I've posted several threads about my FrankenFAL and the troubles I had with it.
It had a bad case of vertical stringing. I tried several things, and was actually on the verge of taking it to the local gun shop and getting some cash out of it when I stumbled upon a fix.
I shortened the length of the zytel front handguards by 1/10th of an inch with an exacto knife, and problems were fixed. Shortening the handguards removed the tension on the barrel.
I spent yesterday afternoon out at the 300 yard line. I did not have my digital camera with me , but here's a short description.
My FrankenFAL was grouping only slightly larger than my M1A with a Kreiger barrel and a bedded action.
In fact, at 300 yards, off a rest, I had one group that looked like this with the FrankenFAL.....Five total shots. Four of them inside of 3 inches, with one flier down low to extend it out to about six inches total.
Firing from a field prone position, I was able to reliably hit a B-27 silhouette in the torso shot after shot after shot.
With my M1A at 300, I can make head shot after head shot on a B-27 silhouette.
Another key to the FrankeFAL is to NOT use a sling in prone. The sling attaches right to the barrel, and tension on the sling puts tension on the barrel, and causes the same problems that the slightly over-long handguard caused.
But my FrankenFAL has gone from a frustrating project gun that used to group around 7 to 11 inches at 100 yards, to a rifle that I can now reliably shoot groups that big, or smaller at 300 yards.
Color me happy.
Oh yeah, one more thing. The M1A has the Garand-style elevation and windage adjustable sights with the easy-to-turn knobs.
The FAL has a rear sight that takes a screwdriver to adjust, and does not have "clicks" to it....you just loosen one screw on one side, and then tighten the other screw on the opposite side.
There is no way the FAL sight adjustments can ever be as good as the M1A.
Any windage adjustments during a string of shots with the FAL have to be made Kentucky style.
If you're shooting the FAL, and the wind picks up, you can't reach up and put another click or two of MOA to compensate for it. You have to guess and hold left or right a bit.
hillbilly
It had a bad case of vertical stringing. I tried several things, and was actually on the verge of taking it to the local gun shop and getting some cash out of it when I stumbled upon a fix.
I shortened the length of the zytel front handguards by 1/10th of an inch with an exacto knife, and problems were fixed. Shortening the handguards removed the tension on the barrel.
I spent yesterday afternoon out at the 300 yard line. I did not have my digital camera with me , but here's a short description.
My FrankenFAL was grouping only slightly larger than my M1A with a Kreiger barrel and a bedded action.
In fact, at 300 yards, off a rest, I had one group that looked like this with the FrankenFAL.....Five total shots. Four of them inside of 3 inches, with one flier down low to extend it out to about six inches total.
Firing from a field prone position, I was able to reliably hit a B-27 silhouette in the torso shot after shot after shot.
With my M1A at 300, I can make head shot after head shot on a B-27 silhouette.
Another key to the FrankeFAL is to NOT use a sling in prone. The sling attaches right to the barrel, and tension on the sling puts tension on the barrel, and causes the same problems that the slightly over-long handguard caused.
But my FrankenFAL has gone from a frustrating project gun that used to group around 7 to 11 inches at 100 yards, to a rifle that I can now reliably shoot groups that big, or smaller at 300 yards.
Color me happy.
Oh yeah, one more thing. The M1A has the Garand-style elevation and windage adjustable sights with the easy-to-turn knobs.
The FAL has a rear sight that takes a screwdriver to adjust, and does not have "clicks" to it....you just loosen one screw on one side, and then tighten the other screw on the opposite side.
There is no way the FAL sight adjustments can ever be as good as the M1A.
Any windage adjustments during a string of shots with the FAL have to be made Kentucky style.
If you're shooting the FAL, and the wind picks up, you can't reach up and put another click or two of MOA to compensate for it. You have to guess and hold left or right a bit.
hillbilly
