My New FAL is Jamming; Please Help!

[Drakejake]

I bought a Century Arms FAL on Saturday. The seller told me it was the metric version but research has shown that it is totally inch pattern. It will not function with metric mags because a round from the right side of the mag gets stuck between the "unibrow" feed ramp and the edge of the chamber. I have inch pattern mags on order. Unless the inch mags work, the only solution I can see is to fill in the gap with hard solder so that the tip of the round cannot get stuck. Is this feasible? Any other ideas?

Thanks,

Drakejake

 

[Texfire]

I'm working through a problem with my own Century FAL. Might I suggest going over and asking the folks at http://www.falfiles.com/forums/index.php They have been quite helpful and a search of the forums will discover many posts about the dreaded CAI "unibrow" FAL.

 

[Drakejake]

Thanks. I have been thoroughly working that forum.

My problem may be using metric mags. I have inch mags on order.


Drakejake

 

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Are you sure the gas system is adjusted properly?

If not, then it won't matter what kind of rifle or mags you use. The rifle will consistently malf.

 

[Trebor]

Try a different magazine. Make sure the problem isn't related to a single bad mag. (I learned this one the hard way)

Make sure the gas setting is adjusted correctly. Open it up all the way and see if it runs. If it does, close the setting in increments. Look for the point where failures start to occur. Back up the setting two clicks from that point.

 

[boofus]

My Century L1A1 was a total piece of garbage. From the get-go it never did feed properly. I tried 3 different mags and none of them worked. Finally I just started loading rounds through the ejection port hoping shooting a few rounds would break-in the gun and make it work.

After 10 or so rounds the bolt became jammed in the upper with a spent case, a piece of the firing pin fell out the bottom. I returned that POS to the dealer and he gave me a full refund including FFL transfer fee.

He said to get the thing unstuck he had to hit on it with a sledgehammer. The only good things I can say about the gun are: At least I got my money back and it didn't blow up and kill me.

 

[GunnySkox]

If y'all's Century FALs keep on having problems and such, Arizona Expert Arms has a service where they "Redo" Century rifles and fix any "mistakes" or shoddy work which could be causing chronic problems.

http://www.azexarms.com/cai_redo.html

~GnSx

 

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Make sure the gas setting is adjusted correctly. Open it up all the way and see if it runs.

Shouldn't that read CLOSE it up all the way?

Turning the gas adjustment ring will either open (expose) or close (hide) a small vent hole. Opening that vent releases excess gas pressure. If you release too much gas pressure (i.e. open the vent too far) there won't be enough left to cycle the action. Closing that hole completely provides maximum force to cycle the action.

Test the gas system by closing the vent hole completely. Load one round into the chamber, and seat an empty magazine. Fire the rifle. If the empty case ejects and the bolt locks back consistently, then your gas system probably works OK. If not, the rifle needs repair.

If the gas system is OK, then move on to test the magazines. Leave the gas vent fully closed. Load up some known-reliable magazines and give the rifle some exercise. If it works reliably you know the problem was with the old magazines. If not, the rifle needs repair.

 

[warth0g]

Had the same problem in my FAL with metric mags, INCH mags works just fine.

my FAL is an L1A1.

warth0g

 

[wayne in boca]

My first FAL was a Century L1A1 with the dread unibrow feed ramp.Bullet tips from the right side of the mag hung up between the feed ramp and the chamber.Tried everything,finally took it to a smith who saw it as a personal challenge.He reshaped the feed ramp /barrel ramp area and now I have an extremely dependable rifle that is one of my favorites.Hang in there,it can be fixed.

 

[Drakejake]

Wayne and Wart:

My problem is exactly the same as yours, so I am encouraged that there are solutions. I have inch mags on the way.

Drakejake

 

[Trebor]

Shouldn't that read CLOSE it up all the way?

Turning the gas adjustment ring will either open (expose) or close (hide) a small vent hole. Opening that vent releases excess gas pressure. If you release too much gas pressure (i.e. open the vent too far) there won't be enough left to cycle the action. Closing that hole completely provides maximum force to cycle the action. .

Yeah, your right. I do the same thing when I describe camera aperatures and F-stop settings. *I* know what I meant. Can't you guys read my mind?

 

[MechAg94]

Should have bought an AR!!

 

[Sunray]

Coming from Century it likely has a mixture of inch and metric parts. Century has no QC.

 

[JohnKSa]

Should have bought an AR!!

Yeah, then instead of spending a little money on gunsmithing, he could be spending a lot on .308 AR magazines...

 

[MechAg94]

I don't have any desire to get an AR-10 partly for that reason. I would buy an FAL or a PTR-91 first. Maybe both eventually.

