Anyone know why the FN FAL was outlawed??

Brutus said:
The FN-FALs and such were all surplus.
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Um...that's utterly WRONG. Back in the early 80's many FAL's and SLR's were being sold brand new. Some were brand new manufacture from Australia, some were brand new right from FN Belgium.

Lever Arms used to be right downtown Vancouver Granville and Robson, right between Future Shop and the Sears. Back then, I saw they had brand new FN FAL's from Belgium, of every variant, including the short side-folder "Para" and "Congo" variants. They also had a heavy/long barreled version, similar to the C2, but semi. At that time, Expo86 was on I think, the AR-15 was still non-restricted, but the FN FAL/SLR were already Restricted for some time, and the guy in the shop explained the difference as being "range only".

In the 90's there was many surplus Indian, Israeli and British SLR/FAL's being sold cheap...but they were FAR from the first ones in the country in civilian hands.
 
You change 3 parts and the gun goes from semi... to full.. with a switch.. my grandfather had a full auto fal I must say I have only shot it 1 time.. It was still legal to do walked down the street to the gravel pit talked to a neighbor on the way its just me.. with my grandson he said why not start him on a 22 grandfather said they are going to ban them so might as well let him have the chance to shoot his service rifle.. first 2 rounds hit the target then he put full auto on.. that was fun.. 32 rds 2 semi 30 full.. I hit the mountain and that was it.. safest place to stand was were the target was supposed to be it danced around so much.. So I shot it 1 time they made it prohib because it was easly converted to automatic.. just 3 parts your done..
 
Brutus said:
Oh yes, how could I forget the metric FNs! My bad.....
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Well in fairness, there was probably 10-15 times as many surplus FN's sold in Canada, in the 90's, compared to brand new FN's sold here to civilians in the 70's and 80's...

I think the price on the Belgian FAL's in 1986 was around $1200 Canadian and up, depending on the model...while Colt AR-15A2's and CAR-15's were going for about $620. Compare that with the ultra-low priced L1A1's going for around $250, and Ishapores going for $180...I don't remember at all how much surplus Israeli FAL's were going for, but I was surprised to see the controls felt different than the Inch Pattern's I used in the service!
 
mike624 said:
Prohibiting the AR15 would have pissed off a whole bunch of people all at once - hence the restricted status......

Anyone have any friends in the Conservative government? The prohibited list can be amended by order in council which involves cabinet approving the change and then getting it signed by the governor general - it doesn't go near the house of commons or the senate........

I would suggest starting small - ie: US versions of the FAL built on semi-auto only receivers........
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Wrong, the AR15 escaped because of the DCRA and Queens Cup. Look it up and join a club that shoots service rifle.

My Israeli FAL had the slot where the safety sear resides welded up and the selector made imovable to the go fast setting. The FN's were restricted before 92 and I believe that the fear was it would go the way of the Enfield and be sold surplus to civilians. Canadian Tire? That's the best reason I've been given.

All of these prohibitions did was to create a couple of exclusive clubs. The average guy can buy several pistol gripped black rifles.
 
From what i understand FN FALS and original m14s were used to shoot service rifle , not just the AR15 so it seems frivolous that one get banned and not the other and could possibly be made legal again on those grounds .

However and this may sound stupid could someone post a picture of this safety sear stuff your jabbering about , im a youngin and my wire diagram images dont give me a good picture.
 
Seafury said:
The FN's were restricted before 92 and I believe that the fear was it would go the way of the Enfield and be sold surplus to civilians.
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WAY before 1992!! More like maybe 1982! But I thought it was 1979 or something...I never looked into it that much, the rifles at the time were way too expensive (a brand new car cost about $4-5000, or 1/4 the price of a new FN in the 1980's, which base models would sell for $1200), and no surplus FN's in the 80's that I knew of. Whether "Inch" or "Metric": these were basically the same rifles, but Metrics were the original design as Belgian FN engineered it, while the Inch patterns were Commonwealth nations took the blueprints, converted them to Imperial units, customized some controls and details, made them domestically.

Now, I don't know this for an absolute fact, but having looked at the magazines of both, Inch and Metric magazines do NOT interchange...the front nub for rocking it on is different: Inch has a welded machined plate, while the Metric has a stamped 'bow'. Likewise if memory serves, the Israeli FAL has a round hole, that engages a pin or something in the front of the magazine well...making IDF FAL magazines incompatible with everyone else!
 
Kc.338Lp said:
From what i understand FN FALS and original m14s were used to shoot service rifle , not just the AR15 so it seems frivolous that one get banned and not the other and could possibly be made legal again on those grounds .

However and this may sound stupid could someone post a picture of this safety sear stuff your jabbering about , im a youngin and my wire diagram images dont give me a good picture.
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True they were but the AR15 was spared because it was the same as the current C7. The whole point of the Queens cup is that it's a match where civilians and military personel compete and to be fair you have to allow similar arms.
 
rickr1100 said:
way before 1992!! More like maybe 1982! but i thought it was 1979 or something...i never looked into it that much, the rifles at the time were way too expensive (a brand new car cost about $4-5000, or 1/4 the price of a new fn in the 1980's, which base models would sell for $1200), and no surplus fn's in the 80's that i knew of. Whether "inch" or "metric": These were basically the same rifles, but metrics were the original design as belgian fn engineered it, while the inch patterns were commonwealth nations took the blueprints, converted them to imperial units, customized some controls and details, made them domestically.

Now, i don't know this for an absolute fact, but having looked at the magazines of both, inch and metric magazines do not interchange...the front nub for rocking it on is different: Inch has a welded machined plate, while the metric has a stamped 'bow'. Likewise if memory serves, the israeli fal has a round hole, that engages a pin or something in the front of the magazine well...making idf fal magazines incompatible with everyone else!
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1978
 
Ok, 1978...was that the same time as when they made full autos prohibited? Or did I get them mixed up and that was 1979?
 
slight drift here -

What did DND do with the FN C1A1 rifles once the C7 came in?
Were our FNs ever sold through Crown Assets Disposal, or some other way?
Or were they destroyed?
Or are they stored somewhere in a federal armory?
 
colecreek said:
What did DND do with the FN C1A1 rifles once the C7 came in?
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A small number, 50 or 100 or so, were preserved for reference. The remainder were destroyed, including a large number of prototypes and some of the first mass-produced Belgian FALs off of the line (Canada was the first large-scale purchaser of the FAL rifle).
 
Destroyed eh - what a sad waste.

The country missed out on the opportunity to create a Canadian equivalent to the US Civilian Marksmanship Program.
 
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