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Out of curiousity, is that shorter CA legal build you post all the time close to anything they had? I like the idea of the 16-18in barrel with a solid stock instead of the para stock. I haven't had the luxury of firing a para FAL but I remember hating it on an AK I shot once upon a time.
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FN apparently did offer the shorter barrels with the fixed stock. Not sure if they also called those Model 50.00 rifles or not. I've seen one factory FN that was imported to the U.S. in the 1980s with a 436mm barrel (~17.17"). FN offered their short barrel (458mm, or 18.03"), super short barrel (436mm, or ~17.17"), and a special-order short barrel (406mm, or ~15.98") on their rifles in addition to the 533mm (~20.98"). I've never seen a factory FN fixed-butt rifle with a shorter barrel except the one mentioned. I've seen plenty of paras with the 17" and 18" barrels (never seen one with the 16", though).
I'd be surprised if a factory rifle like this actually ended up in Rhodesia.
Now, there is one soldier who did cut down his FAL's barrel. He had a gunsmith cut it down. Someone who served with him knew the exact length, but I forget what it was (my estimate, based on the photo, is around 17.5"; it could possibly anywhere from 17-18"). According to his comrade (who is a member on another forum; this is to the best of my recollection), he was not authorized to do this and almost got in serious trouble (as in a court martial) over it, as it was very much a violation of their military code. However, he was ultimately given a slap on the wrist and allowed to keep using his rifle, and was warned never to do anything like that again or they wouldn't go so easy on him. A member of the RLI, IIRC. The guy had posted his name, but I cannot remember exactly which forum this was on, nor can I find the thread. I did find the picture, though, shown below. It's the soldier on the viewer's right. You can see that his barrel is shorter than 21".
I know of no other example of a Rhodesian soldier with a fixed-butt FAL with a shorter barrel. Even paras with shorter barrels were uncommon in photos (and based on what vets have said). The bulk of them had 21" barrels, and even those were not all that common. Rhodesia did convert some R1s into paras, though, with stocks they made in-country (the stocks and lowers were sold by Sarco as "humper specials"). They also had to convert the bolt carriers into para ones.
Now, a Rhodesian civilian who owned a FAL would have had the leeway to cut down his barrel, but I haven't seen a picture of a civilian with such a thing, yet. Doesn't mean it didn't occur, though.