Dear Mr. Rawles,
I was lucky when I purchased a Century Arms L1A1 (British Commonwealth inch pattern FN/FAL) Clone a few years back. Not only does it function flawlessly, it also can use both metric and inch pattern magazines reliably. I purchased the rifle at a gun show for $400. Like I said, I was lucky.
I see that in the past few years you have changed from the M1A to the L1A1 as your primary weapon. I could do the same, if I could get anywhere near the accuracy from the FAL that I get from my AR. But the accuracy of this ugly FrankenFAL clone is just okay–not great, not terrible. I’d like to improve upon that. Do you know of any reputable companies that sell accurized FAL uppers, and would it be as easy to upgrade for accuracy as to simply add a new upper (like with an AR) and maybe a trigger job?
Thanks, – Steve E., Loyal 10 Cent Challenge Subscriber
JWR Replies: Since the serialized upper receiver on a FAL or L1A1 is legally the receiver, here in the US you can’t just buy one by mail order. (That is the part that is subject to FFL controls, in interstate commerce). This is often confusing, because with the more ubiquitous AR-family rifles, things are just the opposite: The serialized lower is restricted, but the unserialized upper is unrestricted. This is the case simply because one day back in the 1950s, Eugene Stoner decided to stamp the serial number on the convenient broad slab expanse of the trigger group (“lower receiver”) of his new AR-10 design, rather than on the part that everyone else would consider the “receiver.”–the chunk of metal where the barrel is attached.
OBTW, if I ever establish my own Libertarian Seastead or island nation out in the Pacific, I will decree that it is illegal to put serial numbers on any “Books” made there. Then, we will proceed to shower the Peoples of the Earth with good tidings of unregistered receivers, via convenient Internet mail order. (Yeah, I know, only in my dreams…)
The accuracy problem with your Franken-L1A1 is likely due to just the last 20 millimeters of barrel rifling, at the muzzle. L1A1 muzzles were often butchered by the Neanderthal gunsmith imposters at Century Arms, when they welded their ugly Section 992(r)-compliant intra-ban muzzle brakes on. So I recommend that you have a qualified gunsmith shorten your barrel by an inch, and either crown it, or install a proper American-made L1A1 style flash hider, or install a Vortex-style flash hider from “Moses”. You will likely see you group size cut in half.
The trigger pulls on most FALs and L1A1s are usually decent, but if your rifle’s is particularly bad, then trigger work is available from T. Mark Graham at Arizona Response Systems (ARS). Since the lower on a FAL or L1A1 is a non-restricted part (unlike an AR-15 or AR-10), you can mail the lower to ARS for a trigger job with no lasting paper trail. I highly recommend their gunsmithing and metal finishing work.