I have the opportunity to buy both the L1A1 FAL and Galil. It’s an inch pattern FAL. A family member owns it. I fired the FAL a couple of years ago...it was pretty awesome.

They’re in NV. He planned to take them to CA (hence the paddle grips) but can’t because the fixed mag law, and doesn’t look like anybody makes a fixed mag kit for inch pattern FALs.

I see there’s a pretty broad range of prices for FALs so hoping to get a general idea of what I should offer him. He said to just make a fair offer. He’s owned the FAL for maybe 15 years so doesn’t know what it’s worth.

Sorry for the blurry pic, he texted it to me the other night.

Any suggestions? I was thinking of offering $2,000 for both rifles.

Attached File

I'm thinking $2000 for both is pretty close to stealing him blind.  Unless you meant $2000 each.  In which case I'd say he's coming out on top but not nearly so lopsided.

In to see what others say.

This is a blessing to you.  2000.00 sounds good to me.  I really don't know what a fair price would be?
But I know I would buy them for sure.  I had a chance very slight to buy a HK G 93 years ago.  But it was a buddy's brother in law.  Not really much of a chance.  Cash might have done not sure.  Good luck
hope you get them.
 
 

Looks to me like the L1A1 has a metric type 3 receiver or an imbel type 3 with inch internal cuts maybe?

Good receivers.

Either way, I think the “FAL Automatic Locking Magazine Release (FALMR)*Patent Pending” for sale on the falfiles is what you want if you are in Cali.

^^edit, he’s no longer taking it to Cali, never mind. Any FAL that runs on a quality receiver is worth over $1k nowadays.

1st thing I noticed as well.  Also the muzzle device is a "US" part.

As long as the muzzle device is not a flash suppressor, he'd be able to take it to Cali in that configuration.  The FALMR would also work.  IIRC, he did testing on the L1A1, as I had told him during development about my concerns about compatibility, and the dimensions worked with it.  The removable trigger guard was the only potential issue I saw.  We figured out solutions for metric FALs, which he decided not to market, ultimately, due to production difficulties, but honestly, I doubt most cops would look past the FALMR device itself.

Thank you for your input. I want to pay him what it’s worth. We’re related by marriage, but as far as I’m concerned we’re blood brothers.

Interesting. I signed up on FAL Files earlier tonight but still waiting for staff to approve my membership.

If he can make it Cali legal, he’ll probably hang on to it. We were looking for a solution back when Cali first passed the new law and all we found were metric mag locks. As much as it pains me to say this, I’ll let him know.

I want this rifle. Fingers crossed.

@bigstick61

Is it legal with paddle grip and removable magazines? I was trying to keep up with CA laws when I lived there but it’s been a while. The older I get the more stuff falls out of my head

Does the paddle grip make it featureless (aside from needing 10 round mags)? No collapsing stock, vertical grip, or flash suppressor so does that fit the definition?

Yes.  If you eliminate the features, you can have detachable magazines.  I went fixed-mag with a charger-guide just because I wanted to keep it more practical in terms of handling.

If his muzzle device is a brake, and he has that fin on the grip, then it is Cali-legal as pictured.

California forbids the following features, for reference:

-pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action (the regs on how that's defined are why certain oddly shaped grips, or grips with fins, are not considered pistol grips)

-flash suppressor

-grenade or flare launcher

-forward pistol grip (the regs include AFGs here, IIRC)

-telescoping or folding stock

-thumbhole stock

If it has a detachable magazine setup (which includes any mags that can be removed without disassembly of the action, even if normally they'd be considered fixed), it cannot have any of these features.  If it has a fixed-mag, as long as the fixed mag does not hold more than 10 rounds, and the OAL is at least 30 inches (the latter also applies to detachable mag guns) in shortest firing configuration, then it's GTG as well.

Thank you! I passed that on. I still hope he wants to sell it.

He sent me more details:

Century Arms C1-A1 Sporter with 100% British L1-A1 parts kit, assembled by Arizona Response Systems

If it was assembled by ARS, I would definitely grab it

Gunplumber is one mean SOB but absolutely one of the best milsurp gunsmiths around. You can count on a quality build if it came from ARS.

But wait, there's more. You have other goodies in that case like spare handguard, pistol grip, and milsurp scope.

What's the upshot? Did you get it? How much?

It’s on hold for now. He won’t tell me how much he wants for it, he just keeps telling me to make an offer. I made an offer (probably too low with all the extra accessories and scope) because I don’t really know what it’s all worth, hoping he’d counter it and give me an idea of what he wants, but he wants to play a guessing game and I’m not really up for it.

He can’t use it. It’s collecting dust in NV. I shared info from other posters in this thread that it’s legal in CA with the paddle grip, but he doesn’t want to take that chance. He has his reasons. When he’s ready to let it go he can give me a call.

He finally gave me a price. $1500 for the FAL, $1600 with the scope.

Thanks to COVID, my savings are gone. He’ll hang on to it for me until things improve. Fingers crossed.