Tell me how to spend my $1500

[wmenorr67]

You could send me the money and I will spend it for you.

[Manedwolf]

I personally find the FAL much nicer to shoot than any other .308 rifle I've ever fired, including the semiauto M-14's and the M1A. The felt recoil is just is not there, the operation is very, very smooth on a good one. DSA's are indeed good ones.

AR-10s are meh to me. There's just no lines to it, the entire AR platform just doesn't speak to me.

The M1A SOCOM is a terribly unbalanced, overly heavy rifle IMO, with a cheesegrater of rails on your hand. Plus the "SOCOM" bit is just wannabe marketing. The rifle has nothing to do with Special Operations Command, nor did it ever have anything to do with it. It's a civilian product given that name to appeal to some demographics.

I will not even go into the G3 variants, which are just painful for me to try to hold. The arm's angle to hold the handguard is just all wrong for me, and it beats you in the shoulder like angry German punishment, especially the collapsing stock.

The sleekest FALs, with the deco-ish Type II cuts and Belgian handguard, or the G1 style with wood and the parallel lines down the steel handguard, they just have STYLE to me.

I don't like FALs.

They broke my Ray-Bans. 

If you're tall or have a long neck, you won't like FALs either.  That rear sight is too close to the shooter's face and the stock is too short.

Compare the FAL against the M14/M1A or the M1 Garand.

That is why you buy a longer stock, get a longer length of pull if you're tall. They have them for the FAL, too... :)

[Gewehr98]

I don't recall saying anything about the toy that is the M1A SOCOM, honestly.

I based my M1A/M14 recommendation on experience from my days at Camp Perry.

Not too many FALs in the lineup there, but that's anecdotal, I know.

I see a standard, full-length M1A right now on GunsAmerica for $1,300.  There are even some Loaded National Match variants there for $1,500.   

I tried like the devil to get my Imbel FN-FAL (L1A1 semi clone) to shoot, even turning and installing a premium match barrel and fitting one of those neat Hythe rear sights to the thing, so I could compete in Foreign Service Rifle category. 

No joy. 

I sold it to a very happy fellow Kalifornian in the fall of 1999, just a month or so before their SB23 went into effect.  He got what he wanted before they were banned, and I moved to the Free States with the rest of my stuff that the PRK DOJ considered too evil to own.

[charby]

I don't recall saying anything about the toy that is the M1A SOCOM, honestly.

G-98  I threw out the M1A SOCOM in an eariler post.

[Gewehr98]

Oops, sorry.

SOCOMs are nice for hanging a bunch of stuff off of, though.   

[charby]

Oops, sorry.

SOCOMs are nice for hanging a bunch of stuff off of, though.   

I've never shot a M1A SOCOM but I think they look cool 

I'm with you, I'd rather have a M1A over an FAL.

[Manedwolf]

I was just mentioning some other .308 rifles I know of. I have a Saiga .308 as well, that's okay, it's a good zero-maintenance backup rifle, but it really could use a brake. I need to get it threaded.

The FAL will never be a match rifle. It's a battle rifle. Damned good battle rifle, I think, fun instead of punishing to shoot as well. It feels like you're sending power downrange, but doesn't beat you with recoil and I find the ergonomics to be extremely comfortable, it is natural to point for offhand snapshots, quick to the shoulder with all the controls in the right place for me. I don't even notice the weight, which means it's right for me. And I like that.

[Gewehr98]

I don't get punished with recoil from my M14NM, truthfully.

I can, however, feel a goodly amount of recoil when shooting an HK-91. 

I tried the FAL, and worked hard at warming up to it.  It was neat, fit the EBR description, and went "Bang" every time I pulled the trigger.  I didn't like it, and eventually sold it, but that doesn't mean it doesn't work for somebody else.  Heck, I love AKs, and they're not even MOA rifles.  So folks will understand when asking for a .308 Win/7.62mm NATO semiauto rifle recommendation, I might suggest something other than an FN-FAL variant.

