When I was in the cadets in the very late 70s we had the SMLE in 303, when I joined up in the early 80s I was issued a SLR and near the end of my service we switched to the SA80 so in my 54 years I have had every service rifle issued to us in over 100 years. Boy does that make me feel old.
My Dad had just started serving in the Royal Engineers at the time the SLR was being phased out and the SA80 was being adopted, in his words the SLR was just so good that when it came to the SA80 with it's teething problems that the new rifle was just hated with a passion, particularly the older guys who'd used it in combat around the globe. He compared its adoption to the introduction of the M16 where a very modern small arm was replacing a trusted system. He was issued the SA80 in the 1st Gulf war, 2nd Gulf war, Bosnia and various piece keeping missions saying that people only stopped reminiscing about the SLR when HK improved the SA80 and a lot of older guys had left so tey weren't complaining about the new rifle.
One Doomed Spacemarine L85A1 was the first variant the L85A2 was the upgraded one and there is a significant difference between the two, very significant. The term SA80 encompasses all variants such as the LSW,the carbine, assault rifle, and the cadet version.
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine Didnt forgotten weapon make a video about the original M16 and its myths? Supposedly the rifle was really good, but the troops werent given cleaning sets (and requiring regular cleaning is a common theme for M16/M4), and the US army also used bullets that the gun wasnt designed for, but told Colt to test with the old, weaker rounds. Actual design issues didnt seem to play much of a role there. There was a full investigation going into the problems, it was ruled to be "criminal negligence". Of course the original SA80 was just a badly designed (rushed?) rifle.
I joined the engineers at the same time... SLR through training. Regiment was still equipped with SLR and SMG for about a year until SA80 came in. I joined in 1989. My intake was 89/5... ask your old man what intake he was 🤔
Here in Argentina the military adopted the FAL about the same time. Among the contracts to factory produce the weapons in this land. Is a reasonable option for emergin nations due the low costs to build. No milling or expensive equippment requiered. Great video. Thanks!
The ones this 62 year old recalls had mixes of wood, brass and plastic butt, handguard and handle. The handle was sometimes a 'roll of Polos' ('a roll of lifesavers' in the US), and sometimes one of a couple of different plastic 'suitcase' handles. The Handguards had differing amounts of 'pebbling' on them, sometimes with smooth plastic in places. The butts sometimes had brass plates with flip-up brass covers that contained an oil bottle space. All this at a RAF range near Uxbride in the early 1980s. These were old and worn SLRs used only for annual qualifying.
@@-JesterI don't rememeber the British ever making a rifle that was best in class. The Martini is worse than the 71 Mauser, the Lee Enfield is worse than any smokeless Mauser because of the terrible rimmed ammo, The FAL is less reliable and less accurate than the G3 (and the brits also didn't even invent it) and the L85 is just the worst.
@@G-Mastah-Fash I'd disagree on the Lee Enfield but it's close between it and the Mauser. The Arctic Warfare rifles are probably the best modern sniper rifles in military use. Outside of rifles, we had the BREN, which the video on this channel for it is called "The best LMG of WW2" and you could make an argument for the Vickers being the best machine gun in WW1. Admittedly, we don't have a lot of best in class rifles. Usually it falls under "good enough probably i guess maybe"
The Canadian version, the C1, C1A1 and C2 all had stripper clip dust covers. It worked quite well in my opinion. We used multiple mags, however it was nice to have that option available. They were all excellent weapons.
My grandfather took a No. 4 to the Cyprus Emergency in the mid 50s, then I believe he switched to this for the later stages of his conscript service. He seemed to like it a lot.
I love the use of language of the Brits....'Emergency'....not a war(Malaya, Kenya, et al), goodness gracious me, never call it war.....just an 'Emergency'.....shouldn't gripe too much though...my forefathers called 4 years of all out colonial war in Indonesia a 'Policing Action'...followed in the 60s by a government investigation into 'Excesses that occurred', because: 'War crimes, naaaah, not us'....just goes to show it's usually the political types that do the naming, less so the fighting...;-)
@@marcviss3256 I always remember Moira Stewart describing our late unpleasantness with Argentina as the Falklands Conflict, not the Falklands War - I suppose technically we didn't declare war on Argentina.
@@AshleyPomeroy it's better to keep the majority behind curtains of excessive consume and stupid trends. don't you feel strange yourself? like, if every sentient person knew what certain powers around the globe are doing, would they not be confused, angry and disillusioned? Hey, I heard the new Yeezy's from Nike are on sale. I got a link too, brother
Marc viss....sometimes the word 'war' is not used for legal reasons such as for insurance of important assets (plantations, refineries etc) if war is declared it creates a change of legal status, look it up its true! Strange, but true.
ArthurAlcantara old military doctrine was that if you joined the military as a left handed person you become a right handed person when you went to the range
@Joe There's the age old concerns about the use of a muzzle brake, including the increased sound and optical signature plus all muzzle brakes tend to kick up dust from the ground when used from prone or in a crouch/while resting on a surface. There is also the fact that it can be really unpleasant to fire in close quarters. My Israeli HB FAL came from the factory with a decent sized brake on it and is a phenomenal shooter. If you're in the stall either side of me on the range, though, it's *exceedingly* unpleasant to be around. Same level of unpleasantness for the operator if there's a solid enough wall close enough to either side while firing as the gases, noise and shock get reflected back. A friend of mine took some overhead pictures while I was shootiing one day and caught the muzzle brake at mid-vent, with flash and smoke jetting out two feet plus on each side - with a rearward cant.
Funny to call it civilized. I recently saw some videos taken during the Congo conflict. And they seem to be fairly typical of what was going on in that era. Civilized is not the word I would use.
@Joe The AK brake of that style has one major problem - it can’t be used to fire rifle grenades, which was a requirement for the FAL after the very early days. Another consideration is that the FAL is firing a much more powerful cartridge and that changes the dynamics of a brake. Ian posted a video some time ago of a Rhodesian or South African muzzle device that converts the FAL’s brake into a functionally similar system merely by blocking or redirecting some of the ports. From the video, it almost appeared to be *too* effective at shoving the muzzle down. A slash-cut brake would be even worse with 7.62 NATO, I think.
I was in the territorials back in the early nineties (queens reg) and my L1 was a dream to shoot yeah it kicked bit it could reach out 300 /500 no probs and pack a real punch ,if kept clean it was a real danger to anyone on the other end of my barrel,I wouldn't swap it for an L2 NO matter what
@@TheFanatical1 it is a mistake if you care about looks but if you care about weight and ease of manufacture the plastick is the obvious choise for the army
I remember the old wooden stock L1A1s. Ironically it was at the time when everyone wanted a completely black rifle and couldn't wait for them to be refurbished with the plastic. Great battle rifle!
