Wow, the tale of Ol' Dirty is an awesome read. That thread has been running for more than 10 years now.
I was eyeballing this one. Yet, I am debating 16 or 18 inch barrel.
http://www.dsarms.com/p-13367-fal-sa58-carbine-rifle-1625-premium-bipod-cut-barrel.aspx
It may be a month or so before I pull the trigger.
http://www.dsarms.com/p-13367-fal-sa58-carbine-rifle-1625-premium-bipod-cut-barrel.aspx
It may be a month or so before I pull the trigger.
There have been some extremely good deals on kits and complete guns on the FALFILES lately.
I think a 18" barrel is a real sweet spot for the FAL.
I think a 18" barrel is a real sweet spot for the FAL.
Get the FAL if you want, but I wouldn't get rid of the AK to do it. They are different rifles for different roles. Speaking from a lot of experience, you will almost surely regret it someday if you had a nice AK, but got rid of it just so you could make your next gun purchase sooner. Just save up for the FAL. Then you can say you own two of the most reliable rifles on the planet... one much more suited for close range stuff, and one better for reaching out to touch people a little bit. As far as barrel length goes, I prefer the 21" on the FAL... original chrome lined GI or forget it.
how is the ak much more suited for close range stuff than the fal?
Shorter, lighter, less recoil.
i guess i could see the advantages of the ak at very close range. but anything beyond room-room sweeps or lets say 20 yards...id still have to pick the fal over the ak.
I'm with henschman; don't get rid of the AK, just be patient and get both. For grins, check out Military Arms Channel's un-scientific test on youtube, between the 7.62x51, 7.62x39, and 5.45x39. Kind of a hoaky test on trees, but still pretty surprising. And yes - I have an FAL, and AKs in both 47 and 74 flavors. None of them are going anywhere, anytime soon.
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Even on out to 100+ yards, your follow-ups will be a lot faster with the AK due to the recoil... also the 10 round higher capacity with standard mags is a plus for that sort of situation. AK ammo weighs less, so you can carry more. With good ammo, either will deliver very devastating terminal performance, with an obvious edge to the 7.62x51. With cheap FMJ ammo, they have pretty much equally poor terminal performance (blowing straight through the target with no frag and little expansion). Ammo cost favors the AK significantly... the fact that there are cheap soft point steel case loads available that actually have decent terminal performance is very nice.
Obviously the FAL has its advantages too, but I'm just trying to point out some positive characteristics of the AK that you may miss after it's gone.
If I had both those rifles in my arsenal, I'd have a co-witnessed red dot on the AK for closer ranged stuff, and a 1-4x or something similar on the FAL for reaching out a bit further while still being able to take care of business up close if need be.
respect given for a good explanation.
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