I do believe, however, that Uncle Sam chose the M14 (T-44) vs. the FN-FAL (T-47) during the military evaluations of the 1950s based on more than just the "Not Made Here" stigma.

And I kept the FN-FAL's daddy, the FN-49.  It's a sweet rifle, and I can understand why they took production shortcuts to make the FN-FAL.  Those things had to be a machinist's nightmare, on par with the M1 Garand. There were no CNC milling machines back then, either.

Now. with respect to the OP's original request, here's a question I've been wondering about...

We know the ATF banned importation of FN-FAL barrels, along with other designs, a few years ago.

That should've kick-started a domestic capability, but what about the rest of the gun?

IOW, if the new administration starts AWB-II, or does another Executive Order import ban, is there a manufacturer in the states that can supply ALL the parts?

Having said that, perhaps a Springfield M1A/Armscorp M14NM, or any number of American AR-10 variants would be a better long-term proposal?

(I don't know, I'm just asking. There may indeed be a domestic source for all things FN-FAL/AK/HK91 that I haven't seen yet...)

[40 caliber]

You could send me the money and I will spend it for you.

Keep asking. Maybe one day you'll really need it. I'm more likely to give it to a gun owner than to just voluntarily surrender it as taxes.

[40 caliber]

Well duh, but thems the rules.  If you want the gun and can't find a local private seller for FTF, this is what you have to do.  It isn't exactly a new rule, nor is it any more onerous than buying a gun that a shop has in stock.

Chris

Yeah, I'm just pissing and moaning because I live in a country that bills itself as land of the free and home of the brave but I cannot order the gun I want online due to goddamn bureaucrats.

[Balog]

G98: don't take this the wrong way, as I loathe Kali from my forced stay there too. But didn't you move to one of the two "Free States" that utterly prohibit concealed carry? The ironing is delicious.......

[Gewehr98]

I dunno, I don't really see it as irony (or ironing).

I moved to Florida from the PRK, with a good chunk of my household goods shipment being "illegal" per the Kalifornia DOJ.

It was my last assignment, then I retired to my childhood digs in Wisconsin, as part of a promise to Wife #2 to get her the hell out of Hurricane Central.  The 5 hurricanes we weathered together (and evacuated from) there creeped her out something fierce. Our home in Satellite Beach got severely damaged by both Hurricanes Jeanne and Frances.

We made a deal, she kept me from going back to her native Kalifornia, and I got her out of Florida. That left 48 other states, and she didn't care to go with me to my beloved Fairbanks, either. The 100+ inches of snow in my little township last winter almost made her renege on that promise, too.

While there's no CCW here (yet), I at least got to keep the NFA Krinkov that I got in Florida, as well as all the other toys I couldn't have in the PRK. 

I'd love to have the same CCW permit I had in Florida, but the absence thereof doesn't stop me from getting out of bed in the morning, nor does it stop me from taking my military-pattern semiauto rifles to the range, a smile on my face because I'm not looking over my shoulder, scared of becoming some instant Kalifornia felon anymore.

If there's irony to be found, I can describe it as leaving the Madison area in the early 1980s, and coming back 20+ years later to find it a liberal cesspool on the scale of Berkeley. Paul Soglin should be proud of himself.   

Today's Capital Times ran an article on the dangers of people hunting with rifles during deer season.  Cheese & Rice!   

[40 caliber]

[Balog]

I dunno, I don't really see it as irony (or ironing).

I moved to Florida from the PRK, with a good chunk of my household goods shipment being "illegal" per the Kalifornia DOJ.

It was my last assignment, then I retired to my childhood digs in Wisconsin, as part of a promise to Wife #2 to get her the hell out of Hurricane Central.  The 5 hurricanes we weathered together (and evacuated from) there creeped her out something fierce. Our home in Satellite Beach got severely damaged by both Hurricanes Jeanne and Frances.

We made a deal, she kept me from going back to her native Kalifornia, and I got her out of Florida. That left 48 other states, and she didn't care to go with me to my beloved Fairbanks, either. The 100+ inches of snow in my little township last winter almost made her renege on that promise, too.

