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The Ultimate Battle Rifle
Belgium may be best known for fine shotguns, rich chocolate and tasty waffles, but for you and me, this quaint little country is the home of the world's finest major-caliber battle rifle, the FN-FAL. Renowned throughout the world for its rugged reliability, the FAL was manufactured in 10 countries in its heyday and issued to over 70 armies, not to mention various irregulars and mercenaries. In fact it was the FAL's calling card as the weapon of mercs that gained it the most notoriety. Col. "Mad" Mike Hoare, an Irish-born World War II veteran who immigrated to South Africa and went on to become one of the Dark Continent's most celebrated mercenaries, unwittingly did more to promote the legend of the FAL as the merc's gun-of-choice when he led a daring hostage rescue mission into the Belgian Congo in 1964 and freed a group of Americans and Belgians. In the days following the raid, Mad Mike's men held off the rebels long enough to evacuate over 1,800 European and American civilians. If the FAL, the "Fusil Automatique Legere," was not famous before, it would be now. The FAL is a .308 Win. (7.62 x 51mm) gas-operated, short-stroke piston system available in semiautomatic and automatic versions. The FAL's standard payload is a 20-round detachable box magazine; 30-round magazines were also made for a squad automatic version of the FAL, but they're not desirable due to their length and "spring issues" with the elongated box. Balance at the link. As an aside. Original testing for the replacement of the M14 was conducted by the Special Forces weapons committee at Fort Bragg in the late 1950's, early 60's. The FN and the 7.62mm round won the competition. Colt AR-15/M-16 was howevere selected ultimated selected by DoD and the US Army. Posted by: Besoeker 2008-09-29 |
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