Imagine back in the 1950s turning in your old Lee-Enfield or Mannlicher rifle and being issued a brand new FN FAL.

The AR-10 never really died. It lives on as the SR-25 which big army adopted for DMR service as the MK 11 Mod 0 and M110 SASS.

old school AR10s had a ton of potential

I remember the FAL from my early days in the Canadian army before we adopted the C7 (M16 A2) in 1989. It was a reliable, high quality piece of gear.

When MAC is short on ammo, you know there is a problem :/

I still think we completely missed the boat when we adopted the M14. We could have had an AR10 in .280 British and had a completely modern, light weight, selective fire rifle in the 50’s.

I can’t decide. Shucks, just have to get both! Put them in a dark safe and see if they create offspring.

When I was issued my F.A.L. in Rhodesia. We were told the carrying handle was taken off because they did not want you carrying the gun by the handle, if you are tired and carrying it that way you are not alert, the most comfortable way to carry the gun was with two hands, and you were alert and ready for an ambush. Carry by the handle and ambushed, you have to put the handle down, safety onto fire and action. Carrying with two hands, SHTF, and safety to fire and aim, gives you one or two seconds extra to save your life.

I carried the FAL for more than a year in my military service in Argentina 1981/1982 it was the 21” barrel with the carrying handle

Hey Tim! Awesome video. The BRN-10 recoil feels identical to the original. The rate of fire makes the AR10 on full auto quite punishing on the shoulder but I have to say the in-line construction does minimize muzzle rise but you will have a black and blue shoulder. Similar to the full auto G3. But the LMT full auto MWS, total different story. Completely controllable, most controllable full auto 308 I have ever fired by far.

The FAL is such a good looking rifle. It's lines remind me the classic long-body Jaguar.

The right arms of the free world, a title you can't argues with for sure

The story from Rhodesia is that there was a soldier who actually lost his eye when the empty case was deflected off a carry handle that was not stowed properly. The case came back and hit him square in the eye, and from that moment on the Rhodesians cut off all the carry handles from all of their FALs. Additionally, the carry handles made noise in the jungle and were also entanglement hazards when parajumping.

The FAL is an elegant weapon...for a more civilized age.

The final decision is interesting. The InRangeTV guys did a full multi-person test with a large number of modern and historic .308 rifles, and they picked the AR10 second overall even over the SCAR-H, and often mentioned how much lighter shooting it was to all other guns, and the FAL didn't do very well in their overall handling and drill tests. So this conclusion is surprising I must admit. Maybe that particular version WAS overgassed.

When I was in the Canadian reserve infantry in the ‘80s, we did have a full auto FAL version that acted as our Section (Squad) support weapon x 2. They had a bi-pod so were pretty accurate, but heavy as .... They were a B to carry on a March or fighting patrol. The carrying handle of both were nice. We would hang it off the buttons of our coats instead of carrying it long distances... arm savers. 😁

Kinda glad you plugged Small Arms Solution's video, they really did a great job explaining it all.

So I carried the FAL (C1A1) my first 5 years in the army. No one ever worried about the troops messing with the gas settings (and no one could really be bothered). In fact, in training, that was something instructors randomly checked on. The default gas setting was 4 and the default sight setting was 200 yds (because we had the good Canadian rear sights and not those primitive things that all other nations had). Woe betide the recruit private or Officer Cadet who was caught with either of these having slipped a notch. I don't recall ever having a problem with the carry handle snagging on things. However, it was not needed as no one was allowed to carry the rifle by the handle (except the Rifle regiments on parade who did fast pace march pasts (what Yanks call pass in review) with the rifles carried at the 'trail arms'). We jumped with them without issue (I didn't as I did my para course in 87 and the school was already using rubber M16 dummies by then). One thing that does snag is that crap cocking handle on the example in the video. The Canadian handle was a clever folding one that was never a problem. I've used other FALs with that crap handle and it constantly gets in the way. Mainly because it's on the inside of the rifle against the body.

