iamkris
Member
You're obviously hanging out in Wal*Marts when you travel...
The popularity of the FAL in America.
- Thread starter jagdpanzer347
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You're obviously hanging out in Wal*Marts when you travel...
Deer Hunter
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Since America succomed to "not-made-hereitus" and adopted the M14, the FAL took a while to get here.
RevolvingCylinder
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Your Wal-Marts sell M14 and AR-10 variants? That's awesome.
RockyMtnTactical
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I guess it's just a personal thing...
W.E.G.
Member
All your FAL are belong to us.
cameron.personal
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- Oct 4, 2004
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- 369
There you go!
Don't make technical excuses for an emotional decision.
silverlance
Member
Indeed. While I do have a dog in this as a FAL manufacturer, my agreement with your suggestion to buy one now while they are still affordable is completely honest. There aren't going to be any more surplus MBRs coming, guys. Everyone's gone to intermediate select fire rifles, and even in the extremely unlikely event that customs/U.N. allows importation of parts kits the barrels will be demilled and ruined so your cost would go way up. If you can't afford the whole gun right now, buy at least the receiver.
I own many combat rifles, from 1891 Mosin-Nagant up to a Sabre Defense AR15 made in February of this year. Of them all, I would say that the FAL is the best true battle rifle due to its ergonomics, robust build, ease of cleaning and disassembly, and adjustable gas system. Certainly, my opinion is but one - but an educated one. While the performance of any given weapon lies ultimately with the wielder, the FAL gives you quite a bit of tool to work with.
That said, the FAL's "beauty" - if you can call any modern battle rifle beautiful - pales considerably when you put it next to its predecessor, the SAFN-49.
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jakeswensonmt
Member
Man, W.E.G., that is one dry and neglected looking stack of FAL's... Were they ever blued? Is that rust? Ach! I think someone should distribute those out to THR members so that they'll get the love and attention that they need.
J_Dillinger
Member
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- Sep 10, 2007
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- 90
FAL handouts ?
Gimme one.........please.......gimme one.........
Over here, I need a FAL ~ rusty or not I'll make it sing.
Gimme one.........please.......gimme one.........
Over here, I need a FAL ~ rusty or not I'll make it sing.
Ian Sean
Member
Pfffft...those are just broken in...considering "old dirty" those are beauties!
W.E.G., great picture, I am drooling over here,...in the words Jayne (Firefly) "I'll be in my bunk".
Prince Yamato
Member
They're getting more popular because in my estimation, the AR is going to be the next "bubba-gun" in 10 years or so. As in, they're going to become so popular a hunting rifle that people will want something more militarily applicable and perhaps NOT want an AK... hence FAL.
evan price
Member
Popular because until a few years ago you could buy a $99 parts kit and a $99 receiver and have a 7.62 MBR for $200 and some wecsoging. Nowadays, 922 (r) compliance parts, a good receiver and a good kit are going to triple that easily. But it is still a heckuva good rifle.
Why did I start with FALs? I had a Galil 7.62 and the AK platform really does nothing for me asthetically. The AR15s are just toys and direct impingement gas system is abad idea. AR10s and AR180s are expensive as are M14's and G3's were not around. The FAL is one of those guns, like a Colt SAA, that anybody sees one knows what it is.
Why did I start with FALs? I had a Galil 7.62 and the AK platform really does nothing for me asthetically. The AR15s are just toys and direct impingement gas system is abad idea. AR10s and AR180s are expensive as are M14's and G3's were not around. The FAL is one of those guns, like a Colt SAA, that anybody sees one knows what it is.
silverlance
Member
what is wecsoging? pardon my ignorance.
Ian Sean
Member
W.E.C.S.O.G.= Wile E. Coyote School Of Gunsmithing.....coined over on the FALFILES for homebuilding FAL rifles. Pretty much applies to anyone home building guns with parts kits.
If you don't know what your doing you get a kaboom....ala..Wile E Coyote.
I are a graduate......10+ FALS built, a 1919, a Garand...still building.
If you don't know what your doing you get a kaboom....ala..Wile E Coyote.
I are a graduate......10+ FALS built, a 1919, a Garand...still building.
kBob
Member
Well my FAL experiences started off badly. In the Mid 1970s I got to work with Brit and Canadian troops in Europe. Their rifles were not todays new DSAs etc. They complained of the rifles lack of reliability and inaccuracy. My breif experience with them at the time seemed to confirm those appraisals.
I would point out that in Isreali tests of that time FALs were consided less reliable than the M-16A1 with those bad old lubricants of the time.
They liked the G3 much better it seemed.
It would be the early 1980s before I had a goood experience with an FAL, this time the then new Sprigfield SAR48. New Brasilian rifle. Shot remarkably well and I had zero reliability problems in the two months I played with it.
Then my next experience was a Century post ban FAL......
So my experiences were varied enough that , well I don't know if I want to spend that kind of money for a pig in a poke.
I did not particularly like the feel of any of them, but then as I have statied was raised on a diet of traditionaly made wood stocks. I found the safety selectors of all of theFAL I have handles a bit hard to manipulate compared to Garand types, M-1 carbine types and Armalite types.....but that may be my wee little thumb.
I think the main appeal is the same thing that makes grass on the other side of the fence look greener and the availability of FALs in the last couple of decades. Ithink part of what makes them so great to some folks is that they have one and you do not. I also think they are decent rifles and if they fit you and your needs go for it.
