts! If you are looking for a great shooting rifle and not a show piece, don't even worry about a matching numbers kits, BUT do make sure it is all either metric or inch!
In kits just make sure you start with a really good barrel, the rest is basically indestructable! Most of the builders that I use and try to use charge about $150 to $200 plus finishing to put together an EXCELLENT shooter, and that is them supplying the locking shoulder.

Home builds I will not get into because I do NOT have one I only know personally one local guy that I would allow build my rifle and he is scheduled to do just that here at my house in a few weeks to a month depending if I can pick up a DSA type II receiver. Others here are more able to answer the home build questions.

And FYI, receivers today are going anywhere from $375 to $500 depending on who is selling, who is buying and who has ONE!

 

[Nomad.2nd]

L1A1's will MOSTLY work with Metric mags (They are the most common/cheap) but NOT the other way around.

Some things interchange.

I like L1A1 Folding charging handles...

Need to find some of those Izzy ones you can use as a bolt handle to force the round int he chamber if necessary.

 

[GIJeaux]

kajuntriton,
I think it would be great if you made a sort of, pictorial on this thread showing the different stock types that might be found on FAL rifles. Feel free to use any of my pics if you like. You got me curious about this "A", "B" and "C" thing. I would also like to know about the plastics too. Might as well look at handguards and pistol grips too. I will help anyway I can. Thank you in advance.
Al

 

[kajuntriton]

GIJEAUX,I will do my best to get that info posted I will also give exact measurements as well. I will also pull some stocks and forearms (HANDGUARDS) and PG's for photos.
Just not too into it right now.
I am waiting to hear back word from my buddy as far as his current condition.

In the mean time just for those interested.
As Nomad has stated any extra research you wish to do, log on and join THE FAL FILES by clicking here!

 

[GIJeaux]

No hurry. I am praying for Roger too.
Thanks.
Al

 

[Akajun]

FYI, century's super secret email pricing just notified me that they have century recievers in Metric and L1a1 for $149!!!!! Yes its a century and may take a bit to tweek but when is the last time you saw a fal reciever for $149.

And Kajuntriton, I feel left out that I wasnt mentioned in the knowledgable about fals group.

 

[MyTFAL]

I like to build shooters, I guess I build FrankenFals but I never mix Inch and Metric. I scour the earth looking for the cheapest parts I can get my hands on, and I have no problems with Century Rec. I would rank them in this order:
1-DSA
2-Imbel
3-Coonan
4-Enterprise
5-Century
6-Hesse
My ranking is for ease of assembly and overall quality.
I would be okay with kit builds from most individuals, I would be cautious but okay with most Century and Enterprise built rifles, A lot of these did not get the individual attention they needed leaving the factory, and that is all thats wrong with them. They may need some tweaking or worst case a re-headspace and re-align the barrel, all very simple with the right tools. I like looking at all the beautiful FALS, but to me it's kind of a waste. These rifles were made to be abused, used, shot shot and shot some more, I honestly couldn't have one that was as nice as some of the ones you see here. I get pumped when I can build one that shoots good, for a investment of 500-600 bucks. Here is my latest build most of it is a South African kit I got for 99.00 bucks, the Barrel is a Imbel cut back to 16.5 Inches, paid 95.00 for that,with a G-36 US copy flash hider 55.00 for that, My Us H/T/S was 75.00,us piston 25.00 the Century rec was 175.00 many moons ago ( and I would HIGHLY recommend a 149.00 one, great value there, and they are eminantly buildable) a US floorplate on the mag gives me 7 US parts. I haven't got to shoot her yet, but I'll do a range report when I do. The guys at Honey Island get a kick out of these short barreled .308's. Not sure what else I'll do with it but I'm not done!

 

[kajuntriton]

Nice looking Rhodie there MYTFAL!
I have future plans for doing one myself.I plan on working with RockMup to match the BABYPOOP cammo to finish mine with. And of course this one will be built with a type III receiver although I will go with a carry handle which the Rhodie govenment required them to be removed.

AKajun, YOU are listed as a knowledgeable source in my post.....well you were added I must admit!
Sorry about that and also to anyone I missed, I know there are some others here as well, and I am far from the most knowledgeable, BUT I am learning more everyday!

 

[kajuntriton]

Rhodie "Baby Poop Camo" MYTFAL, this is one that is probably next on my build list. I just about have all the parts I need, if my type III comes in I will be ready, spoke with rockmup today about working up some duracoat colors to make the cammo right. Here are some pics of the BABY POOP BEAUTY's!

 

[kajuntriton]

Ok here are the pics to my newest addition! This one was not built for me, I just happened to stumble upon it Saturday with help of a friend in Colorado finding it in New Orleans! Long story but I really lucked out on this one! Numbers matching Argentine FAL! The next few days I should be back to posting on the FAQ and start with the Buttstocks and lower differences.

 

[Sin-ster]

My guns get shot-- excessively. Aside from my home defense shotty and my SHTF AR, I buy a gun to "beat on it" (despite my OCD cleaning techniques).

I have avoided the FAL for a number of reasons. The cost is (relatively) high. I hear things about magazines that make me shrug my shoulders. Decent 7.62 NATO ammo is not cheap, either-- and I don't like to feed my girls anything potentially damaging, even if it just means accelerated wear (steel case). To top it all off, I don't know where to begin checking if something is "right for the price", and when I try to research, it makes my head spin.

