40 CCLLAASSSSIICC MMIILLIITTAARRYY RRIIFFLLEESS:: TThhee FF.N. Fusil Automatique Leger

By John MarshallIt’s been called “The free

world’s right arm,” and withgood reason. The list of countries thathave tested, adopted, or manufactured this rifleis impressive. They include the United States,Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium,Venezuela, Israel, Argentina, Belgian Congo,Luxembourg, Germany, Paraguay, Qatar, Kuwait,Austria, Peru, Indonesia, South Africa, Chile,Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Holland, Portugal, Thai-land, Brazil, Greece and Bolivia. As a full-powermain battle rifle, nothing has come along toequal its general effectiveness and acceptancesince it was first developed in 1952. Accurate,reliable, powerful, robust, easy to maintain andnearly ergonomically perfect, this rifle stillinstills awe wherever it is encountered.

The man primarily responsible for the develop-ment of the Fusil Automatique Leger (Light Auto-matic Rifle) was Dieudonne’ Saive, an understudyof the master, John Browning. During his employ-ment at F.N. (Fabrique Nationale d’Armes deGuerre) in Liege, Belgium, Saive was the co-designer of the Browning High Power pistol withBrowning, and the main designer of the SAFN-49semiauto rifle that was introduced after World WarII. The gas-actuated tilting-block locking action ofthe SAFN-49 was to be later adapted for the FAL.

Initial prototypes of the FAL were chambered foran assault rifle cartridge, the German 7.92mmKurz. This round and its vehicle, the MP44, hadattracted a great deal of attention from the Alliesduring and after the war. In 1947, a prototype“light automatic carbine” was demonstrated forBritish officers in Belgium. However, the Britishwanted a more powerful cartridge, and suggestedthe new UK .280 round which had been developedfor the proposed EM-2 bullpup rifle in Britain. TheBrit officers provided sample rounds, and promisedmore to come. Aside from specifying a 20-roundmagazine, they left further specifications anddevelopment to F.N. A prototype chambering the.280 was completed by F.N. in January 1949. In

addition to this conventionally configured rifle, analternate “bullpup” design was also crafted. Trialswere conducted in England.

Meanwhile, in the United States, developmentwas underway on a .30 caliber round shorter thanthe standard .30/06, but almost equal in power.F.N. then covered its bets, initiating parallel devel-opment of the .280 and also .30 caliber riflesbased on the commercial .300 Savage cartridge.Further trials were made, and the British visitedthe U.S. to get specs on the new “T65” cartridgewhich was later to become the 7.62mm NATOround. The .280 cartridge was then somewhatmodified to match the rim and extractor groovedimensions of the T65. This round was dubbed the.280/30, or .280 “New Rim.” Further trials wereconducted at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in theU.S. in 1950 with the older cartridge. New tests ofthe .280/30 were conducted in Belgium in thesame year. But it was apparent that the Americanswere unswervingly devoted to the .30 caliber. TheU.S. had the cartridge, and F.N. had the rifle. Theywere wedded on March 14, 1952.

In preliminary tests at Aberdeen, the AmericanT44 and T47 rifles malfunctioned badly, but thenew FAL prototype digested the American ammowithout a hiccup. On the spot, the U.S. Ord-nance Dept. offered F.N. a contract for 10 proto-types at $10,000 each! The offer was acceptedimmediately. To make a long story short, someAmerican-made FALs (T48s) and prototype M14rifles (T44s) went head to head in extensive trials.The U.S. finally opted for the M14 in 1957, notbecause it was clearly superior to the FAL, butostensibly because it could be made on easilymodified M1 rifle manufacturing equipment. TheU.K. caved on the cartridge, and in 1954 adopt-ed the FAL in the new 7.62 x 51 NATO rounddeveloped by the Americans. As manufactured inthe U.K., the FAL utilized inch measurements

(“inch pattern”FALs), while most of the

rest of the world used the origi-nal metric dimensions. All parts are not

interchangeable between the two systems.I’ve had the opportunity to handle, field strip

and examine one of the historic American-madeT48 FAL test prototypes. It’s in the non-display col-lection of small arms at Aberdeen Proving Ground.I’m indebted to Dr. Bill Atwater, the Aberdeencurator and renowned arms expert there for thatprivilege. It was a finely made weapon of deadlydesign, a forerunner of the many production FALsto come. While later FALs were polymer stocked,the T48 I examined had wood furniture.

