Would You Actually Trade Your M14 For An FAL?
- Thread starter L42A1
- Start date
ghostntheshell
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- GTA ONTARIO
Yes.
Back when I was a teenager I kept my FN under my bed. My club got an issue of them for the SR shooters and you could sign one out for the season. The permit to posses it was from my club and was on a purple ditto produced form like we had in school. Good enough to get past the MP at he gate. We shot the Queens ammo at the same price- free. They were supposedly "match grade" but I don't know what that meant. The FN was superior to M14 as a battle rifle but as you know the Americans would never believe that. I once got beat up in the face by an FN but as a quick learner I never did that again!
My experience as well. It's a turnbolt action on a ROLLER with a piston crudely welded to it at an awkward angle. That sort of slapdash design was ok for the Garand when they needed a semiauto rifle that worked right away, but to continue using that action after the war is borderline criminal. With the Norincos you get an acceptably accurate rifle for relatively cheap, and your typical range conditions aren't going to give your M14 any trouble so there's not much to complain about. But I too would I would walk over 100 of the best M14s ever made for one good M16, to say nothing of a good FAL.
I carried C1s and C2s for years and loved them. I owned a couple back in the 80's including an imperial/metric mutt with a para stock.
That was a fun rifle although the stock ruined the balance. I made the mistake of selling my last one when they went prohib. I should have kept
one to play with in the basement with the curtains drawn. I also had an C1 dewat at one point...Another rifle I should have kept!
Here's the 8L Dewat with a PAS4 mounted Hoo-Yah!
That was a fun rifle although the stock ruined the balance. I made the mistake of selling my last one when they went prohib. I should have kept
one to play with in the basement with the curtains drawn. I also had an C1 dewat at one point...Another rifle I should have kept!
Here's the 8L Dewat with a PAS4 mounted Hoo-Yah!
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You mean I have to choose?
I have hunted with the Valmet and with the Norc M305 (in a ProMag stock).
I don;t think I have ever used the Garand hunting, so perhaps I should soon.
The Ishapore 1A1 was Restricted when I bought it, so never had the chance to hunt with it.
I have hunted with the Valmet and with the Norc M305 (in a ProMag stock).
I don;t think I have ever used the Garand hunting, so perhaps I should soon.
The Ishapore 1A1 was Restricted when I bought it, so never had the chance to hunt with it.
I carried both the FAL (FNC1) and the C7A2. I was also a W Tech for 17 years so I do have a lot of nostalgia towards the FN. A few years ago I got the chance to hold an FNC1 that for some reason had been forgotten by the supply system and was still in the Unit wpns lock up. Just the touch and smell brought back great memories.
But, the rational side of me does think the C7 is a better and less maintenance intensive weapon system. We were forever changing hand guards and pistol grips on the FN. How many of us remember finagling a spare gas plug and piston when we went on JLC or to replace the ones that went downrange at zero dark thirty in "the back 40" of Meaford?? How about getting your cheek all beat up because you had the wrong butt length. Now all you have to do now is extend or retract the C7 collapsible butt. I also can't tell you how many rifles had to go back to 202 W/D in Montreal to have barrels changed due to broken foresight protectors. Only the latest FN C1 "8L" series and the FN C2 had replaceable foresight guards.
As far an I know 202 (and maybe Germany) were the only places that had a tool to change the FN barrel. I changed barrels while in Small Arms and it was an acquired skill. You had to overturn the barrel just a little bit so it would slip back the right amount when the pressure was released. I just changed a barrel on my AR last week and, sorry to say, any one-armed monkey can change an AR barrel.
I lost count of how many parts there were in the FN but I'd guess twice as many as the C7. A look at the receiver and the machining operations required to make an FN would simply make one not affordable nowadays.
I sure like the look of some 1950's cars but then I remember changing points, plugs, having the carb tuned up regularly, running leaded gas and getting 15 MPG. Nostalgia is great but sometimes cold hard reality sneaks in to ruin our memories,
But, the rational side of me does think the C7 is a better and less maintenance intensive weapon system. We were forever changing hand guards and pistol grips on the FN. How many of us remember finagling a spare gas plug and piston when we went on JLC or to replace the ones that went downrange at zero dark thirty in "the back 40" of Meaford?? How about getting your cheek all beat up because you had the wrong butt length. Now all you have to do now is extend or retract the C7 collapsible butt. I also can't tell you how many rifles had to go back to 202 W/D in Montreal to have barrels changed due to broken foresight protectors. Only the latest FN C1 "8L" series and the FN C2 had replaceable foresight guards.
As far an I know 202 (and maybe Germany) were the only places that had a tool to change the FN barrel. I changed barrels while in Small Arms and it was an acquired skill. You had to overturn the barrel just a little bit so it would slip back the right amount when the pressure was released. I just changed a barrel on my AR last week and, sorry to say, any one-armed monkey can change an AR barrel.
I lost count of how many parts there were in the FN but I'd guess twice as many as the C7. A look at the receiver and the machining operations required to make an FN would simply make one not affordable nowadays.
I sure like the look of some 1950's cars but then I remember changing points, plugs, having the carb tuned up regularly, running leaded gas and getting 15 MPG. Nostalgia is great but sometimes cold hard reality sneaks in to ruin our memories,
Funny, I was an 031 and carried an FN for 5 years (when I wasn't carrying a C3 or a Browning GPMG) and never broke a handguard and never lost a gas plug.
I may have just been lucky but, for the most part I don't remember a lot of those problems...except...by the s**t disturbers who seemed to make a career
out of screwing up. Mind you, I didn't like cleaning Shi**ers or doing pushups so I generally toed the line. I liked the C1, very much and like most grunts
took pride in taking good care of my rifle. You never knew when the Soviets would come!
I do remember a deuce and a half driving over a section's rifles that they had grounded while eating lunch!
One thing I vividly remember is humping a C2 across Wainwright in the blazing sun, full mag bra and all, with the section commander yelling "C2 Left!", "C2 Right!", "C2 Left!" all afternoon, and giving me a big SE grin every time I ran past him. Almost 40 years later and he is still one of my best buddies.
I may have just been lucky but, for the most part I don't remember a lot of those problems...except...by the s**t disturbers who seemed to make a career
out of screwing up. Mind you, I didn't like cleaning Shi**ers or doing pushups so I generally toed the line. I liked the C1, very much and like most grunts
took pride in taking good care of my rifle. You never knew when the Soviets would come!
I do remember a deuce and a half driving over a section's rifles that they had grounded while eating lunch!
One thing I vividly remember is humping a C2 across Wainwright in the blazing sun, full mag bra and all, with the section commander yelling "C2 Left!", "C2 Right!", "C2 Left!" all afternoon, and giving me a big SE grin every time I ran past him. Almost 40 years later and he is still one of my best buddies.