AR.10.👍 ( In U.S. Army tests at Aberdeen Proving Ground in November 1960, and later in Portuguese service, the AR-10 gained a reputation for accuracy (some rifles would group into 25 mm (1 inch) at 100 meters with service ammunition). Portuguese paratroopers found the AR-10 to be not only accurate but reliable in combat, despite rugged service conditions in African jungle and savannah )

Hey Tim - I used to work at KAC, and as you probably know we had just about all of the original prototypes and production AR10s... They were super controllable on full auto, and IMO were actually softer shooting on FA than on SA. Just my personal experience for reference, great video!

Again, thank you so much for covering the FAL. When I was a young man and seeing my first FAL I fell in love with it. There's always been something about it to me. And as I've said a dozen times in your video comment section, I finally landed me one about 10 years ago. What an awesome shooter she has been! Awesome video Brother Tim, thumbs up ~John

Big time surprised Tim doesn’t have an Armalight 10 in his collection 😆

I'm an old war horse. Many years ago I bought and M21 DMR. I restocked it about 10 years ago and did all the fiddly bit to make it better. It is now a 1 MOA rifle and I love it. That being said I own a bone stock DSA FAL with a 16" barrel. It has the fabulous DSA scope mount and good glass. It shoots 2 MOA no matter what I stuff in it from Russki Silver Bear to NATO stock. If SHTF happened I would grab the FAL for anything over 100 yards every time.

Nice comparison. FAL vs G3?

I prefer the AR 10 for all the reasons given. I’ve had two FALs. and agree with everything you said in the video but I hated the gas settings. It was something I could never fine tune.

Did you notice any significant difference in accuracy, especially from offhand use Tim? That might be another factor in the equation.

Great comparison. One could argue that the original AR-10 is now the Knights M110 or SR-25 rifle (or LMT, etc) and over the years, like the M16 series, has been improved to become what they are. I find the FAL intriguing due to the history behind it.

The DSA Range Ready, SA58 FAL, 16" or 18" version with the addition of their speed trigger and interior slick coating option inside is KING! Their Range Ready modle gets a more vertical SAW Style Pistol Grip, Ambidextrous Magazine Release, Enhanced Winter Trigger Guard, Non-Reciprocating Left Side Enhanced Profile Charging Handle & Extreme Duty Scope Mount. Not to mention you get a 4150 - 11595E Steel premium barrel, which is mounted to you choice of 4140 fully machined & heat treated receivers with or without the carrying handle. It will outperform any AR10 BATTLE RIFLE in my opinion.

The FAL wasnt called the right arm of the free world for nothing. Its an amazing machine and the FNC/AK5-C further modernized it

Can’t sit and watch anything over 5 minutes long…except your content: treasure. Thank you 🙏

