FN FAL G1

[CLASSIC12]

LGS received this rifle. I liked it and we agreed on $ 1620, including several magazines. Now waiting for the permit

“In November 1956, however, West Germany ordered 100,000 additional FALs, designated the G1, for the army. FN made the rifles between April 1957 and May 1958. The G1 user modifications included light metal handguards and an integral folding bipod, similarly to the Austrian version.

The Germans were satisfied with the FAL and wished to produce it under license. The Belgians, however, refused. (Wikipedia)”. Hence the HK G3.

FN FAL - Wikipedia

 

[Scharfschuetzer]

Wow!

I always wondered why the Bundeswehr didn't continue with the G1. I always thought that it was a better and more usable rifle than the G3. Thanks for that information.

 

[SF VET]

A grandson has one of these, and I have "hefted" it but not shot it. It is a heavy beast, classic for sure, being a vintage military weapon. But if one is going to lug one around, over hill and dale, might as well do it with a BAR. Modern military weapons try to combine firepower with less weight. These are "old school" rifles.

By the way, my now deceased father in law was one of the few survivors of the battle to take Buna back form the Japanese, he was with the 32nd Infantry Div. He started out as a BAR gunner, but found it was impossible to keep functioning in the swamps, so gave his BAR up for a Garand. .

He actually had a small camera, and took a lot of photo's off his training and deployment and the battle. My wife a few years before he died researched that Battle, and made up a photo book for him. When she sat with him to review the book, he could only look at a few pictures before he had to turn away. The first one to die was the company bugler, and they all got malaria. He had PTSD for awhile when he came back to the family farm.

Sorry for the off topic post, but Gerhard was a great father in law, and I immensely respect his memory. I have the Garand he gave me about 15 years ago. Oh, he did buy a Browning BAR, the sporting one, as a sort of memory, in 243, and I proudly load and shoot it now.

Interestingly, if the moderators will let me continue, like in the Pacific tv series, he fell in love with an Australian girl on his R&R after his combat. Many years later, his wife encouraged him to contact her, but he refused. He too was "Old School"

I got carried away here. SF VET

 

[fleabus101]

I was into the FN FAL'S for quite awhile in the late 90's into 2000+..Practically New Factory matching # kits were less than 200$. Built several FAL Variants among other builds. I sold most off getting back into the S&W world. Fals are terrific battle rifles. Now just down to one DSA Special ordered piece to hang onto..
Randy..

 

[Absalom]

The shortest-serving standard service rifle in German military history (at least I can’t think of a shorter-serving one).

Introduced in 1957 when the first batches of draftees swelled the ranks of the new army beyond what the M1’s (both Garand and carbine) supplied by the US could handle. By 1962, most were gone again, palmed off to the border police and state police reserves and oblivion, in favor of the German-made G3.

The G1 designation was a bureaucratic gimmick of the early 1960s, by the way, about when the P38 became the P1 and the G1 was almost history. The rifle was just called “FN-Gewehr” (FN rifle) in service.

Ironic considering what a raging success the FN FAL was in the rest of the world; numbers you find range from 70 to 90 countries.

By the way, the same fate did not befall another classic: the Israeli Uzi. Introduced in the German army as the standard MP in 1959, it was so well-liked and entrenched by 1966 when HK came out with the MP5 (really the logical complement to the G3) that the Uzi stayed, until after 2012.

 

[RWPBR]

I have a minty G1 built from a kit on a Coonan G1 marked receiver, blank firing adapter, grenade launcher, an unopened box of magazines and the canvas instruction /operation posters... And 2 black leather magazine pouches.

 

[Mrnurse]

Ive owned several, now none because ive moved to the Armalite Platform. My Family came from Ireland, the joke in the 1960's in the Republic was ... " Farmer O'Brien says Spring time tilling was tuff, kept digging up cases of FAL'". The lads in the IRA had MANY Fal's stashed.

 

[quikdraw67]

That doesn't look like a kit gun. That looks like an original G1! The receiver is marked FN.

Edit: my bad. I didn't realize CLASSIC12 was the OP.

NICE!

Congrats

 

[quikdraw67]

The reason that the G1 was shortly replaced by the G3 was bad blood.

The Belgians would license countries to manufacture the FAL. West Germany was interested. Something happened between the FN people and the Bundeswehr officials. Don't forget, this was only a little over a decade since the end of WWII.

Long story short, FN didn't give the license to West Germany to manufacture the FAL.

In the meantime, some ex-pat Germans were in Spain working on something called the CETME.

And the rest is history. Heckler and Koch and the G3/HK91.

 

[Old_Cop]

That rifle seems more expensive than some of the pistols/rifles that you buy.

