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Posted: 1/3/2026 4:10:24 PM EDT
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Ok, back in the day I had a FrankenFal that I had to sell... now that things are better in life, im trying to rebuild my collection.... so I bought one of the Lebanese parts kits this morning. I know that a lot of folks used to roll their own, and was wondering if the sources are still the same as when 7.62 battlepacks grew on trees and ammo was cheaper than beer.... I will be needing at a minimum Reciever (is DSA still shit, or are they better, and are they the only game in town anymore.... Century is off the table... their stuff is probably still pure shit) reciever wrench headspacing gauge barrel vice probably some stuff I am not thinking of, but hey, whatcha got, and wheredya get it? help a brotha out... |
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So, im of little to no help for your cause, but I will be following this thread and watching closely as I want to start putting FAL kits togather. Ive had very good experiences with DSA over the past years and will probably be getting the bulk of available items from them. Between DSA and Arizona Response we probably have the best FAL support in the world at the moment. Ironic isnt it. |
Robert Muldoon Survived.
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Both DSA & Arizona Response Systems are Tier-1 sources for all things FAL. A couple of other vendors to add to this list list - Faltoolsdotcom & Gunthingsdotcom. First time builders may also want to consider purchasing Gunplumber's guide to FN FAL Home Gunsmithing workbook and DVD. I cant recommend these resources enough which are available at both Arizona Response Systems & Gunthings. I am not associated with any of these vendors, just know all to be solid sources for FAL tools/parts. These FN Contract Lebanese kits hitting the market has certainly been an exciting infusion into the FAL building community that's been a bit stale of late. Best of luck! |
| Ratas Calientes receiver wrench and barrel vise. He's still selling them, somewhere, saw it recently. |
valheru21:"The argument, "this gun won't go down in value," is used to convince the wife that you are not making a bad financial decision when purchasing a firearm. You're not ACTUALLY supposed to ever sell the gun."
Matt
Matt
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Finding the correct size locking shoulder might be a concern... Try to find an Imbel gear logo receiver - they are the top tier. Some of the Enterprise were good but a lot of them were bad, stay away from anything Hesse (They were so bad they changed their name - I forget what to) . Your best bet is to become a member of FalFiles dot com and get to know some of the people over there - that would be my first source for anything FAL related... BTW, I used to hang out there around Y2K~2005 and have built 5 kits w/o any issues. The locking shoulder was typically the hardest to find because you needed a selection and didn't know what size until you head spaced it, IIRC Jen had a source for newly manufactured... so if I can do it, even a caveman can |
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Originally Posted By SyberSniper: Finding the correct size locking shoulder might be a concern... Try to find an Imbel gear logo receiver - they are the top tier. Some of the Enterprise were good but a lot of them were bad, stay away from anything Hesse (They were so bad they changed their name - I forget what to) . Your best bet is to become a member of FalFiles dot com and get to know some of the people over there - that would be my first source for anything FAL related... BTW, I used to hang out there around Y2K~2005 and have built 5 kits w/o any issues. The locking shoulder was typically the hardest to find because you needed a selection and didn't know what size until you head spaced it, IIRC Jen had a source for newly manufactured... so if I can do it, even a caveman can from digging on DSA's site, they have the locking shoulders in stock, and can grind a custom one for you if needed (IIRC,~$50). Dont remember if I was on FalFiles back in the day, Ill have to check.... Or I may just send the POS to Gunplumber, and be done with it for ~$4-500 bucks..... I know all about Hesse, and Century... I think my last was on a Century reciever, and suffice it to say i learned my lesson on that one... Ill try and see if I can find an Imbel, otherwise it will likely be a DSA Lebanese crest. |
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It’s possible you could get someone local to loan you the tools needed to build an FAL. Back when I was building FALs I loaned out my tools to a couple fellow AR15.Com members to use. Try posting in the hometown forum here. Maybe even find someone local that could help you through a build. |