Having carried the wooden stock M-14 in Combat twice in Vietnam, I fell that it was superior to the M-16 and FAL in several ways. The actual combat accuracy of the M-14 was at least 5 times better than the M-16. The FAL in Vietnam was used by some of our special forces and other countries in the conflict and was a dependable service rifle with limitations. When equipped with a 4-12x40 scope the M-14 was able to reach out and touch whatever you needed to at ranges out to 1400m. The M-16 & FAL so equipped seemed to fall short with a max effective ranges of 800-1000m respectively, based on times I was called to engage targets at the farther distances when the M-16 or FAL was initially used and was ineffective. The M-14 was easier to maintain in the field due to fewer moving BCG parts. A Shaving Brush was my morning routine for lubrication to start the day. In the rear area, a full take-down was easy. The Trigger group slid down and out without much effort. The gas piston was removed via the retaining plug being taken out using the tool provided with the cleaning kit. The BCG was contained in one unit and very rarely was needed to be disassembled to clean the firing pin & ejector. Each of my M-14s in both tours had the Safe-Semi-Auto selector switch. During my first tour, I used a Bi-Pod for stabilization and just keeping it off the ground at our Night Defensive Perimeter (NDP). So equipped, my M-14 was a beast when climbing or getting through triple canopy and especially so through both. However, the added feature of reloading with a 5-round quick-load or using M-60 belted ammo to reload magazines was a significant plus. The quick-loads were carried in a bandolier across my chest along with four extra Mags. In a fire fight, my ability to take down targets faster due to accurate fire, fast re-loading and superior penetration was always that extra battle advantage. Most M-16 users selected Full-Auto to fire at the enemy and wasted more than 60 to 75% of their ammo (my opinion) to shooting at the air, bushes and leaves. I kept my M-14 on Semi and had to identify, select and engage targets each time. Missing a target with the first shot was a very seldom occurrence. The men in my unit said I was crazy to carry such a heavy weapon compared to the M-16. But they had to carry more ammo because of their past use of Full-Auto each time in while in contact with the enemy. In Elephant Grass, the M-16 rounds had difficulty with initial penetration. After cutting the grass down they were more effective. In triple canopy situations, the wooded areas especially the trees with enormous above ground root systems provided excellent defensive locations for the enemy troops. The lighter M-16 rounds could take hours to penetrate a thick wall-like tree root, while my M-14 could engage most targets hiding behind any wall-like root system. After I acquired Armor-Piercing 7.62mm rounds, the Tree Roots were never an obstacle in a combat situation again. I discovered that the 7.62mm x 51mm rounds came in Ball, Armor Piercing, Incendiary, Armor Piercing Incendiary, Duplex and Tracer. The USMC had all type of 7.62mm rounds which only required a simple trade of a Chicom type weapon that could be taken home as a souvenir. We acquired several cases of each. We were warned that the AP rounds could wear out the barrels sooner if used too often. I wonder if the FAL had the same types of rounds available for it. I added a beast of an early generation heavy NVD that had a 4x capability. The crosshairs of it were set higher on a target due to the way the NVD was attached. It was never sighted in for close range at night. For NDP trail watch, I set my M-14 with the NVD and waited for a target. I would use roots to secure the feet of my Bi-Pod when available for greater accuracy and tighter shot groups. When the heavy NVD was on the M-14, it was not easy to relocate our position with it attached. Often at our NDP I would leave the NVD in my rucksack along with my scope just in case there was a need to relocate quickly. Night missions were usually ambush types where we did not relocate afterwards. A joint mission with an Australian unit equipped with FALs and other weapons proved my M-14 to be superior at greater distances with the same style of scope. Although suppressors were not very common with the US Forces, I was able to acquire one for my M-14 from them. It cut the sound down to a comfortable level on my ears. Most of the FALs in use had suppressors with Bi-Pods and still had a range issues. Whether it was the operator or their ammo it seemed they spent a lot of time on field maintenance. Using my ammo the results of the FAL was the same. When given a chance to use my weapon system, every one of their unit wanted to switch over to the M-14. The FAL had clean lines, but the field maintenance issues and the range limitations of accuracy I observed made it a second place choice at best. The M-14 is in use today by Special Forces units because of its distance and penetration capabilities. If I were a younger man, having a M-14, M1A or Chicom Copy M305 would be a great addition to my dream weapons collection. Owning a FAL for a fun-day at the range would also be another option. The FAL is the first choice of many nations, I think because the US played down the capabilities of the AR-10 and M-14. All of which, I would own if give the opportunity and funds. The 7.62mm round is a great choice for engaging all type of targets. There will always be a better weapon being offered by the industry. However, some classics will always be preferred by collectors for personal reason. The FAL is good looking and has proven itself to its owners in many ways. The M82A1 is another capable beast that gets the job done. Regardless of the weapon system, it is the user that make it a legend. Our future will have many weapon choices from lasers to pulse-type weapons, but the M-14/AR-10 vs. FAL debate will remain. What would you want? FAL or M-14 or AR-10? The AR-10 / M-14 with mods are superior to most battlefield rifles for Jungle Operations. 1st tour of duty was with the 11th Light Infantry Brigade "Jungle Warriors" in I Corps RVN 2nd tour of duty was with Co E 1/327 Inf & Co E 2/501 Inf, 101st Airborne Div, I Corps RVN God Bless all Combat Troops everywhere!

I have a DS Arms remake of the FAL during the Clinton Gun Ban. I absolutely love it!

Loved the outtake, Mattel, LOL! I own both (although the AR10 is a modern pattern). For battlefield reliability FAL, for DMR or target shooting AR10.

The modularity of the AR rifles is the secret sauce of success.

