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Posted: 10/14/2025 2:38:48 PM EDT
[Last Edit: campower][Edited]
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Okay so Im late to the FAL game, but in my experience of three firsthand and now two para models belonging to peers, I'm going to buck the trend and claim that in regards to practical accuracy and consistant these things have been phenominal. All have been DSA rifles, made in the last couple years or so. Today was a real belly tickler. Took the 21" Traditional with iron sights at 599 yards on a 16x16 soft steel plate and did my best to record this thing making hit after hit using 150gr PMC ball. Can't get a whole lot more shitty FP in the middle of a plowed potato field. Attached File Tried as best I could to get a shot through the Leika rangefinder as well Attached File Trying like hell to get the youtube link to work. https://youtube.com/shorts/32ZPPIVqX1E?si=7LwLFYnjyKwiQLq4  DSA SA58 21" Traditional 600 yards Irons 5 out of 5. #DSARMS #FAL #longrange Ive been impressed with the practical accuracy of both these 21' models specifically. I can put lead where I want even cleaner with these than my A4s. Attached File |
Robert Muldoon Survived.
| They can be quite accurate. With my tuned reloads, I was able to consistently land 700-yard shots on a 2/3 IPSC using a para FAL with a 13" barrel, shooting prone off a backpack. Also have a full-length FAL built off a virgin Argentine civilian parts kit that I was able to take to 800+ on a man-sized target using the same ammo. |
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What's your definition of "accurate"? The best I've ever shot with any FAL is a hair over 2 MOA with my handloads. My most accurate one is 2.5. The others are around 3. Plenty for most battle rifle tasks, garbage for precision rifle stuff. However, I have a far more suitable rifle for precision rifle stuff. FALs are just plain fun on their own without making them try to be something they're not. That ain't bad shootin' at all, and a day on the range beats spending time doing most other activities. 
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"What is socialism? The most difficult and tortuous way to progress from capitalism to capitalism." -Stated at an intel conference, East Berlin, Oct. 1988
"Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods." -H.L. Mencken
"Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods." -H.L. Mencken
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Originally Posted By lew: What's your definition of "accurate"? The best I've ever shot with any FAL is a hair over 2 MOA with my handloads. My most accurate one is 2.5. The others are around 3. Plenty for most battle rifle tasks, garbage for precision rifle stuff. However, I have a far more suitable rifle for precision rifle stuff. FALs are just plain fun on their own without making them try to be something they're not. That ain't bad shootin' at all, and a day on the range beats spending time doing most other activities. I shot a FAL in 3 gun for MANY years to the tune of thousands and thousands of rounds. Mine is pretty accurate within a VERY NARROW window. The bullets that shot the best for me were the old 155 SMK, pushed at ludacris speed. I won't give actual load data, but suffice it to say it was WELL past "hot" but my "accuracy node" was about +/- 25fps. If I got above or below, I would go from minute of grapefruit to barely minute of Berm. Unfortunately this load was fairly brutal on brass too, but the velocity was all that mattered, I even Mexican matched 30 or so POF 308 with 155's and even they shot way better than they could have been expected to. |
You got gun law problems, I feel bad for you son. I got 99 problems but a ban ain't one. -Sylvan
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@ campower Once you drop the YT link in for a YT short, manually edit the line to remove shorts/ and it will work. DSA SA58 21" Traditional 600 yards Irons 5 out of 5. #DSARMS #FAL #longrange |
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Originally Posted By lew: What's your definition of "accurate"? The best I've ever shot with any FAL is a hair over 2 MOA with my handloads. My most accurate one is 2.5. The others are around 3. Plenty for most battle rifle tasks, garbage for precision rifle stuff. However, I have a far more suitable rifle for precision rifle stuff. FALs are just plain fun on their own without making them try to be something they're not. That ain't bad shootin' at all, and a day on the range beats spending time doing most other activities. I'm an utter schmuck about longish and long rage anything. How *repeatably* (given good factory loads or good handloads) will they hit the same spot once locked down on the bench and the barrel isn't cold? (and obv you're not asking too much of the bullet ballistically range-wise) |
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Originally Posted By FlashMan-7k: I'm an utter schmuck about longish and long rage anything. How *repeatably* (given good factory loads or good handloads) will they hit the same spot once locked down on the bench and the barrel isn't cold? (and obv you're not asking too much of the bullet ballistically range-wise) Thank you very much for the help with the link! I screwed with that for an hour trying to get it to work. So apples for apples, the shooting done in the video was prone at a known distance, so I set the rear sight at the 6 mark. Thus far the rifle has been extremely repeatable in its own "wheel house". I honestly haven't "pushed it" out further or really measured the group sizes. What I can say is the rifle is more than capable of putting rounds on man sized targets out to 600 yards anyways. It groups from 2-3" on targets at 100 yards, and seems to hold that group out to 600. Im certainly not saying these things are secret laser beams that I have found some magic formula to achieve, but I can say that in my experience thus far the "inaccuracy" of the generic FAL has been quite exaggerated. |
Robert Muldoon Survived.