I don't own guns, I've fired a few and don't imagine I will own guns. I find your channel incredibly interesting. No bullshit, plenty of history on the development of these weapons throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Awesome vid
I thought since it had been so long since you were physically at the NFC that all the videos had been shown; very happy to see this pop up today, thank you! I have been to the NFC and it is heaven! Getting to touch Maxim's prototype/testbed Maxim Gun was an almost spiritual experience...
I had a toy half scale SLR when I was a kid. Fired little plastic bullets. It was my favourite toy. My brother in law carried a real one during the Aden crisis and in Borneo.
One of the best changes made by the British to the FAL was the replacement of the fixed cocking handle with one that automatically folded forward against the rifle body after release, a small but very appreciated change.
Re Sand and the SLR. I used it in Dhofar and other middle eastern fun spots. And there was a sand trap in the back of the lower part that the cut outs sent the sand to. Also, we used to clean and oil the parts then dry and leave in the sun to get the oil to bake off. I never had a blockage thanks to that.
There's some British Pathe news footage on RUclips of the introduction of the rifle - "The Army's New Rifle". In the clip the rifles have this style of optical sight as well. One thing the video demonstrates is that it tended to recoil back into the soldier's face.
Missed my chance to buy one of these right before the so called 'assault rifle' ban of 94 for 400. Still regretting missing that window of opportunity. I love Fals, great battle rifles.
Not one mention of Canada...despite your excellent video on the Canadian FAL. Must not forget that it was Canada that first adopted the FN. And it was Canada that did the inch pattern conversion work. I believe we also did more extensive arctic testing than any other country (since you brought up unique testing locations). As a teenager we had 6 or so dewatted X pattern FNs (like the ones in the video) that we used for drill, weapons classes etc in army cadets. Similarities to the Brit ones were: bare muzzle with the skimpy bayonet catch, tiny wooden dowel carrying handle, clunky cocking handle that sticks out and gets caught on everything. Differences: no forward assist, sights different, full body cover (even though the Canadian C1 would officially utilize the partial cover with the mag charger) and I recall the breach block carriers looked to be of a bronze/brass colour. That was 40 years ago. Those treasures were probably pulled back to some depot and destroyed...really wish I had one for my collection!
Have literally held one SLR in my life. It was the ship's rifle on HMAS Adelaide during an open day in port and it had full wooden furniture it was so old. Used only for firing rope lines from ship to ship (the Austeyr was already in service and I had held and fired blanks through one by then). That thing was heavy, but felt much better than my father's Chinese SKS ever did.
Great Vid as usual. One of the significant things that came from the sand testing was the removal of the automatic (on an empty Mag) bolt hold open feature on British L1A1s. The pin that the magazine follower acted upon was removed from the bolt hold open catch so that it could only be used manually.
There are two areas meeting the scientific definition of "desert" on mainland Britain, and one of them was used extensively as a weapons-testing area. (By the time these rifles came along, it was testing atom-bomb components, but that's another story, which will never be fully told, I suspect.) But both Orford Ness and Dungerness are sort of gravelly, pebbly deserts and they don't usually do sandstorms. As long as Britain wanted to share a standard rifle pattern with Commonwealth countries like Australia, sandstorm worthiness was always going to be a requirement. Ian's narration doesn't make it explicit that the British sand-testing led to improvement in FALs generally and not just British ones. It's amazing that no-one in the US saw fit to do equivalent tests: Arizona is way bigger than Orford Ness!
The US has a place in Utah called The Dugway Proving Grounds. Whether or not rifles were tested here I do not know but other equipment was/is tested there. I do not know if it is still open.
@@shawnr771 They also have several other bases in the desert, with the Yuma Proving Grounds (known locally as YPG) specifically testing vehicles and equipment for use in desert environments.
@@oldesertguy9616 Yes I knew the one in Utah used to do a lot of explosives testing. I read on Dugway and they also were extensively used for testing chemical and biologic warfare weapons. As well as a short lived stint as the Desert phase of Ranger school.
Had a chance to shoot a full auto FAL a few years back. 1st shot on target. 2nd shot a little high. The next 10 I'm ashamed to say we're basically howitzer rounds. Ashamed because they probably fell way beyond the property we were shooting on.
the Americans really had the rest of NATOs pants down over ammunition, especially the UK. postwar we were looking at small caliber stuff, but they said no, 7.62. then a couple of years later after everyone bought new stuff they went "oops, sorry buddy...5.56 now!" but dont get me wrong im not enraged... its just sort of funny
@@Gideon_Judges6 It was really just about money. Here spend your money on this for a while. Hey forget that we are gonna use this now. Next week we will change to something else.
Totally true. But I wonder, if we had gone with .280 instead of a .30 cal round, would we still have moved to 5.56 a few years later? Part of me thinks the development of and move towards 5.56 was due to how overpowered 7.62 NATO was. If .280 was less overpowered, would we have ditched it? That small detail could have changed the entire history of small arms developments in the 20th century. I doubt we would have ever seen an AR-15 (or AR-10 whathaveyou) in .280.
@@zul448 saw a recent vid about US use of 5.56 in Iraq.. It mentioned that they noticed SAS using 7.62. They said they used it when they were in vehicles where the extra weight of the ammo wasnt a consideration
@@hattyfarbuckle I was in the arme when we went from 7.62 to 5.56. A lot of grumbling. Along with...but but if we need it in a desert long range..Australia has a lot of desert. And now Australia issues a 7.62 H&K per section. Of couse its a Sniping, Targeted Fire AND LMG role supposadly. Militaries just love all roles in one rifle lol
I was issued one of those when I was 16 in the RAF. Was heavy for a 5ft child. But it was a beast of a rifle. I even had a night vision sight at times.
4:00 This resembles how the early Lee-Enfields had a magazine cut off. When a new loading system is introduced some people want to combine it with the old one to get the benefits of both.
It is interesting to note that the prototype does not have a flash eliminator fitted. This was not a "muzzle brake" intended to limit recoil, but a fitting designed to hide muzzle flash which would betray the firers position when firing from cover or at night. It also provided the ring seating for the bayonet fitting.
O Brasil ainda utiliza em sua maioria fuzis FN Fal, as forças policiais também, são fuzis ótimos e ainda passam por modernizações, é possível ver um vídeo do Exército Brasileiro alterando fuzis Para-Fal trocando a tampa da caixa da culatra por tampas com trilho picatiny, e é um dos fuzis mais amados no Brasil.
Love the L1A1. .. weapon fires, weapon stops! 'Tilt right, cock, lock, look'. Started phasing them out here in Aus very late 1980's, to be replaced by the F88... 7.62 down to 5.56. Damn near cried lol. Great presentation mate. Cheers for sharing.
