• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The Loadout Room

The Loadout Room

Professional Gear Reviews

Hardcore Gear and Adventure

Menu
  • Shooting
        • Pistol
        • Pistol Accessories
        • Rifle
        • Rifle Accessories
        • Shotgun
        • Machine Guns
        • Air Guns
        • Ammunition
        • Optics and Sights
        • Weapon Lights
        • Tips & How-To
        • Concealed Carry
        • Holsters
        • Suppressors
        • Precision Rifle Shooting
        • Firearms Training
        • m243The M24: America’s Headhunter
        • skorpFull-Auto Fun — Shooting the full-Auto vz. 61 Škorpion
        • p320-full-leftSIG Sauer M17/M18/P320 Pistol Just Can’t Seem to Escape Safety Controversies
        • TISAS_10100520_1__98179Tisas 1911A1 U.S. Army Review: Best Budget .45 ACP WW2 1911 Clone?
    • Close
  • Gear Reviews
      • Mission Gear
      • Camping Gear
      • Survival Gear
      • Medical Gear
      • Adventure & Travel
      • Knives & Tools
      • Overland
      • Disaster Preparedness
      • Footwear
      • Womens Gear & Clothing
        • Hunting in TexasThese 5 ATV Dealers Will Get You Ready For Hunting Season in Texas
        • ac65a540-2ef3-4598-8d11-afdf53f46e94.__CR0,0,970,600_PT0_SX970_V1___Streamlight ProTac Rail Mount HL-X: A Thoroughly Bright Review
        • Bluetti 2 handsfree power backpackBluetti Handsfree 2 Review: The Ultimate Power Backpack for Off-Grid Adventurers
        • The Gallagator 10 day pack on the shoreline next to a hiking trail.Day Pack – Mystery Ranch Gallagator 10 – The Best Yet?
    • Close
  • Men’s Lifestyle
      • Fitness
      • EDC
      • Eyewear
      • Watches
      • Electronics & Technology
      • Downtime
      • Mens Clothing & Accessories
      • Manly Skills
      • Style & Grooming
      • Gentleman Drinks
      • Crate Club
        • Tom and Blake Sell TeaHow Sasquatch Tea Is Revitalizing a Stagnant Tea Market With Veterans and Outdoorsmen in Mind
        • redcat-blackwidow-articleheaderWar of Words: In the Ultra-Competitive Defense Tech Industry, Storytelling is a Secret Weapon
        • Photoroom_20250525_074933Juggernaut Tactical Frame Review: The Best Upgrade for Your 365
        • craft holstersCraft Holsters Makarov Tuckable IWB Holster Report
    • Close
  • News
  • Video Demo
  • Buying Guides
  • Shop
  • Advertise
Rifle

FN FAL: The world’s most successful battle rifle

December 28, 2018 by Loadout Room Guest Authors Leave a Comment

FN FAL: The world’s most successful battle rifle

The Fabrique Nationale Fusil Automatique Leger (Light Automatic Rifle), or FN FAL as it is more commonly known, began life in 1946 when FN and Great Britain created a piston operated prototype rifle that utilized the German intermediate 7.92x33mm cartridge. This new round was a first attempt at a cartridge that could do the job of both the short range submachine gun and longer-range rifle. Proof of this came from the world’s first true assault rifle, the Sturmgewehr 44, which was used to great effect during the closing months of World War II.

Despite its promise for future designs though, both FN and the British decided to go with an indigenous creation based on the 7.92 called the 7x33mm, or .280 caliber intermediate round. This round remained within the realm of the assault rifle cartridge. Numerous rifle prototypes were created and, just as with the German round, testing showed great promise, and all predicted it would be adopted.

FN FAL: The world’s most successful battle rifle

That is, until the Americans got involved and wielded their influence.

A standardized cartridge, and not rifle designs, were the driving force in the late 1940s due to a desire by the new NATO organization to field a common caliber for logistics and interchangeability among weapons. With advances in gunpowder, Colonel Rene Studler, U.S. Army, offered a shortened .30-06 case firing the same weight bullet as the famous war winner and submitted it for NATO testing. Studler’s cartridge was intended for full power, and was not an assault rifle cartridge; it was known as 7.62x51mm or .308 Winchester. It was also the primary cartridge for a new U.S. weapon, then in prototype form, designated the T25. Needless to say, what happened next has never been made clear.

In 1950, the T25 underwent tests against the prototype FAL and a British EM-2 bullpup design, both in .280 caliber. Afterwards, the U.S insisted changing both weapons over to the new .30 caliber round, which FN did without argument, and even offered the United States a deal for it to build the FAL royalty-free with Studler’s cartridge.

