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Posted: 6/14/2008 6:31:00 PM EDT
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I ran into this oddity today, and I'm still too much of a FAL noob to understand precisely what it is I found. The store owner had no information available on it, other than that it was old and they'd had it for a while. Type I FN-marked receiver, with no other markings or signs of an importer anywhere on the rifle. There's a circular cut on the mag well, which appears to possibly have been done at the factory (unless someone cut it to remove the importer markings?). Because of my inexperience, I failed to check to see if the selector would go all the way to the auto position, but it did travel down past the grip. The area where the A marking would be appears to have possibly been filed down. No G-prefix serial number. I didn't check on the bottom underneath the barrel for markings, unfortunately. And some form of long flash hider of a type I'm not familiar with. Is this an illegally imported and possibly-contraband MG? Or some sort of kit build off of a Belgium receiver (were there ever stripped Belgium receivers available? what are the odds of someone building a kit out of one)? And why the circular cut in the mag well? Assuming this is a legal Title I firearm, what would be the rough value of such a thing? http://www.majhost.com/gallery/WesJanson/Dumpy/p1050273.jpg http://www.majhost.com/gallery/WesJanson/Dumpy/p1050274.jpg http://www.majhost.com/gallery/WesJanson/Dumpy/p1050275.jpg |
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Many FNs had mag well cuts like that. When a government wanted to provide military aid to another government or group, but didn't want to be obvious about it, the unique markings were removed in order to obscure the origin of the weapons. Judging strictly by the photos that you provided, it appears that someone made a similar magwell cut in an attempt to either make a clone or to con an unsuspecting soul into thinking that the rifle was something that it is not. The fact that the selector will rotate into the A position is absolutely meaningless. If you can, take a photo of the very bottom of the rifle and post it. |
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Unfortunately, it's completely impossible for me to return and inspect it again, although I might be able to call and ask for details over the phone. You state that you suspect it's a clone or a faked magwell cut, but I have to ask whether there's a chance this might really be a rifle that was government sanitized. The rifle definitely appeared old, and indeed had the distinct smell of old-grungy-firearm. What is a safety sear, and how would one inspect for it on the weapon (not that I can, unfortunately, but I'm curious for future reference)? |
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