Carried the SLR for the first 8 years of my service, then the hated SA80 after that. I was in the shooting team and our armoury managed to keep some wooden furniture for us to use for the main competitions such as Bisley and Sennelager. We had a stash of the wood but it was getting harder to source and maintain. It certainly made a positive difference for accurate shooting compared to the normal black plastic. The weirdest thing was the SLR's versus SA80's firing at the same time in the falling plate competition shoots (firing at 10 metal plates per team from the prone position after a 100 yard run). Some unit's hadn't converted (normally the service arms), while the infantry had. Obviously the results depended on the team. But the superior knocking down power of the SLR's 7.62mm was obvious compared to the SA80's 5.56mm. To be fair if the SA80 guys managed to run the 100 yards without their magazines falling out (!!) they would knock the plates down quickly once they got their eyes in with the SUSAT sights. Long summers and happy days :)
I served 7 years in dutch infantry battalion as a mechanic ,,, my personal weapons, ,uzi and browning HP 9mm. Because of my technical support function. . Every one else had a FAL. Every chance a had I switch to a FAL ..I loved that thing ..without any scoop 300 yards never missed. . And it looks pretty cool too ..
Actually, a tot of whisky fitted well into the butt, instead of the issued oil bottle. Oh, and the notch on the top was really for M1 users to stick their thumbs in and experience 'FAL-thumb.' Also, the markings on the wooden carry handle were notches to record kills of Communist Terrorists in Borneo.
Carried an SLR for five years in the late seventies in the British Army and absolutely loved it. Picked up a brand new one from the Armory while i with the Guards Depot shooting team. It was still in a waxed and greased covering which took me days of cleaning to get off. Imagine my glee when I discovered it still had a wooden butt attached, curiously the stock was plastic. Fired thousands of rounds through it until a screw fell out on the front sling swivel. Took it to the REME armorers shop for a new screw and almost cried when the bastards took the wooden stock off and fitted a plastic one. I think they were in demand as desk souvenirs for REMF officers at the time. Anyway SLR's served me well throughout my career in Cyprus and NI, never experienced a stoppage once and was always confident of a one shot kill, whatever it happened to be hiding behind
Ian, a while ago you had many of your AK and other Russian-weapon videos translated to Russian for that audience. Any chance you might do the same to this video by translating it into British for our friends across the pond?
I used both the Canadian C1Ai with stripper clip top covers, and the C2 heavy barrel version and also the New Zealand SLR (Australian) with a full body cover. Absolutely loved both rifles. During the 70s, New Zealand also used the M-16. I preferred the SLR!
I had a 67 manufacture one issued to me in 86 in Australia. It had a wooden carrying handel and triangulated front handgaurds, as per these. Later manufactured had rounded stocks here.
I served In a dutch infantry bataljon in the mid 80's to early 90's .. As a mechanic so I got a 9mm browning pistol and an uzi as personal weapons .. The rest of the family had FAL ..everytime we were at the shooting range I tried to swap Or please ....let me shoot that thing ..uzi 100 yards no scope is fun ,,but FAL at 500 to 750 yards is more fun ..
I acquired a Springfield armory receiver and an excellent British L1A1 parts kit in the early 90's. A call to Springfield rather surprised me when I spoke to the shop manager who said they would assemble the rifle for me. It has been my favorite .308 since that time.
Best hitting-stick made. When 1 of my Sgts was a young Sapper he put most of an F1 mag (9mmP) on target and the guy kept running, his mate put 1 SLR round in the guy and ended it. On their dawn clearing patrol they found a lot of bruises on the body and 9mm rounds in his webbing.
If you are still in Leeds I have a collection of guns and arms at my auction house which you may want to cast your eye over. Happy to show you around as I’m just down the road from there.
used one whilst serving in the mid 70s and never had any issues with it and regard it as the best military rifle. due to uk law i never bought one to use at the range due to them being single shot only but i did try one in 2020. superb rifle but tried to fire second shot in semi auto out of habit. rifle was hard to extract due to chinese barnaul ammo . if i did get one then i would reload for it or use radway green ammunition
I was getting parts kits and receivers for Brit, Australian, and Austrian FALs in the 1990s. Even with a scope they were 6" groups at 100yards. Like SKS and AK rifles, I gave up on accuracy mods after a while.
During my time in the Territorial Army, my personal weapon was the L1A1, which we knew as the SLR. Bullet was 7.62 mm (.300 inch) with 59 grains cordite.. Good for 300+ m as an individual weapon on open sites. Later optical sites gave gave me, as a marksman, 700+ m accuracy of 95% hit on body. Starlight sights were great at night. Other sights available were infra-red and ultra-violet (both passive), but I am uanable to comment on these, as they were only issued to SAS and SBS.
Talking about Dad’s Army, mine was the RSM guards depot who with a team of sergeants developed the rifle drill. I have the original photographs and I always wondered what the device you identified as the odd looking scope. Likewise no bayonet holder so the bayonet was held in place. As a soldier I used the SLR during my own service in 1960s with wood furniture and carry handle.
Best rifle ever made in my opinion. Granted that's based entirely on one of them being the most fun I've ever had with a rifle but that's good enough for me.
Love the woodwork... if I were ever allowed to improve the FAL, I would lose the carry handle, never used it, my hand just naturally fitted around the frame just forward of the magazine.
My father served in the Irish Guards in the late fifties into the early sixties, he mentioned the doctrine of the time in relation to magazine retention I.e. keep your smock halfway unzipped or unbuttoned and stashing your empty mags in there. Think Andy McNab or Chris Ryan mentioned it in their novels more than once.
loved the SLR when I was in the OZ army, due to the fact that i was a gentleman of the cavalry, we had a great deal, firing the whole selection of OZ armoury from pistols to 50 cals, to charlie gustsos. but as a reliable weapon in all conditions the SLR was a beaut.
Hi Ian, a friend of my late Father John Harbour, told me that he was given a 7.92x33 Kurz FN (Early SLR) during the Korea War to try, John was a REME Armourer attached to a Light Infantry Unit in the British Army and he was adamant it was that Calibre.
I had one of these L1A1's as a civie shooter when we could still have them in the UK. Won me the very last national competion shot with self loading rifles. Just a cracking piece of kit. Had to hand it in after Hungerford. Never was a Public Enquiry about that as they knew that the powers that be were so much in the wrong.
The Canadian Rifle FN C1A1, which I used when I joined the Canadian Forces back in the 1970's, had the stripper clip gate as well as many of the other features the British put into their adoption. It was easy to use stripper clips on it.
