my new FN Fal (warning Lots of Pics)

[SquatchWorks]

I was told this was a Belgian Kit, Is there any way to find out? I took some pics, and will post them below, I would like to know where the rifle was from...








The handguard retainer ring and bipod screws look rusty, but they are not... just a wierd camera flash thing






markings on the Left side of barrel

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[SquatchWorks]

kind of a oval mark on the Bolt carrier infront of S/N

Same oval mark infront of S/N

 

[parsons_12b]

very nice how long is the barrel? and what is that on the end is it just threaded or does it have some kind of muzzle device.

 

[SquatchWorks]

Here is more of the Stock for SF-

 

[HappyRoman]

Yup, you warned.. lot's of great pictures, very nice.. sr

 

[SquatchWorks]

very nice how long is the barrel? and what is that on the end is it just threaded or does it have some kind of muzzle device.

16", The barrel is just threaded with no attachment as of now, I have one on order. I will have to re thread it, because they are all messed up as of now

 

[powermad]

Belgian made (FN) lower, barrel and bolt.
South African long stock.
Imbel reciever.
G1 or STG handguards.
Rhodiasian markings.
Looks like it's a Rhoadi FAL. Most were gotten from SA, who got them from FN at first before getting a licence to make their own.

 

[huntpotter]

yep, belgian made barrel. looks like Austrian STG58 bolt. FN made them for Austria until they got their own plant running. When the barrel is shortened too much, I've had problems with the gas system not getting enough pressure, so you have to close the gas regulator all the way to get it to cycle. Therefore making the adjustable gas system not work the same as a standard 18 or 21in barrel. Nice thing about fals, is that they shoot softer, because you can bleed off the excess gas.

 

[MWS]

I love my L1A1


I also like the 7.62 X 51 ( .308 ) battle packs but will start doing my own reloads for her very soon.

 

[CrossHairs]

Rhodiasian markings.

Was in Rhodesia till the early eighties...I'll pass the link along to some family, they may recognise something.

 

[Silver Fox]

iStud-

you got yourself a well assembled franken-FAL, nothing wrong with that. You need to be careful these are addicting. Without inspecting the barrel and chamber I'd say you got a pretty decent build gun, have you had a chance to inspect the head space? If not email me and I can show you how with my Forrester "GO and NO GO" gauges, but you need to remove the extractor first. Contact me we need to hook up.

SF-

 

[powermad]

Was in Rhodesia till the early eighties...I'll pass the link along to some family, they may recognise something.

Now that I am at home and not at work
The RA 16450 electro penciled on the right side of the lower means it's been in the hands of the Rhodesian army.

I surely hope the barrel was buggered to 16" and that's why they whacked an FN barrel.

Most Rhodie FAL's are painted with a baby poop camo scheme and are pretty beat. That looks to be a good gun.

It's a parts gun but not a frankenfal.
It's an FN parts gun with an Imbel Reciever.

It has a short gas tube.
The bolt, carrier and lower match. All are FN
It has an R marked selector that has had the detent ground off to allow it to swing to the A position and fire full auto.
Does yours have a hole on the inside for a cotter pin?
Pic of unmodified one.

Before being chopped up for parts the receiver would have had a hole cut in the right side magwell sterilizing it. That way no one knew where the rig came from.
Thanks to that Nobel and Peaceful man Carter and the UN.
The Rhodesian army got it's arms from all over. The majority of them FAL's.
But all FAL's regardless of origin were simply refered to as FN's in that area.

But it is a parts gun that looks like it hasn't been fired yet.
Or not much more than a few rounds.
No brass kisses. All FAL's kiss and tell. Unless ya tune the ejector.
No marks on feed ramps.
Rule #1 of FAL club.
When buying assembled kit gun check headspace.
Before taking it out I would check to see what the gas port size is as well, being it's hacked to 16"
For a 21" barrel it should be .100", I have seen Imbels reported at .090"

Depending on how tight the gas system is makes it easier.
It's a short tube system which means the gas tube is soldered to the gas block, eliminating leaks from there. Not to be confused with a short gas system which involves moving the gas block back. Which is the way any carbine FAL should be.
Anyway
Tight gas piston to gas block helps.
When all else fails ream the hole. Gotta be careful though.
Don't want to snap a drill off in the barrel.

I'm in SE Portland if ya want me to take a look at it.

 

[Silver Fox]

I was a little hasty dropping the "frankenfal" name. It is a nice parts gun with a rich history. I have five South African and Rhodesian Kits (different countries but neighbors none the less) and they are not in nearly good as shape as yours is. In fact two of my SA kits have been over heated while shooting (I can only suspect) and the barrels and Combo devices are nice multi blue color.

iStud- I don't know what kind of thread pitch you have on your barrel or what muzzle device you are wanting, but if there is a problem with not enough gas to cycle the action you may want to try a Noveske KX3 for .308 found here: <broken link removed>

I have three left and am going to put them on some cut down barrels. Your rifle would look pretty good with that short barrel and a KX3. We could try one on your rifle and you could see what it looks like.

