I could have sworn I saw handguards for sale from one of the parts vendors a few days ago while looking for something else FR-8 related, but a cursory look on google only brings up buymilsurp,com, which shows them as being out of stock.  If I can remember where I saw them I'll let you know.  Like the ones on the latter site, these were semi-finished.

Good advice on the hook.  I had heard someone mention an alternative but I could not recall what it was or where I had heard of it.

You need to go back and score that Mauser in 6.5.  If unmolested, even crappy examples have been seen at shows for $400.  I remember when they were $80, most I ever paid was $125 which shows you how much surplus rises when they dry up.  Nice score on your FR-8.



 

I never use the V notch and go straight to the peep.  You may be a little high at closer ranges but still ok. I could just never warm up up the V.

You can make one for a few dollars.

Why bother when, like I said earlier, you can buy them for about $15?

Your choice - $15 is not bad, it is just the satisfaction of doing it yourself and making it from a $1 screwdriver from Harbor Freight.

The guy who used to run the surplus rifles site made one IIRC.  Personally, I like having as complete of an accessory set for my C&R rifles as I can get.  The tool can also fit in the storage tube.

Were you able to try it out?

btt

raf, I don't know if you're willing to deal with Spaniards or not, or whether or not they'll ship to the U.S., but these guys have complete FR-8 stock sets, handguards included:

http://www.militaria.es/Base/Tenda.php?ref=15&num=100&sc=N

Also, I finally found pictures of people trying to use the TRC bipod with the FR-8, although one case involves clamping it in the wrong place (curious how stable it is there) and the other shows it clamped in the correct position, but with the bayonet lug in place (hard to tell how much it would interfere with its usage, although clearly it does completely prevent any effort to clamp it on).

Not yet, had to go down to Phoenix for a couple days.

I recall seeing those caps being sold for use with the CETME to make them ban compliant.  While I have not inspected a CETME in-person, the manual for the CETME states that the CETME cap uses two spring-loaded lugs to keep it in place in the triple frame, while that of the FR-8 only uses a single lug, and the orientations are different.  But all one really has to do is remove the cap and tube to resolve any conflict.

The TRC bipod may not have been meant to be used with the FR-8, it can be used with it because it is designed to clamp onto the secondary rifle grenade spigot that constitutes the forward part of the barrel sleeve to which serves to aid in the mounting of the triple frame to the barrel, which is where it is clamped in the second photograph in my previous post.  I'm eventually going to get the bipod, as Numrich sells them (unfortunately, without the carrying case), but I just was hoping to see if anyone had gotten around to trying it out and maybe taking pictures of the results.  After I get my bipod and FR-8 in the next few weeks I'll certainly be trying it out for myself.

Also, I'm not sure the M-16 clamp-on bipod is compatible with the diameters of the CETME barrel or the cleaning kit storage tube.

btt

It's like and old school co witness or 1/3 co witness debate

The issue sling definitely does not strike me as one suitable for use as a shooting aid, but the manual does call for its use as such and states how to do it.  My main concern with such usage is how it attaches on the front end.  The ring is riveted to both a sleeve attached to the barrel and the front sight base (which is attached to said sleeve), thus allowing tension to be placed on the barrel through those parts.  I know the use of a shooting sling without a special arrangement is folly on the FAL< for example, because the swivel is attached to the barrel and the tension on the barrel will shift POI.  The FR-8/CETME barrel is shorter and stiffer than the standard FAL barrel so I'm curious to know if that will alleviate the problem sufficiently.  The only example I could find of someone trying to use their sling as a shooting aid was doing it wrong (he was looping up and shooting from the standing position; to use a loop sling the supporting elbow must be resting on something solid, like the leg or the ground); naturally, that shifted his POI considerably.  I was personally thinking of trying one of the speed loop slings derived from the Ching sling which only uses two attachment points (conventional front and rear attachment).

Regarding bipods, the point is not to have a bipod, but rather a complete set of compatible CETME accessories for the FR-8 and see what I can do with it.  Otherwise I don't really want or need a bipod, although I would argue it is not entirely useless.  Cooper, for example, does describe some utility for the bipod in The Art of the Rifle, such as, IIRC, providing added stability in certain conditions where other positions may be less adequate or impractical, or providing a stable platform for verifying zero in the field.  The TRC bipod is rather heavy and bulky, it appears, but it also wasn't meant to be carried on the rifle, but rather, on the belt in a case (shown in one of the pictures I posted above), unlike the assault bipod originally issued with the CETME Model B (which attaches behind the front sight base rather than in front of it), which can't really be stowed on an FR-8.

Try over on militaryfirearm.com, that's where all the guys from cetmerifles.com ended up, tons of info on them.

It's too bad that forum search engines won't let you search for terms like FR8 or FR-8.  I have been able to find some interesting stuff on there nevertheless, although not yet about the subjects of this thread.

btt

So, new question.  Got my FR-8 a few days ago and the bolt is very sloppy when retracted most of the way rearwards.  There's a lot of play, and there is enough side to side motion to cause it to bind when pushing it forward at times.  What is acceptable in this regard with Mauser rifles?

Mine is the same. It has more play than my Argentine Mauser.
It seems to shoot fine. Make sure you don't baby the bolt when running it and you should be fine.
I also shot mine some more the other day with Tula .308. I had 2 case head separations.
I have had zero issue with brass 7.62 NATO ammo.
Mine shoots good enough that I will most likely keep it.

It just struck me as odd, as the last two I've handled were not nearly that sloppy, although they certainly weren't tight, either.  There's no play when the bolt's closed, which I suppose is the more important part.  The funny thing is that the rest of the parts of the rifle are unusually tight.

OP, did you ever complete your English language version of the manual?

Still working on it.  It's pretty time consuming and I've been rather short on time the last few weeks.  There's somewhere in excess of 80 pages of Spanish text to be translated, IIRC.  I'm about halfway through it, but still need to go back and clean up the language from a purely literal translation to something that flows more smoothly and aligns better with actual English usage, especially with regard to technical terms, which can translate literally into something that sounds very different from the English term.