It's odd that of the differences between these two and the AU L1A1s I used to lug around, the ones that make these feel weird aren't the forward assist and post/grip on the charging handle, but the lack of muzzle brake and the much longer gas regulator. The wooden cover is a bit different too, but it's the muzzle brake and gas regulator that makes if feel a little uncanny.
In the British Army the 7.62mm rounds were still being issued on 5 round stripper clips right into the late seventies, these usually came packed in bandoliers. The thinking was that they could be used as for rapid charging of magazines using a special metal charging clip that we were issued with. Think I only used it once as it wasn't exactly practical. Soldiers preferred loose "ball" rounds that could be hand loaded into magazines one at a time.
I seem to recall the standard Belgian pattern using imperial units of measure also. For certain, the barrel/receiver threads are the same on commonwealth/standard Belgian pattern and muzzle threads were 9/16-24 RH on Commonwralth rifles and 9/16-24 LH or RH on standard Belgian rifles. The Indian 1a1 and possibly Israeli models "may" have used metric threads, but not certain beyond limited experience with those parts typically not working with known Commonwealth & Belgian pattern parts. Cool video! A fan of you and your cronies and the FAL!
"So we might give it a fixed magazine and have it load with stripper clips." "I say, those detachable magazines do encourage the troops to shoot of too many rounds willy-nilly. We must fit it with a magazine cut-off as well!"
I was in the RN at HMS Ganges in 1968. The SLR was the issue rifle. I had previously been, ( from age 12 to 15 ) in a (horrible) Navy Training Ship "Arethusa", where we were constantaly marched drilled paraded, and taught rifle drill with the .303 Lee Enfield. The UK service weapon of our instructrors. When I actually joined the Royal Navy, and started parade ground instruction with my fellow "victims" , I was streets ahead - untill they began rifle drill !! And I was suddenly holding a SLR instead of a .303! Then sometimes when given a simple order - like "shoulder arms" my muscle memory would obey completly different routes, ending up with the SLR on the wrong shoulder, and wrong position. Very funny for everyone - 'sept ME - who would spend the next half hour running round the parade ground with a increasingly heavy SLR held over my head. It was a delight to shoot though, and very accurate.
we were taught to load by hand and never see a stripper clip on the slr. and most were plastic. so i prefer the polymer over wood on that particular weapon. such a nice rifle to fire at 16 in british army lol loved the bren mk 3 as well
Gorgeous FAL's!!! Great Review on the development of the L1A1!!! Still love my L1A1 Sporter, built on a Canadian parts kit. FN FAL, the Right Arm of the Free World! :)
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When I was in the cadets in the very late 70s we had the SMLE in 303, when I joined up in the early 80s I was issued a SLR and near the end of my service we switched to the SA80 so in my 54 years I have had every service rifle issued to us in over 100 years. Boy does that make me feel old.
Same here no4 cadets SLR then SA80 was good though because I basically got taught everything though never got to us the L4 Bren 🤔
SMLEs in the late seventies? I call bullshit.
@@ganndeber1621 cadets in the US drilled with 1903 Springfields well into the 21st century. Those were mostly plugged bore guns, but still.
@@anthonykaiser974 In the UK cadets used and fired NO4s not SMLEs
@@ganndeber1621 I had to look those up. Never knew the difference prior.
Early British FAL: I don't like sand. It's all coarse, and rough, and irritating. And it gets everywhere.
why am i now thinking about nipples?
How fitting, the FAL was also used to kill the younglings, since the drafting age in both WW was pretty low.
Is that builders sand...
@@theblackbaron4119 Except it wasn't used in either of the World Wars... it didn't exist yet.
@@christianh4723 Welcome to the joke, maybe read the original comment, and if you don't get the starwars joke, don't be a stick in the mud.
My Dad had just started serving in the Royal Engineers at the time the SLR was being phased out and the SA80 was being adopted, in his words the SLR was just so good that when it came to the SA80 with it's teething problems that the new rifle was just hated with a passion, particularly the older guys who'd used it in combat around the globe. He compared its adoption to the introduction of the M16 where a very modern small arm was replacing a trusted system. He was issued the SA80 in the 1st Gulf war, 2nd Gulf war, Bosnia and various piece keeping missions saying that people only stopped reminiscing about the SLR when HK improved the SA80 and a lot of older guys had left so tey weren't complaining about the new rifle.
One Doomed Spacemarine L85A1 was the first variant the L85A2 was the upgraded one and there is a significant difference between the two, very significant. The term SA80 encompasses all variants such as the LSW,the carbine, assault rifle, and the cadet version.
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine Didnt forgotten weapon make a video about the original M16 and its myths? Supposedly the rifle was really good, but the troops werent given cleaning sets (and requiring regular cleaning is a common theme for M16/M4), and the US army also used bullets that the gun wasnt designed for, but told Colt to test with the old, weaker rounds. Actual design issues didnt seem to play much of a role there.
There was a full investigation going into the problems, it was ruled to be "criminal negligence".
Of course the original SA80 was just a badly designed (rushed?) rifle.
SA80 smalls arms for the 80s, L85A1/2, L86 LSW, L22, L98 CGP all in the same class
I joined the engineers at the same time... SLR through training. Regiment was still equipped with SLR and SMG for about a year until SA80 came in. I joined in 1989. My intake was 89/5... ask your old man what intake he was 🤔
@@fishyc150 will do he was in 28 or 35 (not sure) engineers when we were in Germany 94-98 , name's Southouse if that rings a bell?
Here in Argentina the military adopted the FAL about the same time. Among the contracts to factory produce the weapons in this land. Is a reasonable option for emergin nations due the low costs to build. No milling or expensive equippment requiered. Great video. Thanks!
Wood furniture FAL’s are absolutely beautiful!
That polished wooden carry handle is just a cherry on top of a delicious FAL sundae
The ones this 62 year old recalls had mixes of wood, brass and plastic butt, handguard and handle.
The handle was sometimes a 'roll of Polos' ('a roll of lifesavers' in the US), and sometimes one of a couple of different plastic 'suitcase' handles.
The Handguards had differing amounts of 'pebbling' on them, sometimes with smooth plastic in places.
The butts sometimes had brass plates with flip-up brass covers that contained an oil bottle space.
All this at a RAF range near Uxbride in the early 1980s. These were old and worn SLRs used only for annual qualifying.
“Probably just good enough.”
How very British :-)
We either make something that's best in class, *probably* just good enough, or so bad that we need the Germans to fix it.
Jester or let the Swiss at it and it comes back with 72 additional parts, tiny screws and a gear that nobody knows what it’s for.
@@-JesterI don't rememeber the British ever making a rifle that was best in class. The Martini is worse than the 71 Mauser, the Lee Enfield is worse than any smokeless Mauser because of the terrible rimmed ammo, The FAL is less reliable and less accurate than the G3 (and the brits also didn't even invent it) and the L85 is just the worst.
