I am not really a "tactical" sort of guy. Truth be known, I lean towards classic single-shot sporting rifles. But somehow I wound up with a couple of "black rifles" over the years and I found them to be great fun.
Around 1980 (give or take a year) a friend called me. He had put a Heckler & Koch Model 91 on lay-away at the local gun emporium and then lost his job. He really was in no position to pay off the balance and didn't want to lose the $200 he had put down on it, so he asked if I was interested in buy him out. Well, I really wasn't interested in the rifle but I wanted to help my buddy out so I gave him his $200 back and I paid off the balance on the 91. I think it was around $380 and it was brand new in the box.
I know, this is supposed to be about the FAL and I keep going on about this 91. Trust me, it will eventually tie together.
So, the 91 hangs around the house a few years gathering dust. Then one day at the gun shop they have a killer deal on some surplus 7.62x51 ammo. Some European stuff with Berdan primers. Priced real cheap and perfect for plinking around. I think it was 1,000 rounds for $89. Anyway, I buy a case and drag out the 91. Shooting that thing was a hoot and a half.
Then in 1985 tragedy strikes. A bunch of punk kids break into my home while I am out actually working for a living and being a productive member of society. The 91 is gone along with all my other guns (save the M1 Garand which they left behind for some reason).
I replaced the guns that were lost and found myself longing for another 308 semi-auto. A friend had just returned from 2 years U.s. Army duty in Germany. While he was there, he bought an FAL through the Post Exchange. Now back home, he and the wife wanted to buy a house, so the FAL was offered to me for $700. Even in 1985 that was not a bad price and this gun is cool in that it has no import stampings on it. I bought it.
See, I told you that I would get around to the FAL.
As much as I like the H&K 91, I like the FAL more. It is sleeker and more ergonomic. It became my favorite plinker.
By the way, in 2002, 17 years after the burglary, the LAPD calls to say they recovered my stolen 91 from a drug dealer. So I get it back and it is in perfect condition.
If the highly unlikely situation ever arose where I had to arm myself for urban warfare, the FAL is what I would take with me. I agree the AR 15 is lighter and you can pack more ammo, but a man with an FAL just looks like he is open for business and when that 308 speaks, people listen.
When my wife was in graduate school at a big city, very liberal university, she had a photo of me on the wall above her desk in the grad student office. I was in the desert, surrounded by nothing but miles of barren landscape, wearing a muscle shirt, firing the FAL at some distant target. Five shell casings are clearly visible in the air as I rapid fire the FAL. She said all the oh-so-liberal grad students would see the snapshot and blanch. You don't have to shoot it to have fun with it.
Around 1980 (give or take a year) a friend called me. He had put a Heckler & Koch Model 91 on lay-away at the local gun emporium and then lost his job. He really was in no position to pay off the balance and didn't want to lose the $200 he had put down on it, so he asked if I was interested in buy him out. Well, I really wasn't interested in the rifle but I wanted to help my buddy out so I gave him his $200 back and I paid off the balance on the 91. I think it was around $380 and it was brand new in the box.
I know, this is supposed to be about the FAL and I keep going on about this 91. Trust me, it will eventually tie together.
So, the 91 hangs around the house a few years gathering dust. Then one day at the gun shop they have a killer deal on some surplus 7.62x51 ammo. Some European stuff with Berdan primers. Priced real cheap and perfect for plinking around. I think it was 1,000 rounds for $89. Anyway, I buy a case and drag out the 91. Shooting that thing was a hoot and a half.
Then in 1985 tragedy strikes. A bunch of punk kids break into my home while I am out actually working for a living and being a productive member of society. The 91 is gone along with all my other guns (save the M1 Garand which they left behind for some reason).
I replaced the guns that were lost and found myself longing for another 308 semi-auto. A friend had just returned from 2 years U.s. Army duty in Germany. While he was there, he bought an FAL through the Post Exchange. Now back home, he and the wife wanted to buy a house, so the FAL was offered to me for $700. Even in 1985 that was not a bad price and this gun is cool in that it has no import stampings on it. I bought it.
See, I told you that I would get around to the FAL.
As much as I like the H&K 91, I like the FAL more. It is sleeker and more ergonomic. It became my favorite plinker.
By the way, in 2002, 17 years after the burglary, the LAPD calls to say they recovered my stolen 91 from a drug dealer. So I get it back and it is in perfect condition.
If the highly unlikely situation ever arose where I had to arm myself for urban warfare, the FAL is what I would take with me. I agree the AR 15 is lighter and you can pack more ammo, but a man with an FAL just looks like he is open for business and when that 308 speaks, people listen.
When my wife was in graduate school at a big city, very liberal university, she had a photo of me on the wall above her desk in the grad student office. I was in the desert, surrounded by nothing but miles of barren landscape, wearing a muscle shirt, firing the FAL at some distant target. Five shell casings are clearly visible in the air as I rapid fire the FAL. She said all the oh-so-liberal grad students would see the snapshot and blanch. You don't have to shoot it to have fun with it.
