The Fusil Automatique Leger, or Light Automatic Rifle (LAR), also known as the "right arm of the free world," the FAL rifle was the
NATO equivalent to the
AK-47, in terms of the sheer number of countries that adopted it. Unlike
the
AK-47, it utilized a full-power
rifle cartridge (the 7.62x51mm NATO standard round).
The FAL is an automatic rifle, and operates by means of a gas-operated action. The gas system is driven by a short-stroke piston, and the locking mechanism is what is known as a tilting breech block, as to lock, it hinges down into a solid shoulder of metal in the receiver. Magazine capacity ranges from 5-30, with most magazines being 20 rounds.
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