@@G-Mastah-Fash I'd disagree on the Lee Enfield but it's close between it and the Mauser.
The Arctic Warfare rifles are probably the best modern sniper rifles in military use.
Outside of rifles, we had the BREN, which the video on this channel for it is called "The best LMG of WW2" and you could make an argument for the Vickers being the best machine gun in WW1.
Admittedly, we don't have a lot of best in class rifles. Usually it falls under "good enough probably i guess maybe"
The Canadian version, the C1, C1A1 and C2 all had stripper clip dust covers. It worked quite well in my opinion. We used multiple mags, however it was nice to have that option available. They were all excellent weapons.
My grandfather took a No. 4 to the Cyprus Emergency in the mid 50s, then I believe he switched to this for the later stages of his conscript service. He seemed to like it a lot.
My grandfather owned one, he always said he wished it was available during WW2.
I love the use of language of the Brits....'Emergency'....not a war(Malaya, Kenya, et al), goodness gracious me, never call it war.....just an 'Emergency'.....shouldn't gripe too much though...my forefathers called 4 years of all out colonial war in Indonesia a 'Policing Action'...followed in the 60s by a government investigation into 'Excesses that occurred', because: 'War crimes, naaaah, not us'....just goes to show it's usually the political types that do the naming, less so the fighting...;-)
@@marcviss3256 I always remember Moira Stewart describing our late unpleasantness with Argentina as the Falklands Conflict, not the Falklands War - I suppose technically we didn't declare war on Argentina.
@@AshleyPomeroy it's better to keep the majority behind curtains of excessive consume and stupid trends. don't you feel strange yourself? like, if every sentient person knew what certain powers around the globe are doing, would they not be confused, angry and disillusioned?
Hey, I heard the new Yeezy's from Nike are on sale. I got a link too, brother
Marc viss....sometimes the word 'war' is not used for legal reasons such as for insurance of important assets (plantations, refineries etc) if war is declared it creates a change of legal status, look it up its true! Strange, but true.
Those back up sights on the optical version are just evil to left handed shooters.
ArthurAlcantara get used to it lefty freak.. . Just kidding
ArthurAlcantara old military doctrine was that if you joined the military as a left handed person you become a right handed person when you went to the range
That is just gods will...
I cracked up when I heard James from"TFB" say that lefties had witches for mothers.....
I mean Id sooner use them left handed than an SA80
"An elegant weapon for a more civilized age."
TexasSpectre 🤣🤣🤣
@Joe There's the age old concerns about the use of a muzzle brake, including the increased sound and optical signature plus all muzzle brakes tend to kick up dust from the ground when used from prone or in a crouch/while resting on a surface. There is also the fact that it can be really unpleasant to fire in close quarters. My Israeli HB FAL came from the factory with a decent sized brake on it and is a phenomenal shooter. If you're in the stall either side of me on the range, though, it's *exceedingly* unpleasant to be around. Same level of unpleasantness for the operator if there's a solid enough wall close enough to either side while firing as the gases, noise and shock get reflected back. A friend of mine took some overhead pictures while I was shootiing one day and caught the muzzle brake at mid-vent, with flash and smoke jetting out two feet plus on each side - with a rearward cant.
Funny to call it civilized. I recently saw some videos taken during the Congo conflict. And they seem to be fairly typical of what was going on in that era. Civilized is not the word I would use.
Implying GB was ever civilized
@Joe The AK brake of that style has one major problem - it can’t be used to fire rifle grenades, which was a requirement for the FAL after the very early days. Another consideration is that the FAL is firing a much more powerful cartridge and that changes the dynamics of a brake. Ian posted a video some time ago of a Rhodesian or South African muzzle device that converts the FAL’s brake into a functionally similar system merely by blocking or redirecting some of the ports. From the video, it almost appeared to be *too* effective at shoving the muzzle down. A slash-cut brake would be even worse with 7.62 NATO, I think.
I was in the territorials back in the early nineties (queens reg) and my L1 was a dream to shoot yeah it kicked bit it could reach out 300 /500 no probs and pack a real punch ,if kept clean it was a real danger to anyone on the other end of my barrel,I wouldn't swap it for an L2 NO matter what
As an 18-year old cadet, with hardly any practice, I could hit ten out of ten at 100 yards and 9 out of 10 at 200. That was good enough for me.
Thank you , Ian .
I was trained on these , oh what wonderful memory's .
Me too. Great weapon. Accurate, reliable and a sure man-stopper!
6:23 I love that mag sound.
OHHHH, Wood Grain Assult Rifles.
They look PRETTY
Wait till you see them in a nice dark jarrah. That is a thing of beauty.
Polymer was a mistake and I will not hear another word about it
@@TheFanatical1 it is a mistake if you care about looks but if you care about weight and ease of manufacture the plastick is the obvious choise for the army
bigbabyzubas (sporting rifle). Don’t want to give the left any more ammo than possible. haha 🤣
‘Tis a battle rifle
I remember the old wooden stock L1A1s. Ironically it was at the time when everyone wanted a completely black rifle and couldn't wait for them to be refurbished with the plastic. Great battle rifle!
Couldn't hide your Rolos in the plastic stock
Fired the SLR in air cadets in 1986 (I think). 1 of the ones our group fired had wooden furniture.
so strange to see an SLR with wood furniture, brings back memories from serving
I think the black plastic furniture was for Monday to Friday use, saving the nice shiny wood for Sunday best......maybe.
@@nojhampton i almost choked on my coffee when i read that. lol
All Australian SLR had wood furniture.
@@V4MP_STAY2323 really? there's something i have learned today, do you know if there was any reason why wood furniture was used there? climate maybe?
I have an Israeli heavy barrel with wooden furniture. Nice rifle, wonderful boat anchor. (very heavy)
These are the most beautiful guns I've ever seen
As always Ian, top knotch video and content, thanks for sharing.
I don't own guns, I've fired a few and don't imagine I will own guns.
I find your channel incredibly interesting. No bullshit, plenty of history on the development of these weapons throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Awesome vid
I thought since it had been so long since you were physically at the NFC that all the videos had been shown; very happy to see this pop up today, thank you! I have been to the NFC and it is heaven! Getting to touch Maxim's prototype/testbed Maxim Gun was an almost spiritual experience...
I had a toy half scale SLR when I was a kid. Fired little plastic bullets. It was my favourite toy. My brother in law carried a real one during the Aden crisis and in Borneo.
I had a toy one too, I think it was made by Airfix. It fired hard plastic bullets. It wouldn't pass health and safety today!
@Jim Roberts yup. Same one. I had the bayonet for it too.
Me too! Just about my favourite of all the many, many, many toy guns that passed through my hands.....