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Originally Posted By BuddyChryst: 16” at 600 yards? I don’t think I could see that well enough with irons. Hats off to you. To be fair, I didnt think id be able to make/spot a hit, and it rather shocked me when I heared the first impact ring.... or should I say thud. |
Robert Muldoon Survived.
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Originally Posted By campower: Thank you very much for the help with the link! I screwed with that for an hour trying to get it to work. So apples for apples, the shooting done in the video was prone at a known distance, so I set the rear sight at the 6 mark. Thus far the rifle has been extremely repeatable in its own "wheel house". I honestly haven't "pushed it" out further or really measured the group sizes. What I can say is the rifle is more than capable of putting rounds on man sized targets out to 600 yards anyways. It groups from 2-3" on targets at 100 yards, and seems to hold that group out to 600. Im certainly not saying these things are secret laser beams that I have found some magic formula to achieve, but I can say that in my experience thus far the "inaccuracy" of the generic FAL has been quite exaggerated. Originally Posted By campower: Originally Posted By FlashMan-7k: I'm an utter schmuck about longish and long rage anything. How *repeatably* (given good factory loads or good handloads) will they hit the same spot once locked down on the bench and the barrel isn't cold? (and obv you're not asking too much of the bullet ballistically range-wise) Thank you very much for the help with the link! I screwed with that for an hour trying to get it to work. So apples for apples, the shooting done in the video was prone at a known distance, so I set the rear sight at the 6 mark. Thus far the rifle has been extremely repeatable in its own "wheel house". I honestly haven't "pushed it" out further or really measured the group sizes. What I can say is the rifle is more than capable of putting rounds on man sized targets out to 600 yards anyways. It groups from 2-3" on targets at 100 yards, and seems to hold that group out to 600. Im certainly not saying these things are secret laser beams that I have found some magic formula to achieve, but I can say that in my experience thus far the "inaccuracy" of the generic FAL has been quite exaggerated. From what tiny little bit of reading I have done over at the falfiles and elsewhere I gather it is very parts-combination sensitive? |
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Originally Posted By W_E_G: That’s about 3MOA. Good work. I’ve always said most are about 3-4 MOA, I’ve always said that’s acceptable for a battle rifle. In this day and age I find 3-4 MOA rifles sit in the back of my safe. Sometimes I forget that I own an FAL…. |
If a 147 grn 9mm at 1000 FPS is the hammer of Thor then a 165 grn. 40 at 1200 fps must a lightening bolt from Zeus!
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Originally Posted By FlashMan-7k: From what tiny little bit of reading I have done over at the falfiles and elsewhere I gather it is very parts-combination sensitive? Ive read the same, and still have far more to learn than what I already know, but for what its worth this is a 100% factory DSA rifle that's been zeroed. |
Robert Muldoon Survived.
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Ive been a FAL lover for many years, and Im really surprised they aren't more common. They can be accurate, granted not precision guns, but accurate enough. The battle rifle was made to get hits at distance and the FAL will do that for sure. https://imgur.com/2AN5OZg |
Dont call it a comeback, Been here for years.
