Third Gen FAL/L1A1 Weaver rail dust cover with lightening cuts for $29.95.  Not sure how long this cheap, I have the older model without the cuts, this one weights half a pound less and has the cuts for Trilux Suite mounts.  Great deal on a rock solid piece of equipment.  They also have the AR15 handguard removal tool for $14.95.

I ordered one of these. Sounds like a hell of a deal for $30. BTT

Mine came in today.  MUCH lighter than the previous generation without the lightening cuts.  The other one appears to be cut from steel, this one seems like its an alloy or aluminum.  Still feels very solid, but clearly weighs the half pound less they claim.  Just what I had in mind for the FAL carbine project I have in mind.

HiramRanger...do you have problems with brass hitting your Tapco cover?  I have an ARMS cover that I really like, but it is getting chewed up by brass and it chucks empties back into the action occassionally causing a malfunction.

Hasn't been a problem, have mine on an L1A1, don't know if that makes a difference.  The new one says the opening is cut larger to make sure that does not happen.

Bradd, a friend of mine has had problems with his ARMs mount much like yours. He ended up radiusing the ejection port area with a dremel, IIRC.

My DSA heavy duty mount is also beat up with brass ejection marks at the top of the port, but no jams.

I tried a few optics on my FAL, back to irons...

Quoted: Bradd, a friend of mine has had problems with his ARMs mount much like yours. He ended up radiusing the ejection port area with a dremel, IIRC. My DSA heavy duty mount is also beat up with brass ejection marks at the top of the port, but no jams. I tried a few optics on my FAL, back to irons...

Oh, I definitely planned on taking the Dremel to it!  

Quoted: I tried a few optics on my FAL, back to irons...

I'm curious about why you went back to irons.  My eyes don't pick up iron sights as well as they used to, so I've been thinking long and hard about a SUIT or IOR Valdata 4x scope.  Would appreciate hearing your experience.

Quoted: Quoted: I tried a few optics on my FAL, back to irons... I'm curious about why you went back to irons.  My eyes don't pick up iron sights as well as they used to, so I've been thinking long and hard about a SUIT or IOR Valdata 4x scope.  Would appreciate hearing your experience.

Just a piece of advice on the IOR 4X.  It's a fantastic scope, but the eye relief is very short and you are likely to pop yourself in the bridge of the nose.  I had one on my AR and it would hit me in the bridge of my shooting glasses.  It really is a good scope, though.

Thanks HiramRanger, I order mine today looks like a great deal.

Jim

Let's see, I 've mounted a Leupold 1-4, an IOR M2, a gen2 Holosight, and an ELCAN on my DSA SA58 carbine using the DSA HD mount over the past couple years. Unless you remove the factory rear sight, I needed high rings for the Leupold and IOR. The ELCAN/gen 4 mount was OK with the rear sight as is. The problem I ran into with optics height (all 4) was cheek weld. I finally put a slip-on stock cover to correct for this low weld problem.

I didn't leave the Leupold on for long, as I didn't have the cheek piece yet and I had borrowed it from a deer gun (shotgun).

I didn't really like the IOR optic, although it seemed well-built, and the QD rings were quite nice. A pita to site in, poor directions, marginal eyerelief. The rubber scope guard sucks with glasses. Sold it for what I had in it. Some guys really like these; not me.

I really like the Holosight/Eotech, except for the ~short N battery life. Iron sights won't cowitness on the FAL. This optic I have used on several guns, including a slug gun. Currently on my AR10. Neat...

I replaced it with the ELCAN. Nice glass, but BIG. Good/decent eye relief for the .308, but I still ended up scratching my glasses with the rear sight when snugging into the ELCAN. Ended up selling this to buy another ACOG for a mousegun.

The other serious problem I had with the optics, however, was that I wasn't quite happy with maintaining zero. I at first thought the problem was with the IOR, but then my ELCAN wandered a bit. I think the multiple locking plates on the HD mount are better than nothing, but not by much. Still seemed to move a tiny bit on me.

I can shoot almost as well with the irons with my FAL as I can with a low power optic at the ranges I shoot. By this I mean ~3 MOA at 100 yds with milsurp from a bench. I could do closer to ~2-2.5 with optics. The plus side of removing the optics is that I'm once again back to a light, comfortable, easy-to-clean, fast-to-shoot rifle. The FAL stock and upper reciever just isn't properly designed for mounting optics, IMHO.

Your mileage may vary, and half the fun is trying stuff out. Enjoy!

Oh yeah! I have a mildly abused DSA HD scope mount for sale ($50 shipped!!) or for trade! Looks almost new except for the dinging around the ejection port!


Hmmmm, maybe I should edit my previous post

Got my FAL scope mount from Tapco the other day. Got it on without too much work. Looks great. Can't wait to try it out. I forgot to order the hex screws but next order I will definitely be purchasing them. They really should come standard with this scope mount IMHO but for $30 I can't complain.

I have the 3rd gen TAPCO mount with a ACOG (TA01B-4X32).

I LOVE it! Easy aquisition, dead nuts on and enough eye relief. Perfect marriage for my DSA!

I had the hex screws, but didnt use loctite the first time, I have regular screws now until I get some more hex.[:<]

I got mine too and I put my Aimpoint on it. I had a little trouble installing it though. I t was rubbing on one side and binding the bolt. Anyone else have that issue? I readjusted it several times to center it better but it still touches the bolt as it passes by. Now I just need some time at the range.

Jim