One of the best changes made by the British to the FAL was the replacement of the fixed cocking handle with one that automatically folded forward against the rifle body after release, a small but very appreciated change.
I love the FAL.
Re Sand and the SLR. I used it in Dhofar and other middle eastern fun spots. And there was a sand trap in the back of the lower part that the cut outs sent the sand to. Also, we used to clean and oil the parts then dry and leave in the sun to get the oil to bake off. I never had a blockage thanks to that.
Beautiful rifles, I saw loads of these here in Belfast ,Northern Ireland,during the Troubles.
Always wished I owned one
There's some British Pathe news footage on RUclips of the introduction of the rifle - "The Army's New Rifle". In the clip the rifles have this style of optical sight as well. One thing the video demonstrates is that it tended to recoil back into the soldier's face.
Ashley Pomeroy I just watched it :) ruclips.net/video/qT435uvS0js/видео.html
I still don't really understand why they would not adopt the optical sight.
@@DuncanInnes1956 The UOS was not sufficiently "squaddy proof"
Missed my chance to buy one of these right before the so called 'assault rifle' ban of 94 for 400. Still regretting missing that window of opportunity.
I love Fals, great battle rifles.
Not one mention of Canada...despite your excellent video on the Canadian FAL. Must not forget that it was Canada that first adopted the FN. And it was Canada that did the inch pattern conversion work. I believe we also did more extensive arctic testing than any other country (since you brought up unique testing locations).
As a teenager we had 6 or so dewatted X pattern FNs (like the ones in the video) that we used for drill, weapons classes etc in army cadets. Similarities to the Brit ones were: bare muzzle with the skimpy bayonet catch, tiny wooden dowel carrying handle, clunky cocking handle that sticks out and gets caught on everything. Differences: no forward assist, sights different, full body cover (even though the Canadian C1 would officially utilize the partial cover with the mag charger) and I recall the breach block carriers looked to be of a bronze/brass colour. That was 40 years ago. Those treasures were probably pulled back to some depot and destroyed...really wish I had one for my collection!
Have literally held one SLR in my life. It was the ship's rifle on HMAS Adelaide during an open day in port and it had full wooden furniture it was so old. Used only for firing rope lines from ship to ship (the Austeyr was already in service and I had held and fired blanks through one by then). That thing was heavy, but felt much better than my father's Chinese SKS ever did.
Great Vid as usual. One of the significant things that came from the sand testing was the removal of the automatic (on an empty Mag) bolt hold open feature on British L1A1s. The pin that the magazine follower acted upon was removed from the bolt hold open catch so that it could only be used manually.
There are two areas meeting the scientific definition of "desert" on mainland Britain, and one of them was used extensively as a weapons-testing area. (By the time these rifles came along, it was testing atom-bomb components, but that's another story, which will never be fully told, I suspect.) But both Orford Ness and Dungerness are sort of gravelly, pebbly deserts and they don't usually do sandstorms.
As long as Britain wanted to share a standard rifle pattern with Commonwealth countries like Australia, sandstorm worthiness was always going to be a requirement. Ian's narration doesn't make it explicit that the British sand-testing led to improvement in FALs generally and not just British ones. It's amazing that no-one in the US saw fit to do equivalent tests: Arizona is way bigger than Orford Ness!
The US has a place in Utah called The Dugway Proving Grounds. Whether or not rifles were tested here I do not know but other equipment was/is tested there.
I do not know if it is still open.
@@shawnr771 They also have several other bases in the desert, with the Yuma Proving Grounds (known locally as YPG) specifically testing vehicles and equipment for use in desert environments.
@@oldesertguy9616 Yes I knew the one in Utah used to do a lot of explosives testing.
I read on Dugway and they also were extensively used for testing chemical and biologic warfare weapons. As well as a short lived stint as the Desert phase of Ranger school.
Thanks, was wondering about that!
The US makes a point of not fighting on American soil. We also don't have much in the way of sandy deserts, it's all rocky desert here.
The daddy SLR 👌
Edit: Pathe news clip including the optical sight ruclips.net/video/qT435uvS0js/видео.html
Nice find, thanks mate
Had a chance to shoot a full auto FAL a few years back. 1st shot on target. 2nd shot a little high. The next 10 I'm ashamed to say we're basically howitzer rounds. Ashamed because they probably fell way beyond the property we were shooting on.
the Americans really had the rest of NATOs pants down over ammunition, especially the UK. postwar we were looking at small caliber stuff, but they said no, 7.62. then a couple of years later after everyone bought new stuff they went "oops, sorry buddy...5.56 now!" but dont get me wrong im not enraged... its just sort of funny
@@Gideon_Judges6 It was really just about money.
Here spend your money on this for a while. Hey forget that we are gonna use this now. Next week we will change to something else.
Totally true. But I wonder, if we had gone with .280 instead of a .30 cal round, would we still have moved to 5.56 a few years later? Part of me thinks the development of and move towards 5.56 was due to how overpowered 7.62 NATO was. If .280 was less overpowered, would we have ditched it? That small detail could have changed the entire history of small arms developments in the 20th century. I doubt we would have ever seen an AR-15 (or AR-10 whathaveyou) in .280.
@@zul448 saw a recent vid about US use of 5.56 in Iraq.. It mentioned that they noticed SAS using 7.62. They said they used it when they were in vehicles where the extra weight of the ammo wasnt a consideration
@@hattyfarbuckle I was in the arme when we went from 7.62 to 5.56. A lot of grumbling. Along with...but but if we need it in a desert long range..Australia has a lot of desert.
And now Australia issues a 7.62 H&K per section. Of couse its a Sniping, Targeted Fire AND LMG role supposadly. Militaries just love all roles in one rifle lol
@@hattyfarbuckle - The SAS were still using the phased out fn slr in the first gulf war when the mainstream army had the shitty sa80 ...............
I was issued one of those when I was 16 in the RAF.
Was heavy for a 5ft child.
But it was a beast of a rifle.
I even had a night vision sight at times.
4:00 This resembles how the early Lee-Enfields had a magazine cut off. When a new loading system is introduced some people want to combine it with the old one to get the benefits of both.
It is interesting to note that the prototype does not have a flash eliminator fitted. This was not a "muzzle brake" intended to limit recoil, but a fitting designed to hide muzzle flash which would betray the firers position when firing from cover or at night. It also provided the ring seating for the bayonet fitting.
Love to see the british guns on here, my dad loved shooting the l1a1 when he was in the royal navy
We had the five round stripper clips like the 303. There was also an attachment to put on the mags for loading extra mags.
