FAL Gurus?

[Fire4Effect]

I've been looking to buy a FAL .308. I found a local dealer who has one for $700. The gun appears to be in good shape. What I know about the gun, and from the guy has told me, it's a Century Arms L1A1 with an Imbel reciever. It doesn't have a carrying handle or scope and looks pretty basic. The day I went there I was on my motorcycle and had a gym bag. I told the guy if he could show me how to break it down so that I could fit it in the bag for transport that I would buy it. He told me he wasn't sure how to break the gun down. this guy deals mainly in AK, SKS and FAL type rifles so I found it suspicious that he wouldn't know how to take it apart, and I'm wondering what else he does or doesn't know about the weapons he is selling. So, based on the above, is the gun a possible good deal or is this guy just blowing smoke and I should go elsewhere, and is there anything I should look for in particular on the FAL rifles?

 

[wayne in boca]

A lot of dealers aren't really that familiar with their products.Don't make your purchase decision based on HIS knowledge,make it based on YOUR knowledge.A Century on an Imbel should be OK,if not the guys over at Falfiles.com will be happy to help you fix it.

 

[Matthew748]

I like the part about it being built on an Imbel receiver, but I am not nuts about Century Arms doing the build up. If you are not in a hurry and are willing to spend an extra $ 200.00 or 300.00, search around for a DSA built STG58. That is an FAL built by skilled smiths on a machined DSA receiver using Steyr or FN parts. You probably won’t see many sitting on the shelf, but someone with an FFL can order it for you from DSA.

 

[Fire4Effect]

Thanks for the advice

 

[Dave Markowitz]

$700 is too high for a Century FAL.

Check out the forums at <http://www.falfiles.com>.

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

$700 is too high for a Century FAL.

Check out the forums at <http://www.falfiles.com>.

+1 on that. I put my FAL together for $400 a couple of years ago. You can certainly do the same for under $700 today. I would recommend a metric rifle as parts are more widely available. Accept nothing less than the best. If the receiver doesn't have the imbel gear logo, wait for another one. I waited for one and have never regretted it.