Hahaha Matel. My father-in-law has a rant about it too. His favorite was the M79

One piece of information not brought out is the difference in weight! My FAL is a favorite because of it's sleek lines...but they are deceiving due to it's weight....just like all trade offs more weight less recoil. So it's just a matter of when do you want to pay the piper....when you shoot or when you carry it. Shooting from a fixed position solves weight issue in favor of heavy rifle...carry it a lot and shoot it a little tips the scales the other way!

Today's civilian market is doing a great job realizing the AR10 potential. The DPMS high rail AR308 really has shown promise. I am on my second build and I just love them. I hope the improvements continue

outstanding! very good pace / density of info - and easy to understand.

Fantastic video! Love the comparison videos

Tim I would have to agree with you as well on this, the FN FAL is hard firearm to beat for the time and use in which it was designed. I have a metric rifle in my collection and one day would like to get a inch pattern rifle to keep it company.

John Wayne hit an AR-10 of a tree and it broke apart like a toy gun.

L1A1 SLR (FAL) will always have my heart... Shame we replaced it with the SA80A1 Garbage can... cant replace God's Own Boomstick

Eugene Stoner developed the sr-25 , so you could say the ar10 evolved into that rifle , and then choose from there.

In 1962 I was stationed at the Marine barracks at the Naval Ordnance Testing Center at China Lake , Ca one day we had a class with either an engineer from Armalite or Colt he was a very enthusiastic guy showing and discussing the AR 10 in 223 cal I think it was brown he went on to say this rifle is the future of combat weapons , since we were issued M1 Grands we considered this more of a toy since we had to have classes on our so called day off no one really cared . However , I do remember a couple points he mentioned one was he stated that most components were made from a special alloy that did not require much if any maintenance just wipe down I thought he said something like a special silicone was mixed into the metal the rifle was passed around and as I remember it felted a little slippery. We were a guard Battalion and did not test the AR only the base engineers and a couple Sgts fired it , the term AR I think stood for Armalite rifle AR not assault rifle .

In Rhodesia one of the soldiers was blinded in one eye when hit in the eye with hot brass deflected off the carry handle. That's why they cut em off.

I enjoyed the shade thrown at Mattel at the end. 😆

My R1 was a great rifle ... and full auto ... but very hard to handle if you didn't exercise rigourous trigger control

Super-duper video. I love both of them! Thank you for your efforts into its making. I have used both of them and expect to continue, ammo and politics allowing!!

Love how the AR10 still looks Spaceage.

Back in the day i put half a dozen Fal's together. Reliable and fun to shoot. And port ammo was $140 to your door.

Love your point about the lack of development of the AR and I agree with you on the FAL. It's a rifle I've always liked the looks of but never had the budget at the time.

I too would have chose then FAL. I'm from a younger generation than you, but have also really admired the FN FAL since I was a child. I used to call it the "Fin Fal".

The AR10 did evolve....and it's hands down the superior rifle!

Other Gun Channels: *Gives thoughts on gun comparison in table top review* MAC: *Gives detailed breakdown, history lesson, shoots guns, final opinion* (MAC is the best)

The AR-10 is still one of the more beautiful cold-war rifles ever. It's basically a voluptuous, muscled up AR15. The FAL is elegant but has more lumps and bumps sticking out.

...the tilting bolt is the ultimate in simplicity... ...and is therefore the best solution for a reliable battlefield weapon...

According to original ArmaLite/Fairchild documents and videos, the prototype AR10 did have a pronounced titanium muzzle brake which made full-auto firing very controllable even in such a light 6.5/7 lb rifle. There was also a prototype variant and production version of the AR10 which did incorporate an adjustable gas block feature!

I have a Australasian L1A1 heavy barrel with bi pod and all wood furniture built on an Embel receiver and I love it. The US should have adopted it over the M-14 and maybe used the British intermediate 280 round instead of the 7.62X51 NATO. Maybe also adopted the MG-42/MG-3 in 7.62X51 NATO instead of the M-60 a poor copy of the MG-42. I am a fan of the AR-10 type rifles too.

Armalite AR10 Super (SASS) by far the best on the market. Paired will a NIGHTFORCE F1 3.5×15×50 scope. I have this setup and will never part from it.

