Ok, so back to asking questions again. How accurate are the FN style rifles? I like the fact that they're .308, and they seem to be cheaper to buy and maintain, but can they hit anything? I've never shot one, and I have a hard time buying anything I have never shot. Opinions please! :)

I got the stg58, Love it,Powerfull, decently accurate with surplus ammo. Go for it, you will like it.

2-3 MOA

Get one.

I agree with Death_By_AR, I have a beautiful FAL/STG built by Arizonia Response Systems (ARS) and love it. It is not as accurate as my SA M1A, but it is as accurate as the AR-10A2 with the factory match trigger and 4x12x44 Nikon Monarch scope I had. The FAL had an 8lb military trigger and iron sights and would shoot 2-3 inch groups with any surplus I could shove in it, so would the tricked out AR-10. The AR-10 would tighten up with with factory foddor, ditto for the FAL. The FAL mags are $7-$10, the AR-10's were $75-$100. I don't know if the FAL can jam, the AR-10 was a Jam-O-Matic (with those ExPenSive Factory converted mags). Now the AR-10 may have had a potiental for superior accuracy, but the potiential for problems was undoubtable. My FAL IS unstopable, 2-3 inches with surplus and 1.5-2 with factory.

Good Luck
Bill

Happiness is a warm gun...
Bang bang, shoot shoot...

After proof reading my last post, I realize I referred to my FAL in the PAST tense, which is of course, wrong. I still have the FAL and would hang on to it over the M1A. It is one solid reliable and sexy rifle that shoots one bad ass bullit pretty good all the time. The right arm of the free world.

Bill

Happiness is a warm gun...
Bang bang, shoot shoot...

2 moa, limited mainly by the iron sights.  They're big, heavy, sturdy rifles suitable for clubbing seals and knocking down walls.  A bit too big for my 5'7" frame.  As reliable as an AK but with a longer sight radius, better accuracy and a full power cartridge.  Useless on full auto due to the skyward tendencies of the muzzle caused in part by the lowered buttstock, or at least so I hear.  The SAW HBAR version is more controllable but the handguards fold down to become bipod legs - seems like a good idea until the first time you scoop up a hot one without folding the bipod.  I prefer an M1 Garand for most shooting with iron sights, but the FAL is much nicer to strip/clean and can easily accept/swap scopes mounted on the easy-off top cover.  Those with shorter arms may struggle to keep 20 round mags out of the mud after a long day prone.  I fought the gov't in court for five years over my FAL & bought my AR the very day the court decided they would force me to give up my FAL.  The right arm of the free world, they call the FAL, and justly so.

Right on. Thanks for the info guys, I was considering either an FAL or a Garand, seeing as how I can't afford an AR quite yet :( Someday I'll have my bushmaster, but until that day comes, I will have to settle for something else. How does the Garand compare to the FAL? I don't like 30-06 as much, but I really like the way the Garand feels, since it's so close to my brother's M14.

Now I've heard a lot of talk about the imbel receiver as well, what is the advantage of it?

The Imbel reciever is manufactured in South America under license from FN. Excellent quality recievers. Most custom gun builders such as ARS and AZEX prefer to work with the Imbel, as they are in spec.

I've got one and am going to buy another real soon.

At one point some 80+ countries used the FAL.  When were that many militaries able to agree on anything?  I enjoy my M1As, a Garand, but now mostly shoot DSA's SA58.  $8 mags was also a very big plus for the FAL.  M1A mags at $36 and AR10 mags at $75.
Ken

I believe it takes 7 US parts.

Get a FAL carbine - with a 16" bbl and a comp attached (for a total 17" or so bbl).

You will absolutely love it. The weight, with a loaded 20 round mag is almost identical to a 20" HBar AR15 with a 30 round mag.

I do not know about you but I find the HBar muzzle heavy. (I wish I could have the original M16 barrel just as a weight reduction).
The carbine FAL is balanced quite well.

There is no practical difference between the full matching serial number kit with Type 1 receivers or a mutt parts gun with an IMBEL.
The strength is in the design.
Both of my FAL's are parts guns. I have had 1 malfunction with one rifle with a weak load.
Period.

The 7 part rule is easy to to abide with as many companies offer US made parts - just remember you get what you pay for, so buy quality.

ALL will shoot under 3" at 100 yards and many will do better and some will do MOA with  little work. My carbine will shoot a 2 1/4" to 2 1/2" group with four rounds going under an inch every time, at 100 yards, 5 shot groups.

This is a plow horse of a rifle, not a race horse. It is tough and will not quit.

BTW - the least accurate milsurp ammo I have will still put 5 out of 5 on a man sized silhouette target in a 10" group at 300 yards.

I shoot my FAL 5 to 1 over my AR.

BTW - the IMBEL is simply a less expensive receiver, not lower in quality or functionality. It is Type 3 design, which was an improvement over the Type 1, from a strength stand point. It is not as sexy looking, but it works just fine.  Some say it is the best.

Almost forgot - Garands reportedly don't handle heavy loads with slow powders very well.  Bent op rods, smashed stocks, that kind of thing. They also bite the hand that feeds 'em... but they're good enough that people like them anyway.

Blue207 has the best answer IMHO - a shorty FAL.  Make that one with a weaver rail on the dust cover.  For my taste and where legal I'd also add a sound suppressor, full auto capability, and some reduced power handloads... [:D]

Just buy the metric pattern FALs.  Parts are generally available more in the metric than the inch patterns.

It just may not be possible to go wrong with the FAL, especially when compaired to a Garand! Mine is with me till the end and know it will be there. As Mark Graham of ARS said, "The FAL is for people who have to use a shovel to remove their spent brass!"

Bill

Happiness ia a warm gun..
Bang bang, shoot shoot..