O Brasil ainda utiliza em sua maioria fuzis FN Fal, as forças policiais também, são fuzis ótimos e ainda passam por modernizações, é possível ver um vídeo do Exército Brasileiro alterando fuzis Para-Fal trocando a tampa da caixa da culatra por tampas com trilho picatiny, e é um dos fuzis mais amados no Brasil.
Love the L1A1. .. weapon fires, weapon stops! 'Tilt right, cock, lock, look'.
Started phasing them out here in Aus very late 1980's, to be replaced by the F88... 7.62 down to 5.56. Damn near cried lol.
Great presentation mate. Cheers for sharing.
Carried the SLR for the first 8 years of my service, then the hated SA80 after that. I was in the shooting team and our armoury managed to keep some wooden furniture for us to use for the main competitions such as Bisley and Sennelager. We had a stash of the wood but it was getting harder to source and maintain. It certainly made a positive difference for accurate shooting compared to the normal black plastic.
The weirdest thing was the SLR's versus SA80's firing at the same time in the falling plate competition shoots (firing at 10 metal plates per team from the prone position after a 100 yard run). Some unit's hadn't converted (normally the service arms), while the infantry had. Obviously the results depended on the team. But the superior knocking down power of the SLR's 7.62mm was obvious compared to the SA80's 5.56mm. To be fair if the SA80 guys managed to run the 100 yards without their magazines falling out (!!) they would knock the plates down quickly once they got their eyes in with the SUSAT sights. Long summers and happy days :)
best battle rifle ever,,,,imo , love the wood , never really understood the tiny x1 opticals ,
Use one. You will understand. The x1 optic on the Steyr AUG was my "epiphany".
THANKS I WIILL GIVE ONE A TRY , STEYR AUG IS ALSO IN MY TOP 5 MILITARY RIFLES THE ONLY BULLPUP IN THERE .
Awesome ive been hoping for this video for a while. The UNIT sight is very interesting as is that whole era of British firearms development
I served 7 years in dutch infantry battalion as a mechanic ,,, my personal weapons, ,uzi and browning HP 9mm. Because of my technical support function. .
Every one else had a FAL. Every chance a had I switch to a FAL ..I loved that thing ..without any scoop 300 yards never missed. .
And it looks pretty cool too ..
If you're still in the UK Ian, then let me know I'll buy you a beer/whiskey. Love your content and have been a consumer of it for years now.
Quintessentially Brrriitish! There is a hollow-out in the stock for a emergency ration of Earl Gray tea bags.
Early versions had an inflatable bowler hat, for when you were in a 'spot of bother old boy'
Also of note: that lug on the barrel isn't for a bayonet. That's where you attach the umbrella...
Pfft. Only Frenchmen drink Earl Grey. Proper Assam for real Brits!
Actually, a tot of whisky fitted well into the butt, instead of the issued oil bottle. Oh, and the notch on the top was really for M1 users to stick their thumbs in and experience 'FAL-thumb.' Also, the markings on the wooden carry handle were notches to record kills of Communist Terrorists in Borneo.
..........that"s just the english , count the rest of us welsh , scottish & irish out - i"d have glengettie tea bags anyway :)
Ian: Uploads a vid.
Me, not a gun guy from a country with no gun rights: WOOOOOO-HOOOOO! Gimme all that FAL sweetness!
On the internet, we're all American. Enjoy, friend!
@gofa curself Isn't the lack of 2nd amendment in your home a valid reason to get refugee status? :)
zul448 that’s a beautiful saying, I guess you are right you can be completely free online. And what’s more American than Freedom.
Interesting video on this development, thanks for the video.
The inch pattern magazine also fitted on the 7.62 converted Bren, which may explain the bigger lug on LIAI weapon magazines.
Carried an SLR for five years in the late seventies in the British Army and absolutely loved it. Picked up a brand new one from the Armory while i with the Guards Depot shooting team. It was still in a waxed and greased covering which took me days of cleaning to get off. Imagine my glee when I discovered it still had a wooden butt attached, curiously the stock was plastic. Fired thousands of rounds through it until a screw fell out on the front sling swivel. Took it to the REME armorers shop for a new screw and almost cried when the bastards took the wooden stock off and fitted a plastic one. I think they were in demand as desk souvenirs for REMF officers at the time. Anyway SLR's served me well throughout my career in Cyprus and NI, never experienced a stoppage once and was always confident of a one shot kill, whatever it happened to be hiding behind
Oh baby, one of my FAVORITE sporting rifles!!!!! Absolutely beautiful!!!!
I've seen pics of these very weapons in the hands of British troops in Malaya and Kenya, circa late 50s.
Ian, a while ago you had many of your AK and other Russian-weapon videos translated to Russian for that audience. Any chance you might do the same to this video by translating it into British for our friends across the pond?
Just got a parts kit build SLR in from ARS, stunningly gorgeous, even with the black furniture.
I used both the Canadian C1Ai with stripper clip top covers, and the C2 heavy barrel version and also the New Zealand SLR (Australian) with a full body cover. Absolutely loved both rifles. During the 70s, New Zealand also used the M-16. I preferred the SLR!
I had a 67 manufacture one issued to me in 86 in Australia. It had a wooden carrying handel and triangulated front handgaurds, as per these. Later manufactured had rounded stocks here.
I served In a dutch infantry bataljon in the mid 80's to early 90's ..
As a mechanic so I got a 9mm browning pistol and an uzi as personal weapons ..
The rest of the family had FAL ..everytime we were at the shooting range I tried to swap
Or please ....let me shoot that thing ..uzi 100 yards no scope is fun ,,but FAL at 500 to 750 yards is more fun ..
I acquired a Springfield armory receiver and an excellent British L1A1 parts kit in the early 90's. A call to Springfield rather surprised me when I spoke to the shop manager who said they would assemble the rifle for me. It has been my favorite .308 since that time.
Best hitting-stick made. When 1 of my Sgts was a young Sapper he put most of an F1 mag (9mmP) on target and the guy kept running, his mate put 1 SLR round in the guy and ended it. On their dawn clearing patrol they found a lot of bruises on the body and 9mm rounds in his webbing.
If you are still in Leeds I have a collection of guns and arms at my auction house which you may want to cast your eye over. Happy to show you around as I’m just down the road from there.
used one whilst serving in the mid 70s and never had any issues with it and regard it as the best military rifle.
due to uk law i never bought one to use at the range due to them being single shot only but i did try one in 2020.
superb rifle but tried to fire second shot in semi auto out of habit.
rifle was hard to extract due to chinese barnaul ammo .
if i did get one then i would reload for it or use radway green ammunition
Huge fan of the clip loading feature for quickly reloading.
I was getting parts kits and receivers for Brit, Australian, and Austrian FALs in the 1990s. Even with a scope they were 6" groups at 100yards. Like SKS and AK rifles, I gave up on accuracy mods after a while.