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Originally Posted By RedFox1911: Related question, if you and friends are building a few of these, is it worth buying a set of the locking blocks for proper headspace? locking blocks are expensive to just have sitting around ($35 ea). I paid $5 a piece for the pin gauges in the sizes that are appropriate for the FAL, so under $75 for all 10 of them ( as listed on Gunthings site, as he seems to be out of them) once I figure out which locking block I need, then Ill buy it from any of the multiple sources I have found (APEX, DSA, and probably a few others out there). IIRC, the NATO sized GO gauge is like $28 bucks, and isnt a bad thing to have anyway if one plays with milsurps.... |
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Its been a while and I'm working from old memory... pin gages will get you close but its easy to mis-measure due to their round nature... the locking shoulder has 2 flat faces, one of which engages the bolt and determines the LS size needed for headspace... once I got close with pin gages, I made up a dummy shoulder out of aluminum rod with the flat faces cut like the LS that came with a kit (cant recall if they were at 90* or not)- then along with GO/NOGO gages, that's what I used to figure the LS size to order. In general there are probably only 2 or 3 sizes that are the most often used and the extreme sizes are special case for out of spec or well worn repairs. ETA... looking back in my notes I used 2).256, 2).258 and 1).265 across a range of metric kits from a 50's G1 to a late issue Austrian STG -YMMV |
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Originally Posted By SyberSniper: Its been a while and I'm working from old memory... pin gages will get you close but its easy to mis-measure due to their round nature... the locking shoulder has 2 flat faces, one of which engages the bolt and determines the LS size needed for headspace... once I got close with pin gages, I made up a dummy shoulder out of aluminum rod with the flat faces cut like the LS that came with a kit (cant recall if they were at 90* or not)- then along with GO/NOGO gages, that's what I used to figure the LS size to order. In general there are probably only 2 or 3 sizes that are the most often used and the extreme sizes are special case for out of spec or well worn repairs. ETA... looking back in my notes I used 2).256, 2).258 and 1).265 across a range of metric kits from a 50's G1 to a late issue Austrian STG -YMMV Same. There is a formula that was used by some on FALFILES for calculating locking shoulder size using pin gauges. "Setback" would be a good term to search. It was +2-1 or some such. Also, again from memory, different manufacturers receivers varied with average locking shoulder size. Seems like DSA's more commonly took .265 and smaller. Don't get too hung up on .308 GO if you have any milsurp 7.62. If you make the HS too tight some milsurp may not chamber. |
valheru21:"The argument, "this gun won't go down in value," is used to convince the wife that you are not making a bad financial decision when purchasing a firearm. You're not ACTUALLY supposed to ever sell the gun."
Matt
Matt
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Originally Posted By 1811GNR: Same. There is a formula that was used by some on FALFILES for calculating locking shoulder size using pin gauges. "Setback" would be a good term to search. It was +2-1 or some such. Also, again from memory, different manufacturers receivers varied with average locking shoulder size. Seems like DSA's more commonly took .265 and smaller. Don't get too hung up on .308 GO if you have any milsurp 7.62. If you make the HS too tight some milsurp may not chamber. I got the non-SAAMI 7.62 NATO go and no go gauges from Forster.... about all I plan on shooting from it is milsurp (if I can find it) or reloads. Its not a match rifle, so a supertight chamber isnt of utmost importance. |
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Originally Posted By 1811GNR: Same. There is a formula that was used by some on FALFILES for calculating locking shoulder size using pin gauges. "Setback" would be a good term to search. It was +2-1 or some such. Also, again from memory, different manufacturers receivers varied with average locking shoulder size. Seems like DSA's more commonly took .265 and smaller. Don't get too hung up on .308 GO if you have any milsurp 7.62. If you make the HS too tight some milsurp may not chamber. FALFILES HS tutorial |
valheru21:"The argument, "this gun won't go down in value," is used to convince the wife that you are not making a bad financial decision when purchasing a firearm. You're not ACTUALLY supposed to ever sell the gun."
Matt
Matt
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