SF-

 

[SquatchWorks]

Powermad:

I surely hope the barrel was buggered to 16" and that's why they whacked an FN barrel.

Im not sure what you mean by this?

It has a short gas tube.

Below are some pics

Does yours have a hole on the inside for a cotter pin?

where at exactly would I look for this?

It has an R marked selector that has had the detent ground off to allow it to swing to the A position and fire full auto.

It will rotate to "A" setting a full 180&#176; from "S" but it will hammer just drops upon the next shot, making it semi auto.

When buying assembled kit gun check headspace.

The Prev. Owner said it was good to go, I took it out, and the brass lookedd good, but I will still have somebody check it.

Before taking it out I would check to see what the gas port size is as well, being it's hacked to 16"
For a 21" barrel it should be .100", I have seen Imbels reported at .090"

Depending on how tight the gas system is makes it easier.
It's a short tube system which means the gas tube is soldered to the gas block, eliminating leaks from there.

I figured this out when I took it out, when I set the gas system using the empty mag, It started to run right on setting 3.5 so I turned it down to 2.5 to be safe. It seems to run fine. The gas piston was BRAND NEW and tight, not too tight, just felt air tight.

 

[powermad]

Quote:
I surely hope the barrel was buggered to 16" and that's why they whacked an FN barrel.
Im not sure what you mean by this?

FN FAL barrels are high quality and there are not very many good ones left.
From your pix it looks like the barrel is new and not just refinished.
The edges around the sight ears are crisp and not worn.

Personally unless the barrel was damaged I would not have cut it.
I would have used a $75 Imbel barrel for that.
Not a $300 barrel.


Quote:
Does yours have a hole on the inside for a cotter pin?
where at exactly would I look for this?

On the inside of the lower on the left side.
FN cotter pinned them.
When SA started making their own FAL's they used the same type of R selector but painted them blue and the selector had a rivet in it.


Quote:
It has an R marked selector that has had the detent ground off to allow it to swing to the A position and fire full auto.
It will rotate to "A" setting a full 180° from "S" but it will hammer just drops upon the next shot, making it semi auto.

Right, but once upon a time all FAL's had a safety sear in them.
So they put an R selector on them to make them SA.
Inch and Izzy rigs have their own versions of semi selectors.

All ya had to do was remove the selector and grind off the detent and ya got yourself a machine gun.

 

[powermad]

The oval marks on the bolt and carrier, do they look like they have a P in them?
Oval with a P is SA.
Oval with a 6 is Steyer.

After looking at all the pix again.
The lower, bolt and carrier match, along with the long stock leads me to believe they are SA in origin not FN as I previously stated.

SA started buying FN's in the late 50's by the early 60's they started making their own.
It was not uncommon to find a mix of FN and SA parts as SA bought shloads of parts and tools from FN.

If being shorter is the goal that stock isn't helping. SA stocks are about 2" longer than standard hump back stocks.
I'm 6'2" and thought I would try one out. I bought a baby poop camo set and installed the stock.

Didn't like it and took it off. The Imbel one fits me much better.

Also with a 16" barrel and a standard length gas system you may find you are shooting way low.
To the point where you have to move the rear sight to 600m to hit the paper at 100.
An Izzy rear sight seems to take care of that and you won't have to screw the front sight all the way down and grind it till it's just a nub.

While the handguards provide a place for the bi-pod to rest I would suggest getting rid of both.

To use the bipod effectively you need a large area to work with, preferably soft like grass. Not worth the added weight to an already heavy rig.

Shoot 100 rounds, 5 mags with those hand guards. You probably won't do it more than once.
I tried em and was using the front of mag hold after 60 rounds,

Even Imbel ones got pretty hot.
I got a set of Aussie ones and they seem to work real well.

Factory heat sheild

If you need a flash hider moses on the falfiles has a bunch of different styles to choose from.

 

[SquatchWorks]

The Oval marks are very faint, on one it looks like a "c" and the other almost looks like a "p" but Its really hard to tell!!!

While the handguards provide a place for the bi-pod to rest I would suggest getting rid of both.

To use the bipod effectively you need a large area to work with, preferably soft like grass. Not worth the added weight to an already heavy rig.

The Bipod and hand guard are comming off, I am going to put a Rail hand guard on, with a vertical grip. The Stock will also come off for now, and get replaced with a shorter one. When I get the $$$ saved up, I will convert it to a Para stock.

Also with a 16" barrel and a standard length gas system you may find you are shooting way low.
To the point where you have to move the rear sight to 600m to hit the paper at 100.
An Izzy rear sight seems to take care of that and you won't have to screw the front sight all the way down and grind it till it's just a nub.

Last sunday when I took it out, It shot dead on at 100yards with the sight on "200" (my wife shot it 10' high at 100yards, I had to tell her to look through the peep hole... at least she is learning)


I dont thing the gun has really been used all that much, The barrel and insides were spotless clean, the gas piston was also New looking, as was the gas plug. The barrel rifling was deep and looked very clean with not leading or copper streaks. The only bad thing about it, was the muzzle threads. I am very pleased with it, and think it will serve me very well for my main rifle.