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Originally Posted By Frens: I don’t reload so using factory ammo I get 3-4moa groups out of my 1959 made stg58… That being said FAL can be more accurate with the right hand load… I’ve seen a few shooting 1-1.5 moa groups. You dont need 1 to 1.5MOA rifles to do what you need with them. The SA58 I'm shooting here is bone stock with 150gr PMC Bronze ball and a correct zero. It's a consistant 2-3MOA rifle with this batch of ammo. We RADICALLY overstate out requirement needs as Americans. One of the perks of growing up in the brush and shooting everyday with alot of folks who have never seen a youtube video and dont even know what MOA means, yet they can take thier 7mm Mauser out to 600 yards without much fuss. For what 99.9% of the guys on this forums, the FAL is more accurate than they are capable of utilizing in any practical situation. |
Robert Muldoon Survived.
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Originally Posted By campower: You dont need 1 to 1.5MOA rifles to do what you need with them. I like to stack the odds in my favor. A sub-MOA semi can get me hits on target while leaving me some room for less-than-perfect shooting positions, quick shots, less-than-desirable target presentation, angles, etc... Fine if you do, but not all of us shoot from a bench. |
"What is socialism? The most difficult and tortuous way to progress from capitalism to capitalism." -Stated at an intel conference, East Berlin, Oct. 1988
"Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods." -H.L. Mencken
"Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods." -H.L. Mencken
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Originally Posted By campower: You dont need 1 to 1.5MOA rifles to do what you need with them. The SA58 I'm shooting here is bone stock with 150gr PMC Bronze ball and a correct zero. It's a consistant 2-3MOA rifle with this batch of ammo. We RADICALLY overstate out requirement needs as Americans. One of the perks of growing up in the brush and shooting everyday with alot of folks who have never seen a youtube video and dont even know what MOA means, yet they can take thier 7mm Mauser out to 600 yards without much fuss. For what 99.9% of the guys on this forums, the FAL is more accurate than they are capable of utilizing in any practical situation. Are you starting an argument with yourself? |
I aint doin nothing,but doing nothing means a lot to me.
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Well my 12 year old took a Buck with the SA58 this morning. He felt it was accurate enough for a 70 yard heart shot. Attached File Attached File |
Robert Muldoon Survived.
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Originally Posted By campower: Well my 12 year old took a Buck with the SA58 this morning. He felt it was accurate enough for a 70 yard heart shot. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/472175/20251024_085648_jpg-3646934.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/472175/20251024_085701_jpg-3646935.JPG Nice job,dad! He will cherish that pic for life. |
I aint doin nothing,but doing nothing means a lot to me.
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My FAL is “accurate enough”. It’s a combat rifle, not a precision rifle. One of these days maybe I’ll see how accurate it really is with some good ammo off a bench, but for now I’m ok with the fact that it’s “pie plate accurate” out to a couple hundred yards (my eyes are starting to suck, so misses are 100% on me at this point). |
Not fly enough to be halal....
| On the FALFiles there is the story of Ol' Dirty which has not been cleaned since 2003. has over 17,000 rounds thorough it since than, and keeps firing. An FAL is a Main Battle Rifle that will shoot regardless of the conditions. Let's say you are shooting at a combatant 200 yards away and aim center mass. A hit with a 7.62 at 3 MOA is going to hurt. |
byte-me
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Originally Posted By campower: Well my 12 year old took a Buck with the SA58 this morning. He felt it was accurate enough for a 70 yard heart shot. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/472175/20251024_085648_jpg-3646934.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/472175/20251024_085701_jpg-3646935.JPG Mine is a man now, we going deer hunting today. We need to kill some culls and put them in the freezer. Not taking a FAL though. |
Not fly enough to be halal....
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Originally Posted By TxRabbitBane: Mine is a man now, we going deer hunting today. We need to kill some culls and put them in the freezer. Not taking a FAL though. If your talking culling Texas deer, no, you certainly dont need a FAL. 5.56 should be more than enough whomp for those little dogs you call deer! But seriously Good luck with your cull |
Robert Muldoon Survived.
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Originally Posted By campower: If your talking culling Texas deer, no, you certainly dont need a FAL. 5.56 should be more than enough whomp for those little dogs you call deer! But seriously Good luck with your cull Originally Posted By campower: Originally Posted By TxRabbitBane: Mine is a man now, we going deer hunting today. We need to kill some culls and put them in the freezer. Not taking a FAL though. If your talking culling Texas deer, no, you certainly dont need a FAL. 5.56 should be more than enough whomp for those little dogs you call deer! But seriously Good luck with your cull Yeah they’re small. There are decent sized deer in Texas, but not where I’m going. I have a bunch of management tags, though, so I can kill a bunch of them. Fried up with mashed potatoes and gravy, though, you couldn’t tell the difference. Guajillo fed Rio Grande deer are the best tasting a whitetail can get. |
Not fly enough to be halal....
