My New FAL is Jamming; Please Help!

[ny32182]

You might try using the fine sandpaper on the underside/inside edges of the receiver rails in the forward part of the mag well. The cases will contact this part of the receiver rails during feeding.

When I first got my SA-58, the gas had to be turned up to "3" for totally reliable feeding. After I used some 600 grit sandpaper to smooth out said portion of the rails, next range trip, the rifle fed 69 out of the first 70 rounds with the gas port all the way open [and the mag full... makes big difference]... after that I set the gas to 5 and it hasn't failed since, and feeds with authority on that setting. Good luck. Personally, I'd see about getting a FAL gunsmith to take a look at it if that doesn't work.

EDIT: also, quit using metric mags. If the receiver is inch, you should be using inch mags only. The gun will never be nearly as reliable with a metric mag as it will be properly running with an inch mag. In a metric receiver, you can't even seat an inch mag, I don't think.

 

[Drakejake]

Badboy,

The inch mags work worse than the metric, probably because the fit is too tight. The inch mags jam from the right side and fail to strip the round fully on the left side. It seems to me that the Century unibrow configuration works poorly with both unmodified metric and inch mags. But I am encouraged by the results of filing the feed lips of the metrics. I will soon go to the range to see how these mags work during firing.

Thanks,

Drakejake

 

[ny32182]

Ok, well, you are welcome to give it a try of course... it is always going to be safe to say that if it doesn't work with inch mags, something is wrong. In a normally speced inch receiver, metric mags are too loose for reliable functioning.

Also, "failing to strip rounds fully" sounds like the exact same sort of problem I was having with the gas port on settings greater than "3", prior to smoothing out the receiver rails.

 

[Drakejake]

Badboy,

I am just handcycling two rounds from the mag, not firing at the range. I suspect that the inch mags fit so tight that nothing is working right. When I go to the range I will see what effects come from adjusting the gas.

Drakejake

 

[nickthecanuck]

Hand cycling is not the same as firing.
Try firing the rifle and see what happens.

My FAL FTFs if I ride the cocking handle down slowly but functions perfectly in actual use. Is that what you mean by hand cycling or are you dropping the bolt from the locked back position?

 

[Drakejake]

Dropping the bolt from the rear position. I am not riding the handle or blocking the forward movement. Bad news for me--when the mags are fully loaded, the jamming returns. My tests had previously involved loading only two rounds into the mag. But I agree that the dynamics of live fire may produce a better result than cycling by hand. I will got to the range soon.

Drakejake

 

[Texfire]

Sad to report that I have given up on my Century FAL. I just decided that it wasn't worth the trouble it would take to get it working.

I was trying different ammo in it and still had a FTF problem, on the left side this time for a change, and the charging handle came off. That was the final straw. I am sure that with time and money I could have gotten it running, but I'm not willing to spend that on a "new" weapon.

The good news is my store offered me a refund for it, I asked for store credit instead, and I'm only out the cost of the ammo I expended trying to get it to work. I still want an FAL eventually, but not a Century one.

 

[Father Knows Best]

You did the same thing I would have done. I decided long ago that cheap guns aren't worth it. When you consider the value of all the time and frustration you spend trying to get them to work, you could have bought a higher quality gun and a couple of thousand rounds of ammo for it.

Save your money and get a DSA. A good used Stg58 should set you back about $500-800, depending on configuration and condition.

 

[Drakejake]

A friend invited me out to the country today to fire my jamming FAL. He is a gunsmith and very familiar with a variety of firearms and has assembled and worked on FALs. He told me that the reason the rifle might be jamming was that the front of the feed lips on the mags were not high enough and that this allowed some looseness in the mag well and a rocking motion during firing. His solution was to bend the front lips up slightly. This procedure brought some success in dry-firing with the firing pin removed but did not work on all the mags he examined. We then went down to shoot. The old metric mag which seemed to work in his house, and which he gave me, fired all 20 rounds without jamming. The second mag, which he also worked on, jammed badly on the second shot. Perhaps I did not have it locked in all the way. It is an inch mag and inserts with great difficulty. A mag that I had modified jammed on the second shot but then fired the remainder of the rounds with no jams. I reloaded that mag and it fired 20 rounds with no jams. So it now seems that I have two mags that work. They are both metric. My friend told me that the receiver was metric but had been modified to take inch mags. Metric mags go right in and are not unduly loose, while inch mags must be forced to lock in. Go figure.

As I was thinking through these developments and examining the rifle and the mags, it occurred to me that my friend might be wrong. By bending the front lips up, he was fixing the front of the mag more in a downward direction, away from the muzzle. This is the opposite from where we want the round to go. It seems to me it would be better to do something that would make the front of the mag tilt up a bit. Perhaps the latching beak on the front of these metric mags is a bit high and isn't forcing the front of the mag upwards. I will consider that possibility further.

It also occurs to me that the reason that rounds feeding from the right are more likely to jam than those coming from the left is that the feed ramp is lower on the right and not directing the tip of the round upwards as much as occurs on the left side of the ramp.

At any rate, I am very encouraged to have two mags that feed and look forward to testing other mags at the range in hopes of finding more that function properly. Thanks to all who have offered advice and comments.

Drakejake