Nice to see Mac giving a nod to Chris from Small Arms Solutions!

I was trained with the original Belgian Fal, was always told the gas regulator was for the purpose of increasing gas pressure when it got filthy dirty with carbon build up, not meant for tuning up with different ammo? Really good vid by the way 😊

FN -(FAL) everytime for me - but maybe I'm biased as it was the only weapon I got to use because I was only in the Rhodesian Forces. Although my issue was not Camo it was Black with the Bipod feature. I had a choice at the time and it's what I chose personally. Also on full tilt it helped if you put your hand revered and over the top of the barrel, not held from underneath. (That's from the hip - and for fun purposes only...lol).

Tim, really enjoying the rifle comparisons. Keep'em up.

Nice Garand Thumb plaid when will the collaboration plaid video happen ;)

Which FAL variant that DSA makes would you recommend? I'm tempted on buying one and they make quite a few.

Tim, I have a HK91, FN-FAL, and a SR25. You’re right, the SR25 have the worst kick out of all 3. Which in term it’s less comfortable to shoot all day.

The Ar10 has evolved, you can pick up a 308. AR that's as customizable as normal Ar's. Am I missing something?

One of the reasons the M-14 was selected was due to a requirement to "buy American." I'm unsure whether it was a written requirement or just unspoken. Either way, not only the politicians but the Tax Payers wanted to keep American jobs. Great video!

We used to leave the gas setting at 6 or 7 out of the 12 settings on the brit version of the FAL and left it there, no one fiddled with them unless doing an immediate action drill to clear a stoppage condition on your APWT, btw I almost forgot one of the Achilles heals of the FAL, but it is nearly 50 years ago, I was made aware of it when I was put on the battalion shooting team for the 1st time, that is every time you open up the action you disrupt the sight alignment to clean it and when you close it there is a chance for the zero to shift slightly, its not much of a problem at closer ranges but the error is magnified the further you have to reach out, the problem is the rear sight is on the butt and there is a hinge between it and the foresight and the latching system may settle in a microscopically different spot, for this reason on the leadup weeks to shooting competitions we were forbidden to break open the action of the L1A1 SLR's and had to clean the weapon instead through the ejection port as best you could with a pull through, rags and brushes, as the AR10 doesnt disrupt the sight alignment when you open it to clean, its got the advantage in that respects...

Great review

I think the AR10 evolved into a fantastic rifle, as evidenced by all of the really great AR-10 rifles available today.

MAC First thing, I own an EARLY AR-10 that is SELECT FIRE. I acquired it in 1989 from another Marine who was FORCED to get rid of it by his newly acquired wife. I paid him $4,200 and got my Tax Stamp in less than 3 weeks. You asked about the CAPTURED PIN on the BCG. My rifle has a CAPTURED PIN it is a low serial number according to the research I did on the rifle. To the rifle I would pick, that for me is easy. I would carry a FAL into hell. I own 21 FALs from various manufacturers. From early to late FNH, to Argentina. Both in semiautomatic and select fire. My PRIDE AND JOY FAL is tough to call. Either the VERY EARLY FNH FAL select fire or the one that RARELY gets shot, my South African BUSH WAR RIFLE. That one has the huge hole where the Manufacturer's logo WAS. It still has about 60% of the BABY SHIT CAMOUFLAGE still on it. I have a second South African Mfg FAL that the magazine well is fully in tact, but was never stamped and has NO MARKINGS other than serial number, but it is painted 2 shades of green with brown streaks and the black of the rifle left unpainted in several spots. The first came.feom RHODESIA and the other from ANGOLA. Both brought to the US by the same man. He brought the RHODESIAN gun back when he left Rhodesia and came home for surgery to repair a few injuries. The Angolan rifle came here when he left Southern Africa just before Angola fell. I acquired both from him for a really great deal just months before his death. You mentioned LARGER than 20 round magazines for the FAL. I have about 3 dozen FN mfg 30 round mags and 10 40 rounders with NO MFG markings anywhere. No idea who made them, but they run FLAWLESSLY!!!!! A MAN CAN NEVER GO WRONG OF HE CHOOSES TO CARTY A FAL!!!!! Or a FNC for that matter!!!

