Need advice: Imbel R1A1 Sporter

[cpirtle]

Hey all, I have a Colt Talo New Agent I'm selling and have a friend of a friend offering to trade even for an Imbel R1A1 Sporter, with "grenade launcher", scope and 2 mag's. No idea yet if it's inch or metric..

My friend has the rifle and I'm planning to meet him tomorrow to take a look at it but I really don't know much about the specifics of the various "FAL's" and what they're worth.

I had him read off some of the markings and specifically look for anything "Century" or "CAI" and he did not see anything. Are there non-Century R1A1 Sporters?

Can anyone offer any advice on what I should be looking for when I go see this thing tomorrow?

Initially I'm planning to keep it because I don't have a 308 in the stable but I would like to also have an idea if it's something I can likely get $1000 (or more) for if I do decide to let it go.

Lay it on me..

 

[Rio Laxas]

Here is a link to an ad for an R1A1 kit that was built on an Imbel receiver:

http://www.falfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=326735

So it looks like the R1A1 may not be limited to Century. It could be a mixture of both inch or metric parts. You should find out who made the receiver. The resale value will be determined by who made the parts and the quality of the build. One thing to look for that is a common mistake with some of the Century builds is an inch front sight with a metric rear sight or vice versa. That will cause the rifle to have either a very high or very low POI depending on the combination.

This well help determine inch parts the metric parts:

http://www.dsarms.com/text/faq5.htm#1

 

[Shear_stress]

I had him read off some of the markings and specifically look for anything "Century" or "CAI" and he did not see anything. Are there non-Century R1A1 Sporters?

Yes and no. Century did import Imbel receivers that were the bases for many builds. I have an Imbel-on-Imbel built by a well known gunsmith on a Century-imported receiver. It is marked with the builder's name and build date.

However, the overwhelming majority of "R1A1"-marked guns were put together, some better than others, by Century. Even in this crazy market they are not worth trading your Colt for, especially when there many FALs from the DSA STG58 and Imbel models to rifles built by Gunplumber, AZEX, etc, to even Springfield SAR-4800s that are roughly equivalent in value to your pistol.

 

[cpirtle]

Thanks for the advice guys, too many chances for problems and too much I'm not familiar with on these rifles so I told him I'd pass.

 

[surfinUSA]

The R1 was a South African FAL. The R1A1 is a Century Designation that they made up.