Sorting out what's a 'good FAL'

[General Disarray]

I know I want a FAL, and would buy a DSA as first choice, but this one in the pics below is being sold by an acquaintance and it's a bird in hand type situation. He said it's a heavy barrel, the receivers Imbel, but it also say Hesse St. Paul MN-FALH on the reciever which I don't know what that means. I guess Hesse makes recievers which are crappy, but also import Imbels and assemble kits? Is that correct? This reciever is definitely Imbel, but I wonder how to tell if it's a good gun, and what's too much for it. He's selling it with another stock kit and 16 Metric mags for $1200. I'm trying to sort out what's a good deal here. Thanks.

 

[Ash]

The heavy barrel Israeli FAL's go for a bunch. Consider a kit most recently retailed for $800, plus $400 for an Imbel or other quality receiver, and you have $1,200 before the build. That's a good price if the build is good. Hesse builds actually had pretty decent reputations if one of their models of FAL. Hesse receivers were crap and when assembled by Century, could have many troubles. Hesse as Vulcan has a bad rep today, but that is as a manufacturer. This has an Imbel receiver and foreign parts (what 922 parts there are, I cannot say), so things should be okay.

Ash

 

[General Disarray]

Oh, okay. It's definitely an Imbel receiver but I can be sure about the parts kit being Israeli. Are they the only ones who make heavy barrel kits, or could you just tell from something in the picture? It looks great, but this world of FAL's is a bit confusing and it's apperently quite easy to wind up with a dud. He would sell me a junker, but he might not know, and I definitely am still learning.

So is FALH the kit the Imbel was built on?

 

[mdlmkr7.62]

Looks like alot of Izzy parts on it although I can't tell without actually looking at it. Consider a Imbel receiver will go for $400 - $500 and Izzy hvy barrel kits are almost impossible to find but fetch $800+ when they come up. Mags run $10 +/- each so we have $160 in mags, $400 in the receiver, $800 in parts = $1360 before it is assembled.

If you like the heavy barrel (I personally don't) I'd say go for it!

7.62

 

[General Disarray]

What's the deal with heavy barrels? What can I look for to identify Israeli parts? There's also a whole other stock kit just like the one on it but lighter (blonde) wood, and a 3 and 5 round mag. What do those all go for? I'm asking cuz I'll probably sell them off and keep like 6 mags and the rifle.

 

[Ash]

.............

 

[Ash]

The barrel is an Israeli heavy barrel, which was a machine-gun barrel. The heavy barrel FAL was intended to be a light machine gun, and in this role it was better than either standard FAL's or M14's. It has an inverse-threaded flash hider. The charging handle is Israeli because it has the forward assist that only the Israeli's used. The lower is certainly an Israeli because of the markings and the unique selector switch. The front sight/gas block looks Israeli, too. In any case, it is a heavy-barrel version. And of course, the furniture is Israeli. Remember, these were sold as complete kits (except for furniture, which has been sold separately). There is little reason to assume the heavy barrel and lower would be mated to non-Israeli kits.

The flash-hider looks like it is not real. I would guess it is a US-made part. The charging handle looks like a US-made version of the Israeli, too. The pistol grip is almost certainly a US-made part. That leaves the fire control group and gas piston, as well as mag floor plate and follower, that could be US-made.

Ash

 

[General Disarray]

Cool. So that would explain the seemingly high price, right? The kit is worth about $800 and the Imbel another $400? I was mistaken about the price though. It's $1200 for just the rifle; it's going to be $1400 with all the mags and extra furniture. Still doesn't sound like it's an outrageous price tag, right?

Is it true the 3 & 5 rounders are hard to find and expensive. And what's an Israeli furniture kit cost these days?

 

[DnPRK]

Pull out the bolt and make sure it wasn't ground down to fit the locking shoulder. A ground bolt tells you it wasn't put together correctly by a knowledgeable assembler.