Production variants of the FAL
The FN FAL and the L1A1 SLR Rifles and their users
The FAL was the rifle choice of western Europe's NATO forces as well as those of the Commonwealth. They were made in two very different versions.
The FAL basically comes in two main models. The first is the original metric based FAL as invented by Fabrique Nationale in Belgium. The second is the L1a1 or inch pattern that was utilized by Great Britain and the Commonwealth countries such as Canada and Australia. The weapons were produced in at least nine countries and end used in no less than forty.
The Metric rifles were made in Belgium, Austria, Brazil, and Argentina. Notable differences in the metric FN FAL is in the fact that they were more often produced with folding stocks for use by paratrooper units and had a selective fire capability to fire fully automatic (although it was considered very hard to control in full auto fire). The L1A1 variants were produced in factories set up for imperial measures tooling (inches) and are often referred to as "inch' rifles. The L1A1's magazine well was also fitted to take the 30 round Bren Light Machine gun magazine without any further modification. Below are more details on the adoption of each type. As a rule the L1A1 was semi-automatic only. The difference in tooling patterns meant that parts are not interchangeable between the two variants.
The FN FAL
Belgium - The FN FAL was made by the famous Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FN) plant in Liege from 1955-74. An estimated quantity of a one million of these weapons were made both for Belgium’s own military and for export to the military's of Holland, Greece, Israel, Mexico, Suriname, Venezuela, Uruguay, Nigeria, Ireland and Portugal. The weapon saw combat with several of these armies all over Africa most notably in the Sinai, the Congo and Mozambique. Germany took possession of 130,000 of these weapons in various forms in the late 1950's which were quickly replaced by the German made G3 rifle within a couple of years and the weapons sold to NATO ally Turkey, where they remain to this day. In the 1990's all of these countries mentioned above except Venezuela replaced the FAL in front line service with a 5.56mm rifle either the C7, M16, Galil or FNC. Venezuela finally withdrew its long serving rifles after purchasing a huge shipment of AK103 rifles from Russia in 2006.
Luxembourg - A number of the Belgian issue rifles were resold to Luxembourg for use in her battalion sized army in 1957. They continued use there until replaced by the Steyr Aug in 1987.
Argentina, adopted 1955, manufactured locally at FMAP from 1960-1997, more than 100,000 produced and is still the primary weapon of the Argentine Army. The CIA purchased several thousand of these rifles from the military junta secretly in 1981 to equip the Contra anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua. Many have appeared throughout Central America in the hands of several different organizations since then.
Austria adopted and produced locally by Steyr under the designation Sturmgewehr 58 Stg. 58. These were replaced by the Steyr AUG in 1990 and sold as surplus.
Brazil adopted the weapon in 1964 and produced an estimated 200,000 that it designated M964 at its IMBEL factory. Brazil continues to issue the weapon to its military and it is still in production there both for local use and for export.
The L1A1 Self Loading Rifle
Australia adopted 1959 and produced locally at the Lithgow Arsenal until 1986 with more than 220,000 produced. The weapon was carried by the Australian army units in Vietnam. The Australian army replaced the weapon with the Stey AUG and all of the Australian owned weapons were dumped in the deep Pacific Ocean in 1995 instead of being sold as surplus. Lithgow also completed contracts for the L1A1 for New Zealand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and other Pacific Rim countries which continue to use the weapon in either first or second line use.
Canada -adopted the L1A1 which were produced at the Canadian Arsenal in the 1960's. The weapon was replaced in 1985 by the C7, but is still retained for service especially by naval units.
India -The country produced an unknown (at least 350,000) quantity of unlicensed L1A1’s at its Ishapore factory from 1961 onward. The weapon was the primary infantry arm of the huge Indian army and saw yeoman service in the various wars with Pakistan and with internal separatists for the past thirty years. In the 1998 they began to be withdrawn to second line and reserve service, being replaced by the new INSAS rifle. India has supplied a large number of these now surplus L1A1's to Nepal as military aid in their ongoing fight against Maoist rebels.
South Africa -designated the R1 and produced locally by ARMSCOR the South African state arms factory. The South African government supplied some 30,000 weapons to Rhodesia during its Bush War/Second Chimurenga (1971-1979) in violation of an international arms embargo. When Rhodesia became Zimbabwe these weapons transferred to that new country where they are still in use. The R1 rifle in South African service has been replaced starting in 1986 by a locally produced version of the Israeli Galil. South Africa destroyed some 206,454 of these weapons it had in reserve storgae in 2001 as part of Operation Mouflon. The country did save several thousand weapons beyoind this figure and transfer them to to the SA Navy, Police and the National Park system where they are still in daily use.
United Kingdom -adopted in 1957 and some 277,000 were produced by BSA, Enfield and Fazakerley. British military personnel carried these weapons all over the world from Norway to Belize to Hong Kong for thirty years. The weapon saw combat in Cyprus, Northern Ireland, Brunei, Malaysia, and Aden before being immortalized on the Battlefields of Tumbledown and Mount Longdon in the Falkland islands War in 1982. Interestingly enough the Guardsmen and Royal Marines who carried those hills fought against Argentine troops who were also armed with FAL variant rifles. The well worn L1A1 was replaced by the troublesome 5.56 mm Enfield L85A1 in 1985 but is still used for drilling,ceremonial and reserve forces.
In the United States, DSA Arms produce a new SA58 FN FAL variant tactical carbine in a myriad of types in the traditional 7.62x51mm/.308Win chambering and has seen some success in both some law enforcement and special small scale military sales although the weapon has never been adopted by the US military.
Source FN-FAL Rifle (Paperback) By Duncan Long Paperback: 133 pages Publisher: Desert Publications (October 1998) ISBN-10: 0879471867 ISBN-13: 978-0879471866
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