FN FAL price check & opinions

[SemperFi83]

Price check on FN FAL in .308 and opinions versus other available battle rifles in same caliber?

Thanks.

Edited to add: Looking for info/opinions on reliability, availability/affordability of magazines, customer service, etc.

 

[kfranz]

FN Herstal or clone? FN's(and well built clones) rock....

Edited to add

Mags are dirt cheap and easy to find, spares are fairly readily available, and the warranty depends on the manufacturer. They are as dependable/reliable as any other x51 you'll find.

 

[jacketch]

Check the High Road Trading Post for some good deals on used firearms. I recently purchased a very nice DSA SA58 for $950 from someone on this forum.

If you aren't interested in used, try DSA or Ohio Rapid Fire for prices.

Mags are anywhere from $2 to $20 depending where you get them. Tapco has plenty of FAL parts/accessories.

For more info try FALfiles.com.

Most of my experience in .308 MBR is with M14 and FAL with a little experience with CETME. I think the FAL is the better rifle unless you want to do HighPower rifle competition and then the M14 wins. I really didn't like the charging handle on the CETME/HK91 guns (hated is a better word) although many love them. The FAL had the best ergonomics of all of them.

 

[Roadrunner]

And if you need any FAL-related info, if you haven't already found it, check out the Fal Files.

 

[SemperFi83]

Thanks guys...appreciate the help.

 

[MrMurphy]

The fact that the AK is the most widely issued rifle in the world, the FAL is right behind that, with the M16 barely catching up, should tell you something.

Over 90 nations did/do issue the FAL in one form or another and many make it locally.

It's a hell of a rifle. For long range competition the M14 wins but for basic military rifle use, the FAL wins (and it also "won" the competition for the U.S Armed Forces but the M14, being made here, got the contract).

Mags are everywhere and cheap, and it's a very reliable rifle. Ergonomics are better than the HK/Cetme rifles too.

 

[NMshooter]

There are plenty of cheap .308 semi-auto rifles out there, but unless you know what you are looking at and how to work on them, you are better off sticking with ones from reputable manufacturers. (i.e. not Century Arms)

DSA makes an awesome product.

The Armalite AR-10 is very nice too, but cheap magazines do not exist.

 

[Nitram68]

I bought a DSA STG58 carbine for $899 new. Well, it's not really new it's a kit gun that DSA makes from Austrian parts. Awesome deal and wonderful rifle. All metal hand guards with bipod folded into it. Full DSA warranty...

 

[Coronach]

Avoid: Century and Hesse. They can and have made good ones. But its a question of probability.

Go with: DSA, Arizona Response Systems, and...I'm blanking on other names.

Good receivers for kit guns are DSA and Imbel.

Mike

 

[usp_fan]

The FAL is hard to beat for overall value in a .308 battle rifle. You can buy a Century arms version and debug it for less than the price of a very cheap AR build. You can buy an Ohio Rapid Fire version for the price of a decent AR. You can easily buy a great quality FAL plus loads of mags and a 1000 rnds of ammo for less than the price of a base level M1A

I like my kit built FAL. If you have much mechanical ability, you can learn all you need to know to build a great FAL from parts for a bit more than a century built gun and much less than a DSA built gun.

As has been said, the FAL files are the place to go for good info.

--usp_fan

 

[standingbear]

I have a ohio rapid fire carbine model and the gun was done very well,the finish on it hasnt came off with solvents and the gun shoots real good.they have internet specials from time to time but they sell out quickly.they have a website.they had them from 475 internet specials but Ive seen they have gone up.I got the 475 special few years ago.

go with dsa or an imbel receiver,one can go from there as to parts kit origin..austrian,south american,american(dsa) or isreali to name a few.its all in what you like.some are inch pattern and some metric builds,sand cuts in the bolt vs not sand cuts,open ear sights,bipod cut barrel,non bipod..ect...lots of variations.metric mags are cheapest though.

theyre selling around $450 up to a grand depending.