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With careful placement of duct tape to tension the upper and lower in the take down pocket mine is about fist sized at 50 yards I feel it would be more accurate if there wasn't so much play and the sights being on two separate receivers The tape actually helps a bunch crammed in that pocket |
Battle Of West Appalachia Survivor
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Originally Posted By chase45: With careful placement of duct tape to tension the upper and lower in the take down pocket mine is about fist sized at 50 yards I feel it would be more accurate if there wasn't so much play and the sights being on two separate receivers The tape actually helps a bunch crammed in that pocket This is proper WECSOG approach. I commend your commitment to the way. |
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They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin, 1775
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin, 1775
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Tilting bolt design, sights separated on different receiver pieces…..yeah the FAL is inherently less accurate as a design than some others. Just the way it is. It is a battle rifle, intended for iron sighting, and its historical notoriety shows that it filled that role quite well. Probably my favorite platform- but not one I would use for hunting (too heavy and overkill for deer) or going to war (no great optics mounts or rails compared to an AR for modern accessories). Best I have ever done with one was doing three round groups at 25 yds with a few different STG-58 builds, using Port surplus to check zero’s. One rifle punched all 3 rounds into one .40 caliber sized hole. I don’t think if I kept pushing the distance or round count it would have stayed that good, but that day 25 yds was all I had to work with anyhow. Steyr barrels are the best in my opinion, as good as you can get for a typical FAL at least. But most of us have experienced the vertical stringing that can happen as well. So you can spend time, effort, ammo, and frustration trying to make it something it will only ever be OK at, or you can love it for what it is- an awesome cold war era rifle that is still a blast to shoot today. Might not be a tier 1 rifle on the battlefield today, but if you are in a tier 2 battle it would hold its own at least. |
a loaded gun won’t set you free, so you say…
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Originally Posted By tac556: Tilting bolt design, sights separated on different receiver pieces…..yeah the FAL is inherently less accurate as a design than some others. Just the way it is. It is a battle rifle, intended for iron sighting, and its historical notoriety shows that it filled that role quite well. Probably my favorite platform- but not one I would use for hunting (too heavy and overkill for deer) or going to war (no great optics mounts or rails compared to an AR for modern accessories). Best I have ever done with one was doing three round groups at 25 yds with a few different STG-58 builds, using Port surplus to check zero’s. One rifle punched all 3 rounds into one .40 caliber sized hole. I don’t think if I kept pushing the distance or round count it would have stayed that good, but that day 25 yds was all I had to work with anyhow. Steyr barrels are the best in my opinion, as good as you can get for a typical FAL at least. But most of us have experienced the vertical stringing that can happen as well. So you can spend time, effort, ammo, and frustration trying to make it something it will only ever be OK at, or you can love it for what it is- an awesome cold war era rifle that is still a blast to shoot today. Might not be a tier 1 rifle on the battlefield today, but if you are in a tier 2 battle it would hold its own at least. Alot of really good info here. The weight and cartridge is subjective to each man individually. The state I'm in you cant hunt on Sundays, so most blue-collar working guys only get 4 days (saturdays) each November to hunt. Id say using a cartridge that allows a degree of forgiveness is smart in this situation. This reply and many others speak to a degree of "match" type accuracy, and I dont think in 2025 anyone thinks thier FAL is a sniper rifle, nor does anyone spend $2000 accurizing one just for kicks. What I'm saying, is they are more accurate than most folks will ever need, and from my experience with punching a 16" plate at 600 yards repeatedly and my 12 year old smoking a doe with one in factory configuration is they are naturally a damn fine shooter that gets a bad rep because everyone needs a .75MOA rifle nowdays. I go as far to ask, does anyone have an anecdote of a time they missed that deer, bear, or moose because their FAL just wasn't accurate enough? Genuinely. |
Robert Muldoon Survived.
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