It meant nothing to the British, as they dismissed the caliber change and continued to develop and adopt the EM-2 with the .280 round that same month.

FN FAL: The world’s most successful battle rifle

Then came a reported conversation between President Harry Truman and Prime Minister Winston Churchill that ultimately sealed the fate of the rifle and round. It was believed that there was an agreement made that the U.S. would adopt the FAL as its standard rifle if the British adopted the 7.62x51mm. Britain gave in, and not only adopted the round, but the FAL as well. The same couldn’t be said for the U.S. It continued dragging its feet and developed the T25 further until it defeated the FAL in trials, and went on to be produced as the M-14 in 1959. By that time, the FAL had been in production for 5 years, and was successfully finding makers and buyers, dealing a kind of poetic justice to the not-invented-here mindset of the U.S. Government.

Britain was among the first to put the FAL into production designating it the L1A1 self-loading rifle. More NATO countries followed suit, and introduced two distinctive variants based on different countries’ units of measure: inch or metric. Apart from that, the weapons basically looked the same, and quickly grew in popularity as the first examples were used to good effect by the British against the communist insurgency in Malaysia in the late 50s. Its counterpart, the M 14, started service only to be challenged shortly thereafter by a newer design called the M-16.

Because of this, the FAL became the primary weapon to defend the banner of freedom throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s, as it confronted its main adversary, the Soviet AK-47, in the many proxy wars between the United States and Soviet Union raging around the globe. On rare occasion, it even faced off against itself, such as when it equipped the armies of Great Britain and Argentina during the 1982 Falklands War.

This period is perhaps the weapon’s high point, as it was at the time being used by over 90 countries. The FN FAL’s slender shape found itself being updated to meet these heavy demands, as variants emerged with folding stocks for paratroopers, heavy barrels for Squad Automatic Weapons, and short barrels for Commando roles. Armed with a 20-round magazine, its accuracy and power bested the AK in distance, and found itself matched in such situations as the West German G3, also in .308.

FN FAL: The world’s most successful battle rifle

Only in the 90s, as more nations went to the smaller 5.56mm .223 round, did the FN FAL really start to see its use fall, with its finest champion, the once reluctant Great Britain, finally saying goodbye in 1986. Attempts to convert the FN FAL to .223, known as the CAL, were unsuccessful as other nations followed suit. Today, only a few (mainly Third World) countries use the FN FAL, and even that number is shrinking.

‘The Right Arm of the Free World,’ as it’s been affectionately called, may rightfully claim its place as being the greatest rifle that answered the call during those uncertain days of the Cold War. While never an assault rifle, it made its mark as the last of the great battle rifles, a lineage that goes back far longer.


Originally published on Special Operations.com

Share This

More From The Loadout Room

Comments

Primary Sidebar

Most Read

  • Mossberg 930: the affordable 12 gauge auto-loader
    Mossberg 930: the affordable 12 gauge auto-loader
  • SIG Sauer M17/M18/P320 Pistol Just Can't Seem to Escape Safety Controversies
    SIG Sauer M17/M18/P320 Pistol Just Can't Seem to Escape Safety Controversies
  • Mossberg Shockwave Versus Remington Tac 14
    Mossberg Shockwave Versus Remington Tac 14
  • Bluetti Handsfree 2 Review: The Ultimate Power Backpack for Off-Grid Adventurers
    Bluetti Handsfree 2 Review: The Ultimate Power Backpack for Off-Grid Adventurers
  • Black Widow and the Brain: Palladyne and Red Cat Prove the Future Is Autonomous
    Black Widow and the Brain: Palladyne and Red Cat Prove the Future Is Autonomous

Find Us on Facebook

Recent Comments

  • Winston Smiths on Mossberg 930: the affordable 12 gauge auto-loader
  • Jared Mize on The Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife: A Commando Blade That Changed Special Forces Forever
  • GomeznSA on MAC-10: The Wild History of America’s Most Iconic (and Overrated) Submachine Gun

Latest From SOFREP

News

Evening Brief: Military Helps Search for Flood Victims, Russia Warns US Against Forming Security Alliance

Military

How Pete Hegseth Is Rewiring the Pentagon for Drone Warfare

Editorial Cartoon

SOFREP Saturday Cartoon: From Kremlin to Casket

Expert Analysis

How America Can Help Ukraine Break Putin’s Teeth: 3 Brutal Moves to End This War for Good

Military Content Group

© Copyright 2025 Military Content Group · All Rights Reserved.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Advertisers
 

Loading Comments...