As produced around the world, the FAL is agas operated 20-round selective-fire rifle utilizinga tilting-block action. It’s 43 inches in length andhas a 21-inch barrel. The non-reciprocating oper-ating handle is on the left (very much like the oldU.S. service B.A.R.), as is the selector/safetylever. A rotary gas-relief valve is incorporatedbehind the front sight. This allows regulation ofthe gas pressure to compensate for different typesof ammo and for fouling. There’s also a gas shut-off valve that’s used to allow for grenade launch-ing or manual operation of the action.

Unlike the U.S. M16, which injects gas intothe bolt carrier, the FAL is completely free of gasin that area and is relatively easy to clean. Theaction breaks open for cleaning, a lot like theM16 or a double-barrel shotgun. The bolt is easi-ly removed, giving access to the chamber fromthe rear for cleaning. The shorter flash suppressorused on the later examples doubles as a grenadelauncher tube. The rifle accepts a bipod, andwith a special bolt cover, a variety of telescopicsights. A fold-down carrying handle is provided.Accuracy is excellent. I’ve shot one at 600 yards,simply adjusting the sliding rear sight to topmostnotch and finding the point of impact spot on atthat distance. The front sight is finely adjustablefor elevation, similar to the M16 front sight,which mimicked the design. Lateral adjustmentof the rear sight is made possible by two screwson opposite sides of the sight. One is loosened

while the other one is tightened toeffect the change.Some compact “Para” FALs have been

made which use a well-designed side-foldingstock. I’ve found the FAL to be very ergonomic. Inspite of the fact that it’s a full-size battle rifle, ithandles easily and comes to the shoulder and eyequite naturally. The recoil line of the barrel is abouteven with the heel of the stock. Recoil is quitemanageable, and muzzle rise in recoil is minimal.My only complaint is that the safety lever does notfall directly under the right thumb, but is bettermanipulated by reaching up with the left hand.This is somewhat awkward, but it works.

Although the FAL lost out as a U.S. service rifle,it is highly regarded in this country as a robust,highly accurate and reliable rifle. Accordingly,some semiauto F.N. FALs were imported into theU.S. from 1959 to early 1963 by the BrowningArms Company. These were called the Light Auto-matic Rifle “competition models.” They were basi-cally selective-fire rifles with a slight change in thesafety sear and a new change lever. The U.S. Trea-sury Department approved this change as beingsufficient to allow importation of the rifles as semi-autos. ATF subsequently discovered that thesesemiautos could be easily converted back to fullautomatic by using original FAL full-auto parts.

In January 1963, ATF issued an order reclassi-fying the FAL as a machine gun, but exemptingthe already imported rifles. In 1974, ATF amend-ed the order to include an additional 12 riflesimported due to “administrative error.” A serialnumber list was provided, and this showed that1,848 rifles were officially exempted. In lateryears, Springfield Armory of Geneseo, Illinois,imported an ATF-approved semiauto FAL riflemade under license from F.N. by IMBEL in Itaju-ba, Brazil and marketed it as the S.A.R. 48. Therifle illustrated is one of these, made in 1988. The“48” in that name is a throwback to the T48 des-ignation of the original U.S. service test rifles.The S.A.R. 48 rifles were imported until the ill-advised and unwarranted Clinton “assaultweapon” ban of 1994. Recently, FALs have beenassembled in the U.S. using a combination of for-eign and U.S.-manufactured parts.

The FAL rifle is a true classic of the mid-20thCentury. It is an ergonomic, robust, reliable andaccurate full-power battle rifle that is hard toimprove upon. Its design is a tribute to the geniusof its chief crafter, Msr. Saive. Those who have FALsare lucky indeed. They treasure them highly.

““TThe Free World’s Right Arm”

December 09 Blue Press Section 2 10/14/09 9:00 AM Page 40