I have an M1A right now that works just fine with plenty of workable mags. One of these days I'll buy another .308. No hurry at this time.

 

[Drakejake]

More FAL Problems with Inch Mags

I got some new Australian inch mags today. I eagerly tried inserting them into my Century-assembled FAL and found that the fit was almost impossibly tight. I finally got one inserted and locked in. (They were also extremely difficult to remove from the mag well.) I then proceeded to hand cycle some rounds (with the safety on). Although I managed to get one round to feed into the chamber from the right side, other attempts resulted in jams above the feed ramp. The metric mags had usually succeeded in loading rounds from the left side of the mag. With the inch mags, the bolt rode over rounds coming from the left. I had not experienced this before. My guess is that the round starts to feed but as it does so, the bottom of the case drops and then the bolt rides over it. Needless to say, I am very discouraged that I cannot get this rifle to cycle with either kind of mag. Along the way, I have used fine sandpaper to polish up the feed ramp and the lip of the chamber but haven't seen any positive results.

I am aware that someone has stated that the front lip of the inch mags may need some smoothing in order to latch properly and I have already done some of that. Any more suggestions on these feeding problems?

Thanks,

Drakejake

 

[Texfire]

Figured out that most of the problem with my FAL was one mag with a bent feedlip.

I know, I know, but in my defense I also had another problem with new rifle break-in that led me astray from the obvious choice. I was having problems with all the magazines, but only put 140 rounds through it before heading back to my dealer. But the bent feedlip was the source of my righthand feed bolt overruns.

The dealer cleaned it real well, and identified the bent mag. He then shot another couple of mags with it while setting the gas regulator. He says that when they dropped that mag from the rotation and got the gas set to 3.5 that the FTFs stopped happening.

I have 40 rounds of 4 different brands of ammo to try in it at the range tomorrow; South African, Malaysian, Wolf and Winchester. I figure that that should answer the question as to whether I am having a magazine problem, ammo problem or a receiver problem. Hopefully I'll have better luck.

 

[Seven High]

FAL Magazines

Drakejake: I also had problems with my FAL magazines. Try this: Grab the bottom of the magazine when it is inserted in the magazine well. Try to pull it from front to back. If there is any looseness, this could be causing the weapon to not load the round. I ended up using some JB Weld on the back latch of the magazines in my possesion to tighten them up. I had to use needle files to file off the excess amount of weld, but they then worked fine.

 

[Drakejake]

I have now gotten one metric mag to feed from both left and right in hand cycling. I sanded the front portion of the right feed lip and put a drop of oil on the feedramp. The inch magazines (my receiver is inch) jam the round on the right of the mag and won't strip the round from the left side. A puzzle.

Drakejake

 

[Trebor]

Are you positive the receiver is inch? The seller identified it as metric. Century did build rifles with Inch parts on metric receivers. The fact that the metric mags seem to fit better (per your description) than the inch mags is another clue. How did you originally determine the receiver was inch? I just don't want to see you go down the wrong path trying to make inch mags work if the receiver really is metric.

 

[Drakejake]

I sent the serial number to Century and they told me the receiver was inch and the gun was assembled December, 2001. I tried to identify the receiver as inch or metric based on the indention for the front mag latch but wasn't sure. Since inch mags will lock into the rifle, I am sure that the receiver is inch, as Century states. The rest of the rifle is clearly inch: folding charging handle, folding rear sight, tabs on dust cover, etc.

Thanks,

Drakejake

 

[salty]

A CAI FAL or CETME with a problem - humm. I have a CAI Franken FAL of recent assembly. Fortunately for me it works great. Metric lower - Inch upper. Metric mags work fine - Inch no way. I had to have a bolt last round hold open pin made by my gunsmith as CAI left the orginal one out. I just looked at a earlier assembled Imbel / Israeli with wood and found it to be poorly finished and for lack of a better word "clunky". Recent CAI's appear to be built better however IMO the DSA StG58 is a far better rifle for not that much more money.

 

[Drakejake]

Got One Metric Mag to Hand Cycle

I now have one metric mag that will feed rounds from the left and right sides in hand cycling. I used fine sandpaper on the feedramp and on the mag lips and put a drop of oil on the feedramp area . This is at least a beginning.

Drakejake

 

[Drakejake]

I have found that I can make metric mags feed from the right side of the mag(they all feed from the left) if I file some metal off the front side of the right feed lip. I did this on the premise that the feed lip was not allowing the round to rise towards the bore. This has worked with four metric mags. I also put some oil on the feedramp area. This appears to a possible solution to feeding jams with the unibrow Century receiver that I have.

Drakejake