FAL Range Report

So I finally made it to the range to fire the newest addition to my firearms collection, my DS Arms FAL rifle. This is their STG58 model, a copy of the Austrian version of Fabrique Nationale's Light Automatic Rifle (Fusil Automatique Leger). It fires the 7.62mm X 51mm NATO cartridge (nearly identical to .308 Winchester). For more info on my rifle, scroll down to look at one my previous post or click here. The following range report will span three separate visits to two different ranges.

My first trip out to test the rifle was at a range very close to me. I was mainly interested in function checking the rifle. All I wanted to know was... will it work? At this particular range, they have a "5 rounds in the magazine" limit, though you can bring and load up as many mags as you want. Another requirement there was that you have to fire rifles from a seated position. I generally like to fire from a standing position. Once in a while, if I get tired, I'll take a break and fire seated for a bit. To me, it isn't very practical to shoot from a seated position (with a rest) unless you are trying to adjust a rifle's sights. Last time I checked, soldiers didn't set up a shooing table, stool and rest when they found themself in the midst of a battle. This business of slings, gloves, spotting scopes, rifle scopes, special "blinder" glasses, custom barrels, expensive match cartridges, etc. is a little too much for me. Don't get me wrong, a friend of mine fires an AR competitively in 600 yd. matches with all this gear and I applaud him for it. It's just not for me. That said, I did try the bipod out, using it for most of the time I was there. What a hypocrite I am. Well, maybe not. The Austrian STG58 was issued in the field with a bipod as standard equipment as far as I know... a soldier "in the field" would have that option. I am very much a "stock" shooter. I don't need a bunch of gadgets hanging off my guns or in my range bag. The farthest I'd go as far as customization is adding night sights to a pistol.

Back to the range report... I chose to shoot at a point where the target was 50 yards away. I was using an 8 inch diameter red target. I fired aligning my front sight with the center of the target. The cartridges fired, the action cycled, the brass ejected, mags fed well. Yup, the rifle functioned just fine. I found that all my shots were waaaay high though. I'm talkin' six to eight inches high at 50 yards. The rear sight was set at the 200 yard notch when the rifle shipped... guess they weren't kidding. Having no tools with me to adjust either sight, I accounted for the height by aiming below the red circle. This method of estimation has too much room for error and variation, especially where the vertical axis is concerned, as you are not keying off of anything real and basically pointing the rifle at an imaginary point "off the paper". After a little practice, I managed about a 3.5 inch group whose center was was two inches above and two left of center. "That's fine for now," I thought, "I'll adjust the sights later." Just wanted to make sure the DSA build was functional. Accuracy will come later.

I only went through about 60 rounds of the South African 1970s surplus ammo I had bought. It seemed to work fine. Sure... it isn't match ammo, but I am not a match shooter. While I was cleaning up, I managed to find one of my spent brass shells. Most of them landed about 15 feet away at 2 o'clock. Hopefully I didn't upset the other shooters. Anyway, the mouth of this case was very dented from being flipped into the receiver during extraction. This made me realize I had completely ignored adjusting the gas system. No wonder the brass was going so far; this thing was operating too hot! It was set "mid-way" on the dial at 3.5. I made a mental note to open up the exaust port next time I fired it.

I cleaned the rifle that night and noticed it wasn't really all that dirty after the 60 rounds. I got the gas rod and plug pretty clean and shiny (used a small dab of Flitz). The bore took a bit of work to get clean, much longer than my pistols, but eventually cleaned up okay. I probably could have spent less time cleaning it, but I'm a neat freak. The slight wear I obseverd on the rifle's internal parkerized parts gave me some helpful hints on what areas needed lube. I had previously lubed up the FAL before my first firing session after a series of educated guesses on where lube belonged based on the way the parts moved in relation to each other. I wasn't far off regarding where lube needed to be.

Fast forward one week and I am back at the range again. This time I'm with my Dad (he brought his M1 Garand) and we're at a range 45 minutes away with less restrictions. I could shoot standing up there! I adjusted the gas system. The hold open was engaging up to a setting of 6.5 but seemed to reliably feed at 6. The rifle is set at 5.5 now and it's happy. The brass ejects at half the distance it did before and lands consistently.

Next was the sight adjustment. We got stuck at a 100 yard shooting point and we could barely see where I was hitting even with binoculars. The sun was behind the targets and they were all in shadow which didn't help. The targets were about 6 feet lower than our shooring position, adding to the problems. I had to start aiming at objects placed out on the sand/dirt backstop at 150 yards and even then I only managed to adjust my horizontal axis. The rear sight requires a screw driver to adjust, so that was no problem. However, I still don't have a front sight adjustment tool. Couldn't get the tip of a bullet in there either like they show in the manual.

The rifle consistently hit spackle bucket lids out at 200 yards shooting offhand from standing. This is the distance I suspect the sights are set for. I tried some "rapid" fire which, at this range is limited to about 1 round per second. I was amazed at how quickly you can get the FAL back on target. This thing pops up and a bit right when I fire it (no sling), but comes back pretty easy. I'm about 5' 8" and weigh about 150 lbs. and this thing is no problem for me recoil wise.

The 11 pound rifle did start to get heavy after a few hours. A bad wobble developed when trying to aim due to some muscle fatigue. Sure I can get something lighter like an AR, but I am working hard at convincing myself that I am not into them. I am putting off firing my friend's because I might love it. This will help me hold on to my money and prevent the addition of another bullet caliber into my collection. Also, ARs are just too common at the range. My FAL falls between the M1 guys and the AR guys historically speaking. I've never even seen anyone with an FAL out here on Long Island... but I know you guys exsist!

3rd range trip... I wound up at the same 50 yd. shooting point as the 1st trip. I thought my front sight post would need to be raised to bring my shots down a bit. Still no front sight tool, so I set up two targets on top of each other and aimed at the base of the lower target (4 inches below that target's X) figuring I'd impact somewhere on the top target. Low and behold, my shot landed level with the center, but far right on the bottom target. I found the sweet spot I guess and I think I was positioning my head a bit differently in relation to the sights. If I lolli-popped the base of the target on the top of the front sight post, I could hit where I wanted... i.e. near the center. I worked on my horizontal sight adjustment and finally managed to pull off what you see in the target below. Hey it's not the best for only 50 yards, but I'll take it being that I am not used to this rifle yet, had no scope or sling. I was firing seated with a little help from the bipod though.

So what did I learn?

- The FAL is a very robust weapon platform and not obsolete by any means.
- The FAL is simple to operate and reliable.
- It is big and heavy, but that seems to help lessen the recoil to a very manageable level.
- I really like the idea behind the adjustable gas system.
- This thing likes to eat! I put about 120 rounds through it in one sitting (2nd trip) and it wanted more.
- South African surplus 7.62mm X 51mm is just fine for me. I'll get more soon.
- The attached bipod comes in handy and is worth the extra weight.
- I am glad I bought it, glad I went with DSA, and glad I got the STG58 rather than the SA58.