I HATE the Term “Sporting Purposes”. Wanna know why?
I think we’ve all seen my FAL
That’s my Go-to rifle. Its More-or-less identical to the main infantry rifle of the British Empire from 1954 to limited military application today (The wide-open country of Afghanistan and Iraq has caused countries like the UK and America to dig up their 7.62x51mm NATO battle rifles and put them back into service). It has a few modifications and parts changes to comply with laws, and Century Arms who built the upper receiver made a good choice and configure it to eat from Metric Magazines, rather than the more rare Imperial mags.
Of course the muzzle just has a flat crown, which I have because it allows the rifle to easily comply with Massachusetts’ “Assault Weapons Ban”. But besides some minor, and mostly cosmetic differences, this rifle is no different than guns that went into War for the British Forces around the globe. The Brits found the FAL pattern to be too uncontrollable under full-auto fire so they locked out that position on the fire selector, and removed the Auto-Sears on their issued rifles. So really besides a missing flash hider, and bayonet lug, and eating from Metric magazines, this rifle is exactly what the Brits went to war with.
Also I’m totally in love with 7.62×51 NATO/ .308 Winchester (this rifle has a .308 Chamber so it can safely shoot both ammunition loads) as I find it to be a very common round, as well as a great balance between power and recoil. The rifle is VERY comfortable to shoot, and I need to be careful at the range, lest I burn up my ammo stocks faster than I can replace them!
So if things get REALLY bad: Examples Occupy Wall Street/England Riots/ LA Riots, or natural disaster like Earthquakes, fire, or Hurricanes cause a breakdown in law and order, or a Terrorist Attack or full-on invasion, this is the rifle I’ll be reaching for, and I will not feel under-gunned because its EXACTLY the rifle I’d want.
OK my one complaint is I’d like to have a Paratrooper model with a folding stock just for easier transport and storage. Sadly adding a folding stock would make this rifle an “Assault Weapon” for reasons no anti-rights fanatic would ever dare explain to me.
Why do I hate the term “Sporting Purposes” so much? Well besides the fact that Washington didn’t Cross the Delaware to get to his duck blind, I’m interested in trying my hand at white tail deer hunting. Their delicious, plentiful, and horrible pests, and I want to shoot one! So this spring I’ll be taking a hunter safety course, apply for my Maine hunting license where there is land I can rifle hunt (I’m not a great shotgunner and I wouldn’t feel as comfortable taking a shot at a living creature at uncertain ranges with a shotgun as I would with a rifle), and hopefully at least get a few days of hunting in, with luck take a deer.
Here’s my new Hunting Rifle:
Its a reliable, accurate .308 Semi-auto rifle. Its light enough to lug around in the woods, has a carry handle and a sling for easy transport, also the sling allows me to make very accurate shots from offhand positions well past 100 yards. .308 Winchester is one of the most popular hunting rifle cartridges today, and has harvested everything from small to large game in North America.
They look similar, don’t they? Well its because its the same rifle, just with the 20-round Israeli military Surplus magazine removed, and a 5-round new-production DSA Magazine in its place, as Maine requires all magazines hold 5 or less.
This rifle which is not only “Military Style”, but has military surplus parts in it that most likely spent time in a military war theater (the Lower is a 60s era Birmingham), yet with a quick swap of a magazine this is no different than any other semi-auto hunting rifle on the market. Heck compare it to a .308 Browning BAR hunting rifle
Maybe a little length and weight differences, and this mag holds 5 while the Browning holds 4, and the Browning is probably a million times more refined than this workhorse of a rifle. Still they’re both semi-auto, and both have “evil black” furniture.
Everything else is purely cosmetic, especially in the Maine woods where a shot over 200 yards won’t likely present itself.
Oh and if this FAL had a folding stock I could more safely and easily transport it in a truck or 4-wheelers, as well as haul it into a tree stand. Care to explain to me why I should go to prison if I were to add that feature, or simply buy a new one and keep this one as a backup…
Yeah I know, when the phone don’t ring, you’ll know its the Antis!
