I like FALs, and I like shooting .22 at 25-yard reduced sized targets.  About five years ago, it occurred to me to wish that I had a .22 FAL so I could combine these two interests.  Obviously the idea was folly, but wouldn't it be cool?

There are some ideas that get into your head, burrow in deep, and start buzzing around like some kind of brain-eating wasp.  You can't get the idea out of your head, and eventually it drives you to action as much to quiet the obsession as to achieve the original desired results.  That's what happened with the .22 FAL.  This was the project that got me started with machining and has been the single greatest motivator for developing new skills and techniques in that area.  

Of course, skill was notably absent at first:



Fortunately and coincidentally, a guy on the FALFiles started a group buy for new-manufacture .22 conversion kits.  Although these were intended to slip into a .308 FAL, I wanted a dedicated .22 for a couple reasons.  First, it would be a nice way to make use of old and janky parts that I wouldn't be caught dead putting on a pretty pretty .308 princess.  Second, I could make the dedicated .22 extra heavy so that after shooting hundreds of rounds of rimfire, a .308 would feel light--if only by comparison.  

The problem was that several hundred dollars is a lot to dump into a FAL receiver just for a .22.  On the other hand, FAL receiver castings are cheap...







Castings are cheap and easy to get.  Castings are not cheap and easy to machine.  If you count tooling and time, I could have purchased several .308 receivers for what it took to machine the casting.  Still, you can't put a price on tools--especially when you have to make some of the tools yourself:





The details of machining a FAL casting are interest only to a limited demographic, and I'm still working on that writeup.  Suffice it to say, I machined a FAL casting so that it would work with a .22 blowback kit.  That said, I didn't machine it correctly, and fixing some of the problems took a try or two.  Or four.



Even with those fixes, there were still issues with the kit's fit in the receiver I screwed up made.





Some creative modifications were required.



But fortunately, I didn't have to mangle the expensive .22 insert kit because I'd made my own dedicated barrel insert.



There was barrel torquing...



...improved barrel torquing...



... and finally barrel pinning.



It wasn't all frustration and fixes, though.  I got to do some fun stuff I'd wanted to try.  

Making a steel charging handle knob:



Making a charging handle knob rivet:



Threading a barrel:



And finding creative ways to add weight:







I only recently finished the rifle, in both senses of the word:



Here's what five years of obsession looks like:



It shoots great, works reliably (once it got broken in after parkerizing), and is fun on a bun.  At a front-heavy 11.7 pounds, it makes a scoped .308 FAL feels nimble and handy by comparison, and is great at building the shoulder muscles used to shoot offhand.  How often can you categorize a range toy as weightlifting equipment?  That said, I wouldn't recommend building one in this fashion unless you're looking for some way to force yourself to learn metalworking the hard way.

If you've read this far, you probably would like some more detail.  Here's a writeup of the project in nauseating detail, with all moronic decisions and their inevitable acrimonious consequences detailed:

The Rimfire FAL Project

neat! Would enjoy a range video if you could provide one.

Wow! What a project!!
Really neat and tons of work

Nice job!

Not sure why all the extra weight?   You must have a reason.

Training/conditioning/perspective.  I get a lot more trigger time per dollar with .22 than .308, so getting used to a heavier gun shooting .22 means that .308 FALs feel light and handy by comparison.  The extra weight, especially near the muzzle, makes it obvious when your technique is bad, either when doing target transitions or shooting from prone or sitting, so it's useful as a training tool.

So far, it seems to be working.  Long sessions of offhand practice with the .22 have made it easier to hold the .308 on target without fatigue and have broken my bad habit of trying to muscle the muzzle on target when practicing snap shots.

Thanks for the clarification on the weight, it sounds like it fits your plan.

Man! Wow.

Outstanding work.

Most excellent...!

That's awesome work.

That is awesome!

I went the opposite route and made a lightweight on a Williams

Did you also pair it with an aluminum lower?  If so, how much does the whole thing weigh?

Very nice work.

Standard STG lower
I'll get a pic and weight.
Had the receivers and most of the other parts on hand