 

[walnutred]

That rifle seems more expensive than some of the pistols/rifles that you buy.

Yes but here I expect you would have to add another zero to that price.

 

[quikdraw67]

The other thing a little unusual is the 30rd mag. I know that the British Army modified Bren gun mags to fir the L1A1 (their version of the FAL). But they were inch pattern, and the G1 (and the vast majority of the FAL variants) were metric pattern.

You can out a metric mag in an inch pattern receiver, but not the other way around.

Interesting.

 

[Jimmy4570]

Browning imported a number of G1 FALs, IIRC, back in the late 60's with the selector pinned to only rotate to semi. The FAL, in all its variations, was terrific. I got to check off a bucket list item from 2017-2019 when I was gifted a Belgian FAL by the national SWAT commander of the African country I was serving in at the time. Carried it in place of my Mk18 as I had ready access to a healthy supply of M80 ball and M118LR. My Marines got a kick out of it, literally, when I gave them fam classes on how to run it, none of them ever having fired a real battle rifle before. Wish I could have sorted bringing it home. It'll be there when/if I go back, though, thank God.

 

[Absalom]

The other thing a little unusual is the 30rd mag...

I can’t make out markings anywhere on the 30-rd magazine. But that’s indeed not a standard Bundeswehr magazine. Regular issue with the G1, just like later with the G3, was the 20-rounder.

Browning imported a number of G1 FALs, IIRC, back in the late 60's with the selector pinned to only rotate to semi. The FAL, in all its variations, was terrific.

Germany was one of relatively few countries that ordered the FAL with selective-fire capability. The British, Canadians and most other Commonwealth nations used the semi-auto-only variant, called the L1A1 in Britain. On the other hand, the Israelis widely used the heavy-barrel light machine gun version.

 

[Rudi]

Wow! Rare unit these days.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Another nice addition, Classic.

 

[stanmerrell]

You did really well on that. I have an Israeli version.

 

[CLASSIC12]

The shortest-serving standard service rifle in German military history (at least I can’t think of a shorter-serving one).

Introduced in 1957 when the first batches of draftees swelled the ranks of the new army beyond what the M1’s (both Garand and carbine) supplied by the US could handle. By 1962, most were gone again, palmed off to the border police and state police reserves and oblivion, in favor of the German-made G3.

The G1 designation was a bureaucratic gimmick of the early 1960s, by the way, about when the P38 became the P1 and the G1 was almost history. The rifle was just called “FN-Gewehr” (FN rifle) in service.

Ironic considering what a raging success the FN FAL was in the rest of the world; numbers you find range from 70 to 90 countries.

By the way, the same fate did not befall another classic: the Israeli Uzi. Introduced in the German army as the standard MP in 1959, it was so well-liked and entrenched by 1966 when HK came out with the MP5 (really the logical complement to the G3) that the Uzi stayed, until after 2012.

Thanks for the infos. Great pic too

I believe the HK G3 was quite successful too

I don’t have an Uzi yet, but I’d never trade my MP5 for one

 

[CLASSIC12]

A grandson has one of these, and I have "hefted" it but not shot it. It is a heavy beast, classic for sure, being a vintage military weapon. But if one is going to lug one around, over hill and dale, might as well do it with a BAR. Modern military weapons try to combine firepower with less weight. These are "old school" rifles.

By the way, my now deceased father in law was one of the few survivors of the battle to take Buna back form the Japanese, he was with the 32nd Infantry Div. He started out as a BAR gunner, but found it was impossible to keep functioning in the swamps, so gave his BAR up for a Garand. .

He actually had a small camera, and took a lot of photo's off his training and deployment and the battle. My wife a few years before he died researched that Battle, and made up a photo book for him. When she sat with him to review the book, he could only look at a few pictures before he had to turn away. The first one to die was the company bugler, and they all got malaria. He had PTSD for awhile when he came back to the family farm.

Sorry for the off topic post, but Gerhard was a great father in law, and I immensely respect his memory. I have the Garand he gave me about 15 years ago. Oh, he did buy a Browning BAR, the sporting one, as a sort of memory, in 243, and I proudly load and shoot it now.

Interestingly, if the moderators will let me continue, like in the Pacific tv series, he fell in love with an Australian girl on his R&R after his combat. Many years later, his wife encouraged him to contact her, but he refused. He too was "Old School"

I got carried away here. SF VET

Great story, thanks for sharing

 

[CLASSIC12]

I have a minty G1 built from a kit on a Coonan G1 marked receiver, blank firing adapter, grenade launcher, an unopened box of magazines and the canvas instruction /operation posters... And 2 black leather magazine pouches.

Don’t hesitate to show it here