Loved the SLR fantastic rifle ,used the wooden stock was brilliant
The Kent-Lemon chap seems to have been Lieutenant-Colonel Noel Kent-Lemon.
During my time in the Territorial Army, my personal weapon was the L1A1, which we knew as the SLR. Bullet was 7.62 mm (.300 inch) with 59 grains cordite.. Good for 300+ m as an individual weapon on open sites. Later optical sites gave gave me, as a marksman, 700+ m accuracy of 95% hit on body. Starlight sights were great at night. Other sights available were infra-red and ultra-violet (both passive), but I am uanable to comment on these, as they were only issued to SAS and SBS.
Thanks Ian. A bit more knowledge to add to the list for the Mason/Dixon FAL Collectors Assn.
Thanks for the video.
I fired the production version of these in New Zealand - hell of a weapon!
Talking about Dad’s Army, mine was the RSM guards depot who with a team of sergeants developed the rifle drill. I have the original photographs and I always wondered what the device you identified as the odd looking scope. Likewise no bayonet holder so the bayonet was held in place. As a soldier I used the SLR during my own service in 1960s with wood furniture and carry handle.
I trained on the fal at CFB Borden which is a dust bowl and never had any problems.
I was trained on the Fn c1 a1 a cousin of this rifle .
Best rifle ever made in my opinion. Granted that's based entirely on one of them being the most fun I've ever had with a rifle but that's good enough for me.
That classic FAL triangular furniture and that luscious woodgrain make a great combo
The Belgians are known for its beer, chocolate, waffles and automatic assault rifles. Thanks to Ian I know why 😁
Love the woodwork... if I were ever allowed to improve the FAL, I would lose the carry handle, never used it, my hand just naturally fitted around the frame just forward of the magazine.
I got real excited when you locked the bolt back and the internals were polished white. Is that normal?
don't worry I got one as well
For us gun people, no it’s not abnormal. It’s abnormal if it lasts too long tho
I thought you fell off.
hoplophelia
My father served in the Irish Guards in the late fifties into the early sixties, he mentioned the doctrine of the time in relation to magazine retention I.e. keep your smock halfway unzipped or unbuttoned and stashing your empty mags in there. Think Andy McNab or Chris Ryan mentioned it in their novels more than once.
Everything about 'em screams "Don't get me dirty!"
loved the SLR when I was in the OZ army, due to the fact that i was a gentleman of the cavalry, we had a great deal, firing the whole selection of OZ armoury from pistols to 50 cals, to charlie gustsos. but as a reliable weapon in all conditions the SLR was a beaut.
Reminds me I need to revisit the Royal Armouries (Leeds) again, its been ages, I only live 5mins away as well!
Lucky bugger, I'm half a world away.
A fantastic museum and it’s free! Just a shame that you have to rob a bank to pay for parking at the NCP.
@@Exparcelman take a bus? Leeds has some great park-and-ride spots now.
It would be interesting to see how effective those sand remediations were with an Inrange certified dust test.
Hi Ian, a friend of my late Father John Harbour, told me that he was given a 7.92x33 Kurz FN (Early SLR) during the Korea War to try, John was a REME Armourer attached to a Light Infantry Unit in the British Army and he was adamant it was that Calibre.
I had one of these L1A1's as a civie shooter when we could still have them in the UK. Won me the very last national competion shot with self loading rifles. Just a cracking piece of kit. Had to hand it in after Hungerford. Never was a Public Enquiry about that as they knew that the powers that be were so much in the wrong.
I grew up in Leeds, the Royal Armouries has so much stuff the public don't get to see when they visit, it's a shame.
Those rifles are gorgeous
The Canadian Rifle FN C1A1, which I used when I joined the Canadian Forces back in the 1970's, had the stripper clip gate as well as many of the other features the British put into their adoption. It was easy to use stripper clips on it.
It's odd that of the differences between these two and the AU L1A1s I used to lug around, the ones that make these feel weird aren't the forward assist and post/grip on the charging handle, but the lack of muzzle brake and the much longer gas regulator.
The wooden cover is a bit different too, but it's the muzzle brake and gas regulator that makes if feel a little uncanny.
There once was a man from Leeds....Love your videos Ian
In the British Army the 7.62mm rounds were still being issued on 5 round stripper clips right into the late seventies, these usually came packed in bandoliers. The thinking was that they could be used as for rapid charging of magazines using a special metal charging clip that we were issued with. Think I only used it once as it wasn't exactly practical. Soldiers preferred loose "ball" rounds that could be hand loaded into magazines one at a time.
Because no one had the guide same with the M16
You know you've watched alot of Forgotten Weapons when you can recognize the optical sight from EM-2 trails in the thumbnail.
I seem to recall the standard Belgian pattern using imperial units of measure also. For certain, the barrel/receiver threads are the same on commonwealth/standard Belgian pattern and muzzle threads were 9/16-24 RH on Commonwralth rifles and 9/16-24 LH or RH on standard Belgian rifles.
The Indian 1a1 and possibly Israeli models "may" have used metric threads, but not certain beyond limited experience with those parts typically not working with known Commonwealth & Belgian pattern parts.
Cool video! A fan of you and your cronies and the FAL!
Colonel Edward Kent-Lemon - of EM2 fame.
"So we might give it a fixed magazine and have it load with stripper clips."
"I say, those detachable magazines do encourage the troops to shoot of too many rounds willy-nilly. We must fit it with a magazine cut-off as well!"
I was in the RN at HMS Ganges in 1968. The SLR was the issue rifle. I had previously been, ( from age 12 to 15 ) in a (horrible) Navy Training Ship "Arethusa", where we were constantaly marched drilled paraded, and taught rifle drill with the .303 Lee Enfield. The UK service weapon of our instructrors. When I actually joined the Royal Navy, and started parade ground instruction with my fellow "victims" , I was streets ahead - untill they began rifle drill !! And I was suddenly holding a SLR instead of a .303! Then sometimes when given a simple order - like "shoulder arms" my muscle memory would obey completly different routes, ending up with the SLR on the wrong shoulder, and wrong position. Very funny for everyone - 'sept ME - who would spend the next half hour running round the parade ground with a increasingly heavy SLR held over my head. It was a delight to shoot though, and very accurate.
we were taught to load by hand and never see a stripper clip on the slr. and most were plastic. so i prefer the polymer over wood on that particular weapon. such a nice rifle to fire at 16 in british army lol loved the bren mk 3 as well
Gorgeous FAL's!!! Great Review on the development of the L1A1!!! Still love my L1A1 Sporter, built on a Canadian parts kit.
FN FAL, the Right Arm of the Free World! :)
Absolute U N I T sight.
Those are just beautiful.