Getting a custom FAL built

O

Oleg Volk

Staff Alumnus
I found that I can have a decent local gunsmith build me an FAL. I am trying to decide the options now.

26/22/18.5" barrel? Weight, balance, ballistics trade-offs, anyone?

Any way to make the front sight more visible?

Wood vs. plastic furniture?

Muzzle brake (BOSS all around style) or not? HGunsmith said it would improve accuracy, lessen recoil but add noise and dust...thoughts on tradeoffs?

Anything else I forgot?



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Oleg "peacemonger" Volk

http://dd-b.net/RKBA
 
On the AR list this week we have been debating the barrel length required to get .308 to fragment like .223

Most were leaning towards 22 inch barrels

dZ
 
Oleg,

The most common barrel length for the FAL is 21". The carbine at 18.5" is a little more handy.

I have a DSA carbine with their brake which has large holes on the sides. I am not popular with fellow shooters when I touch that one off.

Tapco www.tapco.com has a brake which looks pretty good. Smaller holes all around and more like the Austrian Stoll.

Plastic v. wood is more a personal preference thing. AFAIK there are not bipod cut wood handguards available. I do prefer plastic handguards over the StG58 metal ones.

TT
 
I would go with a 18" barrel as the best trade off between balance and long range accuracy. I have a DSA 16" barrel and really like it, but the drop in velocity reduces the accuracy past 300 yards a lot. If I had to do it over ( and I might ) I would go with an 18" without a muzzle brake. The brake doesn't reduce recoil all that much but the noise is deafening and the side blast will really piss off any shooters next to you within 10 feet. I tried a scope, but found I like shooting my FAL better with the iron sites. I personally don't have a problem with them. They are not M1A or AR15 match grade but get the job done. You can check out the Arizona Response web site for lots of pictures of various FAL rifle configurations
http://www.arizonaresponsesystems.com/
 
Few points to bring up:

1. My local FAL gunsmith (former military armorer) said he does not recommend a barrel length less than 20" on a rifle with the standard-length gas system and standard-size gas port.

If you want to go lower and still retain reliability of the gas system, a gunsmith must increase the diameter of the gas port in the barrel. I don't know how much this would cost.

Guns-Combat Annual did a report on the DSA rifle & carbine: http://www.dsarms.com/ca_article.htm

They reported that the muzzle blast from a 16.25" barrel is excessive, and they would recommend a 18" barrel.

2. I disagree with Pthfndr with regard to the muzzle brake. I had the 3-hole DSA muzzle brake installed and I could easily notice the difference in felt recoil. The DSA brake is 3" long, but only adds about 1.5" to the overall length due to overlap. IMO, the muzzle report is louder for people observing compared to that heard by the shooter.

3. For the standard contour barrel, the difference in mass for a few inches of metal is minimal - a small fraction of a pound.

4. The standard length barrel is 22". The FAL is a pretty long design, and a 22" barrel + muzzle brake is really long.
Just for handy-ness, I suggest a barrel length between 18" and 20".

5. A shorter barrel will not affect accuracy. It will reduce the muzzle velocity a bit - I've heard about 15-40 fps / inch. In my opinion, the handyness of a shorter barrel vastly outweighs the velocity loss.

How likely is it that you'll be shooting far enough with this particular rifle that the energy difference will make difference?

Also consider that at distances that a longer barrel's higher velocity would have a noticeable advantage (say, 1000 yards), a bigger facter will be your shooting skill, your sighting system (optics), and the accuracy of the rifle itself.

However, I would definitely consider a longer barrel on a precision bolt rifle.

6. Furniture: Consider your US parts count. I don't know of any US-made wood furniture that is currently shipping. DSA sells US-made handguards, pistol grip, and buttstock, all of which would towards the US-parts count. I personally like the plastic furniture, for the "black rifle" look, and weight.

7. front sight. My gunsmith recommended a dab of florescent nail polish, of all things.


-z
 
The DSA standard muzzle brake definately increases blast to either side of the shooter. If you're shooting, you don't really feel it at all. If you're 45 degrees from the muzzle, it's worse than a M44 Mosin. Maybe an AK brake would work better...

IronWood Designs sells complete wood stock sets, that are absolutely beautiful, for $200. That would count as another 3 US parts and about 50 cool points. I'm not sure if he's taking orders right now, but you might give him a call anyway.

DONFAL.jpg


I don't think I'd want to go any shorter than 18 inches on a FAL. The reported gas system problems aren't worth the length difference.



[This message has been edited by Destructo6 (edited May 13, 2000).]
 
Ironwood designs is on a brief hiatus at present; he/they are tooling up for new equipment, etc. The web page is http://www.ironwooddesigns.com/ but is not complete at this time. When I spoke with him a week or so ago he was hoping to have it ready to go around the middle of this month.

Regarding muzzle brakes, I have them on two and not on one. The only difference I really notice is with an Izzy HB, which has the Hesse-made brake/bipod mount; the rifle recoils downward at the muzzle(yes, it is correctly installed). This is no problem on the bipod, but shooting offhand is a bit odd.

For general shooting I also like the 21 inch barrel; for plinking/rapid engagement shooting, the DSArms regular 16.25" carbine (not the lightweight) is a bit more handy.

I've a definite preference for wood furniture, but the carbine has been fitted with the synthetic furniture from DSA.

The only other observation I'd make is a recommendation to stick with metric parts. From what I've encountered, there are simply more options available to tweak and/or repair the rifle to your choosing.
 
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