FN-FAL R1A1 Price

[H1500308]

I'm looking at possibly buying an unfired R1A1. It was built on a Hess reciever. The owner bought it probably 15+ years ago and never shot it. I've heard good/bad things about Hess and wondered what the value of this rifle may be in order to make an offer.

I also was told that the Hess receivers were "better" after a certain year or timeframe but I don't know what that would be.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

 

[MountainBear]

I probably wouldn't pay more than $500 for it if I were you. A friend of mine picked up FAL yesterday with inch hardware on a metric receiver for $500. The receiver was a century arms marked Imbel receiver. Probably better quality receiver than the Hesse, but probably worse quality assembly (Century vs. gunsmith/kit assembly).

Hesse has had a rough reputation (as does Century Arms). Its hit and miss. Check headspace, check function. But for $500, it might be worth the risk...

 

[justashooter in pa]

the gun you are talking about is likely a century rebuild of a used english infantry rifle. unfired is not a word you should use to describe it. the century built guns often had feeding problems, and kit guns built by others on century receivers (yes, the century guns are kit guns, too) are likely to have any kind of problem.

inadequate barrel torque, improper barrel TDC orientation, feed ramp issues, improper headspace, FCG，you name it, they can occur, and they can all be fixed．

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