FN FAL L1A1 Questions.

Just out of curiosity have you checked the headspace using a headspace gauge set and a stripped bolt?

Ron

Unless you have a set of gages and locking shoulders - you're not going to effectively gage and correct any headspace issues on a FAL variant.

Who made the barrel and was it finish-reamed?

Todd.

While I have seen case head separations where cases have simply worn thin one cause of case head separation is excessive headspace. This is where a stripped bolt and headspace gauges come into play. I am not even sure which Go, NoGo and Field dimensions a FAL uses but they should be close to standard 308 specifications.

1.630" go
1.634" nogo
1.638" field

Additionally and I am not a FAL type person, but I think ;locking shoulder thickness figures into the scheme of understanding FAL Headspace considerations. You really need a set of headspace gauges, locking shoulder specifications and a FAL type guy with FAL armory type experience.

Ron

You can rent them cheap.

1st... headspace check it with guages. Take extractor off bolt to do properly. 7.62 NATO gauges are different than .308

2nd... Space between bolt and receiver OR space between bolt carrier and receiver?

Who made receiver? Coonan receivers have a stand off pad on the receiver.

Who made the barrel and was it finish-reamed
FAL barrels are not typically finish reamed, locking shoulders set final headspace

Building FALs is not hard, but the correct tools are only worth it if you are building multiple rifles.

And as good as THR is with trying to help people I have noticed it is not the best for FAL questions... the FALFiles is, but be warned, they do not worry so much about the elevation of the road.

I don't know what near you is? I'm in NE Ohio.

Ron

The picture of the receiver and barrel mouth show the "pad" on picture right that keeps the bolt carrier 1\8" off the receiver.

This is not a FN approved thing, it is aftermarket BUT it is supposed to be there to compensate for some other thing the supplier of the receiver to Century got wrong or different.

It has a Inch varient barrel that uses breaching washers to time the barrel on the receiver.

Looks to be " uni-brow" feed ramp, again not FN approved, but may or may not feed well.

Robert said:

Is that a gap between the receiver face and the barrel? Or am I seeing things?

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Looks like a breaching washer and dirt, or a breaching washer and non true barrel shoulder.

The rifle is a Century, which employed the finest angry beavers money can buy.

If the OP wants to redo his rifle, I would highly recommend the ARS work book ( Arizona Response Systems,) Mark is a dick, but he might be the best assembler of FALs around today.

https://www.arizonaresponsesystems.com/product/fal-dvd-workbook/

Robert said:

I have a Century L1A1 that I'd love to send to ARS to have him make an Aussie clone out of.

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Yes, he mentioned it in post #1. I'm grabbing my popcorn, this could get interesting. I built exactly one FAL for a former Royal Marine Sgt., and I'll never build another one. Royal PITA to build.

Sody, you need a set of go/no-go gauges and a set of pin gauges to measure what locking shoulder is required to properly headspace your rifle.

If the rifle uses an L1A1 barrel, a washer is needed between the barrel shoulder & receiver to achieve proper torque & timing.

Your rifle has a Century receiver. Be prepared for a rough ride getting it to work properly.

Falfiles.com is the best source of FAL/SLR knowledge on the planet. They are a rough bunch.

You're gonna get quite the education before this project is concluded!

Bwana John said:

the FALFiles is, but be warned, they do not worry so much about the elevation of the road.

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Jeepers... worse than ARF?

A quick, cheap trick to check headspace is to put two discs of masking tape on the head of a factory round to see if it closes. If so, too much HS and you need a thicker locking shoulder. What has been said about Century receivers is true. Sorry.

A...Never shoot steel case ammo in it.

B...That is a military surplus barrel so work with 7.62 NATO ammo.

C...IMHO, reloading for a FAL is a fools errand. Buy good NATO spec ammo and dispense with trying to make it more 'accurate' than it can be. Minute of man is what they are designed to do.

Conelrad, with a bunch of homebrew FALS.

I vouch Gunplumber AKA
https://www.arizonaresponsesystems.com/product/fal-dvd-workbook/

Straight forward guy yes or no nothing in the middle.

Isn't FAL head spacing set by a pin in the receiver? Changing the head spacing is as simple as swapping out that pin for one of a different thickness? I think you can buy the pins and specify the pin thickness?

I don't know, I vaguely remember talking with someone about setting FAL head-spacing. And that if you assemble a FAL parts kit on a new receiver the head spacing is very likely to be wrong if you just use the pin that came in the parts kit. No barrel turning required... just replace the pin with one of the correct thickness. I think there is even a special gauge you can use to determine how far out of spec the head spacing is then just buy a pin that is that much thinker than the current pin. Without the special gauge I think you just have to try different pins until the bolt locks on a go gauge and doesn't lock on a no-go gauge.

It looks like a set of go / no-go 308 gauges can be picked up from Brownells for about $60.