1) No frills, nothing fancy, accept the widest range of magazines-- what should I look at?

2) Where do you all get your mags and ammo?

3) How "used" is too used? I can judge an AR by general round count, I can judge an AK by the barrel and bolt... Is it pretty much common sense with a FAL, or are there some other factors to consider when buying something that's been shot a lot?

 

[kajuntriton]

I have avoided the FAL for a number of reasons. The cost is (relatively) high. I hear things about magazines that make me shrug my shoulders. Decent 7.62 NATO ammo is not cheap, either-- and I don't like to feed my girls anything potentially damaging, even if it just means accelerated wear (steel case). To top it all off, I don't know where to begin checking if something is "right for the price", and when I try to research, it makes my head spin.

1) No frills, nothing fancy, accept the widest range of magazines-- what should I look at?

2) Where do you all get your mags and ammo?

3) How "used" is too used? I can judge an AR by general round count, I can judge an AK by the barrel and bolt... Is it pretty much common sense with a FAL, or are there some other factors to consider when buying something that's been shot a lot?

OK 1st thing first: Cost..... We are talking a complete rifle; well they can run from ~$700 to ~$2500 depending on the rifle and where/what you get. Honestly NOT that much more expensive than todays poodle shooters! Yes ammo is a bit more!

Mags??? Not sure what you mean there, but I only have the metric version rifles therefore I only have metric mags. I have paid from $15 to $25 per mag depending mainly on cosmetic condition, some were completely bare with slight rust some were as new and some have been either painted or parkarized. I have all metal mags except for 11 in my collection and these 11 are BELGIAN Hiduminium Mags which is basically an aluminum light weight alloy. Not much too them as long as the feed lips are not bent and or damaged.

Ammo, I have been buying various ammo (haven't started reloading yet but I am getting VERY CLOSE!) Aussie ammo is the schite! Love it in all my FALS, I refuse and will NEVER run steel case ammo thru my FAL's or AR's. Ammo prices are like most, high right now! I just look for deals and buy in BULK!
If you do reload, when you are purchasing surplus ammo, make sure you know what you are buying! You should know if you are purchasing corrosive or non-corrosive ammo! I will shoot corrosive in mine just because I am so anal about a clean weapon! BUT this is not something I do often, there isn't enough in price savings to by corrosive vs. non-corrosive! Also something to look out for is the primers, some are boxer primed and some are berdain primed. The aussie that I like so much is Berdain primed they not something you will reload! Also FAL's are very hard on cases, most people say only 3 reloads/case. I cannot say for sure yet; although I should be able to expound more on that in a few months!

HAHA Well yes, when first getting started into the FAL addiction, it can be very overwhelming! SO many variations, so many foreign country contracts. Again Inch vs. Metric Search the internet and try not to get overwhelmed! Check out FALfiles.com very knowledgeable guys there that know from a lil (Like me) to those that seem to know just about every variation, model, and year of contract for each country served by FN.

As far as how used is too used? Like most firearms look for the obvious, frosting and pitting on the barrel, check the lands and groves. Check the throat and muzzle erosion REMEMBER, unless it is an American made after market barrel, these things could be as old as 50+ years old.
Like I was told when I started until you learn more it is safer to stay away from a few of the receivers (such as Century and Hesse) you will learn more about these as you go. Just better to be safe in the beginning than sorry. Look for a rifle that has either a DSA, DCI (Dan Coonan Industries), an Imbel, or lastly an Enterprise upper receiver.
I would HIGHLY recommend a complete rifle for your first. Find one that has been shot, not just a safe queen! These things are TOUGH as NAILS!

ALMOST as tough as a GLOCK! Ok I had to add that for the Glock fans!

Like the pics in the post above these things can be finished with almost any finish you can imagine. Some guys even like to find complete kits, purchase a DSA or DCI receiver and NEVER touch the finish of the rifle, they like it to look battle field fresh!

I know this is a broad discription and may not be exactlly what you were looking for but there are no straight up easy answers.

Hope this helps!

 

[MyTFAL]

Nice dig the Argy's, Sin-ster get a FAL any of them, start with a cheap one, beat on it like it was a BP executive once you do,................you will understand..........and be assimilated.

 

[MyTFAL]

My guns get shot-- excessively. Aside from my home defense shotty and my SHTF AR, I buy a gun to "beat on it" (despite my OCD cleaning techniques).

I have avoided the FAL for a number of reasons. The cost is (relatively) high. I hear things about magazines that make me shrug my shoulders. Decent 7.62 NATO ammo is not cheap, either-- and I don't like to feed my girls anything potentially damaging, even if it just means accelerated wear (steel case). To top it all off, I don't know where to begin checking if something is "right for the price", and when I try to research, it makes my head spin.

1) No frills, nothing fancy, accept the widest range of magazines-- what should I look at?

2) Where do you all get your mags and ammo?

3) How "used" is too used? I can judge an AR by general round count, I can judge an AK by the barrel and bolt... Is it pretty much common sense with a FAL, or are there some other factors to consider when buying something that's been shot a lot?

Get a metric (cheapest mags) Imbel on Imbel for best bang for the buck $700.00-900.00

I've never paid more than 12-15 dollars for metric mags