FAL barrels

[alaskanativeson]

How difficult and expensive is it going to be if I want to have a barrel made for an FAL that chambers the 7MM-08 round? I see that DSA makes a .243, a .260, and the .308 but they say they won't make a 7MM-08 (don't know why, Shari in customer service says no - very emphatic about it too.) If I have to have the barrel made how much trouble am I going to have doing it? Who does this kind of work?

Rodger

 

[Slamfire]

You have this selection of .243, 260 (which is a 6.5/08?) and a 308 barrels, and none of them do what you want!?, man are you picky.

I suspect that since a 6.5/08 will feed through a FAL that you won't have problems with 7mm/08, but nothing in gunsmithing is assured. I also suspect that the adjustable gas port may be really helpful.

I have never rebarreled any of my FAL's and don't want to. I am happy with the 308 caliber. However I have rebarreled M1a's and Garands.

Let me tell you, gas gun barrels have to be made by someone who knows what he is doing. It is not like a bolt gun where you take a tube, turn it to shape, thread the ends, crown the muzzle, stick a reamer up the back, and you are very close to a useable barrel.

Military gas gun barrels have all sorts of threads, attachment points, cuts and slots, gas ports, etc. All have to be correctly cut and lined up or the barrel is no darn good.

There are very few people who make M1 and M1a barrels, I suspect the list of people who make FAL barrels is even shorter, and it is because it is not a simple task.

Why don't you just screw on a nice 308 barrel and be happy?

 

[AndyC]

I guess the best people to ask would be the various 'smiths over at falfiles

 

[jpwilly]

I suppose anything can be done but sometimes it just doesn't make any sence to do it. If you have deep pockets I'm sure you'll find someone willing to make what your looking for.

 

[LoadedDrum]

Could a .243 barrel be reamed out to a 7mm-08 or is the profile too different?

 

[kfranz]

Call this guy, ask him. Provided he's still smithing, he can set you up with a quick change system so that you can run a variety of calibers.

Vern Smith
HPF Gunsmithing
3889 West 3000 North
Benson, UT 84335
435-753-0663


Or search the marketplace section on the FALfiles for a guy with the user name Hebrew Battle Rifle. I'm pretty sure at some point along the way I've seen someone post about having a 7mm-08 FAL. I would have bet money that DSA had advertised them in the past.

 

[Sunray]

Having an FAL barrel made would likely cost you as much as, if not more, than the whole rifle. Like SlamFire1 says, everything has to be absolutely right or the rifle just won't work.
Reaming a 22" barrel accurately requires a highly skilled machinist with special tooling. Think in terms of $60 plus per hour.

 

[Deer Hunter]

I believe I once saw a thread over at FAL files where a guy made a .351 Winchester (or some .35-08 round) barrel for his FAL and it worked.