While the US was urinating on the FAL Italy was having a BM.

Any chance of an FN FAL vs FN SCAR? Some people might find that a dumb comparison but I'd just be curious to hear what your thoughts are. Thanks!

Thankfully, we don't have to choose...

I want both. The FAL as a battle rifle, and the AR-10 as a Spotters rifle/DMR.

Be nice if someone started importing south american FALs again. I hear too many issues with DSA FALs to buy one

The British Army SLR version of the FAL had a folding cocking lever so it would not snag or move about.

your passion for the FAL is so strong it's infectious

I'd choose an AR10, but with a T-handle. I like the way it handles with a 2-point sling.

It’s funny that we were against the FN fal years ago but we use the scar 17 now lmao which is basically a updated FAL ..I don’t own a fal or a clone but I will one day when I get all the bases covered.its one of the best looking rifles too imo.

Going from a recoil standpoint with me having a rebuilt right shoulder, a 308 bolt action was too much for my shoulder, as much as I loved it. The FAL is easy for my shoulder to take. Part of the reason is the heavier weight, along with it's a semi-auto. Even with that, I couldn't see myself in full-auto doing more than a 3 round burst due to the muzzle rise in such a fast firing sequence. I've heard of many having issues with their cheaper FAL's. Mine was not cheap and I never had an issue.

I really enjoyed this video, thanks Tim.

A lot of people hate on RRA, but that LAR8 is a wonderful match with a FAL!!! Same ammo and mags (makes shopping easier)

2024 part2. We meet again MAC! 💪

"I switched my slayer onto sing"

AR-10 all the way because Eugene Stoner is the greatest gun designer ever. Yeah, I said it. Come at me with your JMB stuff. : )

What I really like about the ar10 is the ease of changing barrel/caliber and what I hate about the FAL is that I only have two Cheers

Man what do you mean is Mattel still in business? Thats the parent company of Hot Wheels my man lol.

You sound like a parent whose kid just bite someone when talking about the US breaking its promise lol.

The AR 10 rear sight is much more precise. Run them together for accuracy 100-150-200 and so on out to 700 yds and YOU will see..

Great video and weapons... of course in all in for the FAL

that serial almost says MAC maybe its 'military arms technical channel'. been enjoying your channel for a long time. any chance we will ever see a cmmg rdb gaunlet?

I love my FAL. Ended up turning it into a bit of a SPR. Definitely not Bubba'd though. I've got more into that rifle, than I have into my BMW, lol.

The main thing that keeps Brownells from making 100% correct replicas is a big thing and a small thing. The big thing is the receiver has to be made so it cannot be made select fire. The small thing is the materials the furniture was made of originally was environmentally destructive in it's manufacture. So those materials were stopped being manufactured many decades ago. The main things that got the FAL not being adopted was NIH, US Ordinance Department and the M-14. The AR-10 was done in by some of the same things the FAL was. US Ordinance, Springfield Armory and the M-14. I had a Mattel toy M-16 in the 1970's too. Played with it and carried it till it broke. Now of course when I could I got two of the real thing, at least as close as we can have.

I love the FAL and own several along with the M1A and BRN-10. I rate the M1A third and this is with the most trigger time shooting it in service rifle competition. I had a great time with the Brn-10 at the range. Mine is a very soft shooting so maybe Brownells changed the spec on the gas port. So since it's new and I'm smitten I like it the best of the three. On another note, the Armalite 50's promotional video is on youtube showing lots of full auto and that seemed OK.

@22:07 Mac breaks my heart🤣

I used to carry the SLR (L1A1) you don't need automatic fire on them because they can fire as fast has you can pull the trigger but we had the L2Al for support fire it was the same as the L1A1 but it had a heavy barrel and tripod it would dance when you fire it on auto so you had to fire it like you would shoot the m60....

Has anyone ever noticed the Mattel rifle the Duke breaks against a tree in the Green Berets?

Evolved version of AR-10 seems to be Turkey new MPT-76 (National ingantry rifle 76) rifle in 7.62/51 category. It has basically AR-10/HM-417 platform taking insignts, goodies from scar etc. with its unique long gas piston system.