edited
Got this parts kit from Sarco Inc. $250 came with a new GI Argentine barrel (chrome-lined).
The stock is a beast, but it literally reeks of history. All things considered it’s in pretty good shape.
The Izzy handguard appears to be in new/unissued condition with the cosmoline green.
You could do worse for a FAL build. Mine might go on a para receiver I’ve got lying around, but the historic stock has me in a mood for a traditional FAL.
Pics
That’s a real mix master…Argie barrel, Izzy handguards, and a Rhodesian/South African lower…
Should go together fine, although you’ll need a higher rear sight to go with the front sight.
So that’s rhodesian?
Damn, I thought the receiver plate was Izzy but the painted camo should have been a tipoff. It’s also a wood stock. I thought the rhodesian was plastic.
I was going to use a different lower altogether, a DSA Para.
None of the parts pictured belong on a para, especially if you need to get your US parts count up… I guess you could use the pistol grip nut, the selector and maybe the rear sight screws and the trigger and hammer pins and the trigger guard…
And you could cut down the barrel, change the gas block, re-drill the gas port and re-crown and thread the muzzle…
But not much other than that goes on a para…
Earlier contract R1’s had wood stocks, with the metal ferrule at the wrist of the stock. Israeli wood stocks typically don’t have the metal ferrule.
Damn I love the FAL.
That’s a sweet pic on horseback. Soldier? Disgruntled Merc? or Farmer?
I thought i had seen it and did find a couple of images of Israeli Light Barrels with the ferrule (love that word) though I suppose they could have been builds.
Or is it the specific type of ferrule?
The para lower is a US made DSA. I’ve got more than enough US parts. I mostly got the kit for spare parts for my other FALs with the intention of putting the Argie barrel on the Para build. I was actually going to have the barrel cut down rethreaded. I didn’t want to try that on a more expensive barrel. This seemed to be the best option for procuring a chrome-lined barrel I could butcher.
The more I look at that Rhodesian lower…the less and less I’m sure I want to do that.
The thing is, that barrel has the open ears on the sight/gas block that means it sits about 3mm higher than the later rifles with the lower front sight (with solid ears). The open front sight ears is correct for most early Israeli FAL’s and very early (pre G1) FAL’s. The Germans had the Belgians lower the sights on their rifles.
The lower you have has the later, lower rear sight. In order to zero that rifle, you’ll either have to use a higher, older rear sight, or replace the gas block/front sight block with a newer, closed ear sight.
As far as the pic, that’s a Rhodesian Scout…whether Sealous or Grays, I couldn’t tell you.
Further, I am unaware of anyone who makes, or ever made, a para type rear sight that is the correct height for that gas block… Now if you want to do a late pattern Israeli light barrel, you can use the Argentinean barrel with the open ear gas block and the LB hand guards that you have… Additionally you will need a:
type 1 upper receiver
late pattern flash hider combo device
izzy gas plug
FN carry handle
izzy magazine release
izzy bolt hold open
izzy pivot pin
izzy lower
izzy selector
izzy LB buttstock
izzy charging handle
izzy forward assist bolt carrier
Force all the numbers to match, mark it FTR 76, and reparkerize in gray… That will give you an accurate late pattern Israeli light barrel FAL…
Just my .02
B
Given everything is it best to take the gas block off if I want to do a para, will it be hard to find an alternate block that will work on that barrel contour?
I was trying to get away with the cheapest, shooter build I could get away with and still have fun putting it together without fear of messing up cutting/crowning the barrel.
All things considered if the para is going to be that complex I guess I’d rather stick to a Rhodesian build and save the Para for another day.
I’d call DSA or Gunthings.com up and see if they have a gas block laying around.
SARCO might have one as well.
The barrel contour on that should be identicle to the later metric style.
The Argies continued to build their rifles under license with the taller sights for several years after the other metric users adopted the lower sights.
Or, you could build this up as an Izzy LB and then buy another kit and do a R1, and then another and do a Para…
I like how you think.
I think I’m going to buy another barrel and do an R1, then knock the gas block of the current Argie and do the Para build.
The Izzy would come later. That Izzy handguard wouldn’t fit a HB would it?
If you want to save a lot of time, hassle, and expense in building a FAL kit gun; I would strongly recommend that you buy a complete kit less the receiver from the Gun Parts Guy… His kits are mostly surplus parts in as new refinished condition and include all the US compliance parts… All you will need is a quality FAL receiver and your good to go… If you want something that you do not see, send him an email and he will build you a custom kit…
Just my .02
B
Those look nice.
I wonder why I never saw that listed on the FAL files.
Search GPG on the files and I am sure you will get lots of hits…
I don’t really go there much anymore. It just degenerated into another flamefest shooting forum.
I would have thought with all those nice FAL kits he’d have been listed as a sponsor…unless it’s a reincarnation of another vendor.
I just realized…
The R1 is an inch pattern gun no?
No… The R1 was a domestically produced South African metric FN Fal variant with a type 1 metric receiver and plastic stocks… Quite a few were also purchased directly from FN in Belgium, and these (mostly) had wood stocks…
B
Buck, is it easy for a semi-mechanically inclined shooter to assemble a parts kit on a quality receiver, or is a job best left to an experienced gunsmith?