While there's no CCW here (yet), I at least got to keep the NFA Krinkov that I got in Florida, as well as all the other toys I couldn't have in the PRK. 

I'd love to have the same CCW permit I had in Florida, but the absence thereof doesn't stop me from getting out of bed in the morning, nor does it stop me from taking my military-pattern semiauto rifles to the range, a smile on my face because I'm not looking over my shoulder, scared of becoming some instant Kalifornia felon anymore.

If there's irony to be found, I can describe it as leaving the Madison area in the early 1980s, and coming back 20+ years later to find it a liberal cesspool on the scale of Berkeley. Paul Soglin should be proud of himself.   

Today's Capital Times ran an article on the dangers of people hunting with rifles during deer season.  Cheese & Rice!   

Wow, missed this at the time.

"The ironing is delicious" is a Simpson's reference. I found it ironic that you'd harsh on the guy for moving to someplace with crappy gun laws, after you'd done the same. My point was that people choose their living places based on more than just gun laws.

40cal; nice FAL! Will you be leaving that muzzle break on there or swapping it for something else?

[xavier fremboe]

Eslecially if that window is 'close of business toay'.  Academy goes up a dollar on Monarch brass 9mm and .223 steel Wed.

[Gewehr98]

Huh?

Them's some broad brush strokes, Balog. We have a crappy gun law here in Wisconsin - no CCW (yet). That, however, does not a state full of crappy gun laws make.

Perhaps you missed it, so I'll reiterate: I still have my NFA Krinkov, and many other "evil" toys that I couldn't have in the People's Republic of Kalifornia. 

Do I miss my Florida CCW?  Yes and no.  While I never felt compelled to or paranoid enough to carry 24/7, it was nice to have the option.

I might make up for it by getting that Barrett M82 I wanted.  I've already got a bunch of ammo, brass, and dies for .50 BMG. 

Guns ain't everything, and are becoming less of an item for me personally, but that doesn't mean we live in a vacuum up here. 

[roo_ster]

I might make up for it by getting that Barrett M82 I wanted.  I've already got a bunch of ammo, brass, and dies for .50 BMG. 

Ah, the usual way a reloader backs his way into a rifle: buy the dies & components and then convince yourself you need something to provide fired brass to process.

[Note to self: get Lee Classic Turret set up after Christmas to supplement the Rock Chucker.]

[Don't care]

To be honest, you'll probably want to diversify the firearms you have.

If you have both short and intermediate range weapons, you'll want one for longer distances. A breach, followed by a bolt action are better for long distance shooting.

A Remington 700 in .308 would do nicely, but remember this.........whatever you spend on a firearm, spend an equal amount for good optics. A $1,500 firearms, should not have a $300 scope on it.

Swarvoski and Zeiss are probably the best glass. There are a number of others which are still good, such as Leupold.

[Balog]

Huh?

Them's some broad brush strokes, Balog. We have a crappy gun law here in Wisconsin - no CCW (yet). That, however, does not a state full of crappy gun laws make.

Perhaps you missed it, so I'll reiterate: I still have my NFA Krinkov, and many other "evil" toys that I couldn't have in the People's Republic of Kalifornia. 

Do I miss my Florida CCW?  Yes and no.  While I never felt compelled to or paranoid enough to carry 24/7, it was nice to have the option.

I might make up for it by getting that Barrett M82 I wanted.  I've already got a bunch of ammo, brass, and dies for .50 BMG. 

Guns ain't everything, and are becoming less of an item for me personally, but that doesn't mean we live in a vacuum up here. 

That was kind of my point. You made fun of a guy for living in a place with bad gun laws, as tho that's all he should consider about where he lives. And I personally consider the ability to carry a weapon for self defense far more important than being able to own a machine gun. One can save my life, the other is an expensive toy that let's the ATF have more access to my house than I'd like.

[Gewehr98]

I suppose, but what if my Krinkov is my bedside gun? 

[charby]

I suppose, but what if my Krinkov is my bedside gun?