If one of those first year Springfields in like new condition (or a modern assembled gun of like quality)were offered to me a a price I could afford, I would jump at it. Unfortunately at the moment if they were selling steam boats for a dime, all I could do would be run up and down the banks of the river screaming "Ain't that cheap?"
-Bob Hollingsworth
I would point out that in Isreali tests of that time FALs were consided less reliable than the M-16A1 with those bad old lubricants of the time.
They liked the G3 much better it seemed.
It would be the early 1980s before I had a goood experience with an FAL, this time the then new Sprigfield SAR48. New Brasilian rifle. Shot remarkably well and I had zero reliability problems in the two months I played with it.
Then my next experience was a Century post ban FAL......
So my experiences were varied enough that , well I don't know if I want to spend that kind of money for a pig in a poke.
I did not particularly like the feel of any of them, but then as I have statied was raised on a diet of traditionaly made wood stocks. I found the safety selectors of all of theFAL I have handles a bit hard to manipulate compared to Garand types, M-1 carbine types and Armalite types.....but that may be my wee little thumb.
I think the main appeal is the same thing that makes grass on the other side of the fence look greener and the availability of FALs in the last couple of decades. Ithink part of what makes them so great to some folks is that they have one and you do not. I also think they are decent rifles and if they fit you and your needs go for it.
If one of those first year Springfields in like new condition (or a modern assembled gun of like quality)were offered to me a a price I could afford, I would jump at it. Unfortunately at the moment if they were selling steam boats for a dime, all I could do would be run up and down the banks of the river screaming "Ain't that cheap?"
-Bob Hollingsworth
RevolvingCylinder
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- 782
Cool.
Don't take what I say as something negative about the FAL rifles. I'd like to see(and fire) one myself. They just aren't the most popular 7.62mm rifles in my experience.
Ash
Member
In the South, you can find several FAL's at the gunshows.
Ash
Ash
I've owned one FAL (a Century) and I didn't really like it that much.
It had one of those thumbhole stocks with the slanted skinny grip and it had a rear sight that flipped up in back that you couldn't really adjust. With that crappy stock I couldn't reach the safety with my right thumb and so I had to use my left hand to disengage the safety. The finish consisted of a black crayon type finish that looked like it had been put on with a paintbrush. The only drawback that it didn't have was that it was really reliable and I never had a single malfunction no matter what kind of ammo I fed it.
It's my own fault as I'm the one who bought the damn thing, but I was in my very early twenties and the AWB was just about to go into effect and I got caught up in the hype and just settled for that FAL when I could have gotten a much better example of the same gun for about the same amount. Buying that gun taught me to not buy into alot of the hype that floats around and to think very carefully and to study and weigh your options before plunking down your hard earned cash. Century FALs are really horrible and I'll never buy anything from them ever again.
On the other hand I've shot a DSA manufactured FAL that a buddy bought awhile back and it shoots like a dream and it doesn't have a single one of those problems. The pistol grip feels great, it's got a great trigger for a battle rifle, it's accurate, reliable and it looks really sharp with a very nice black and green finish. I've also molested FAL's from Enterprise at gun shows before and they seem like they're almost as good as the DSA's.
If or when I get another FAL it'll be from DSA for sure.
Maybe something like this one,....
...but in this finish.
That's quite a ways down the road for me though.
It had one of those thumbhole stocks with the slanted skinny grip and it had a rear sight that flipped up in back that you couldn't really adjust. With that crappy stock I couldn't reach the safety with my right thumb and so I had to use my left hand to disengage the safety. The finish consisted of a black crayon type finish that looked like it had been put on with a paintbrush. The only drawback that it didn't have was that it was really reliable and I never had a single malfunction no matter what kind of ammo I fed it.
It's my own fault as I'm the one who bought the damn thing, but I was in my very early twenties and the AWB was just about to go into effect and I got caught up in the hype and just settled for that FAL when I could have gotten a much better example of the same gun for about the same amount. Buying that gun taught me to not buy into alot of the hype that floats around and to think very carefully and to study and weigh your options before plunking down your hard earned cash. Century FALs are really horrible and I'll never buy anything from them ever again.
On the other hand I've shot a DSA manufactured FAL that a buddy bought awhile back and it shoots like a dream and it doesn't have a single one of those problems. The pistol grip feels great, it's got a great trigger for a battle rifle, it's accurate, reliable and it looks really sharp with a very nice black and green finish. I've also molested FAL's from Enterprise at gun shows before and they seem like they're almost as good as the DSA's.
If or when I get another FAL it'll be from DSA for sure.
Maybe something like this one,....
...but in this finish.
That's quite a ways down the road for me though.
Ghost Tracker
Member
I own an FN-FAL (metric) & an L1A1 (inch). They've generally proven to be tough, reliable, accurate representatives of the MBR class. I prefer them to G3 & M1A1 designs for a variety of purely subjective personal reasons. I disagree with the M14 being more "popular" either by numbers produced or adopting countries. I would believe, with the obvious exception of AK-based designs, the FAL may be the most universally accepted Combat Rifle of its time. They're popular because they're; (once) easily kit built, have a high gee-whiz factor, have part availability, and feel more like a Rifleman's Rifle than many of its more modern counterparts (except the M1A1). I don't know about other parts of the country, but around these parts if you've never seen a FAL...you haven't been looking.
HorseSoldier
Member
+1 -- it's a rare gun show where I don't see several FALs (sometimes of dubious heritage, I admit) -- probably more than you see M14 clones, to be honest. DSA rifles are much less common (though one of my local places stocks them from time to time -- they go fast when they have them), but Centuries and such aren't very rare.
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