Good Price on L1a1

[markheck1]

Saw a pretty decent looking CAI L1a1 at the local shop, $750 with 6 Mags, and a Soft case. This a good deal? I know dog snot about these rifles.

[nfafan]

That's not a horribly bad price these days; it's a parts FAL, but then 99% of the "foreign EBRs" these days are to one degree or another simply parts EBRs - pretty much the only way they get imported and built.

And like all foreign-DNA EBRs; parts kits and recvrs just aren't as available as before, so you pay one way or the other.

Don't fear the Century build thing - they stand by their FALs.

If its a "true L1A1", then its an inch-FAL as opposed to the metric-FAL - which the rest of the world used outside of the UK sphere of influence. As such, mags are available - just not as "trip over them at any gunshow" as it is with metric guns.
This is likely a typical FrankenFAL of mixed Inch parts and a metric barrel on a metric recvr.

If you can find out who did the recvr, it would be of help, some used top-shelf recvrs like IMBEL and Armscorp Argie DGFM and supposedly re-cut for inch parts kits, but then other rcvrs - hmm, maybe not so good.

Been a looong time since I hung on the FAL boards, but go here for the best source of FAL info on the 'net:

http://www.falfiles.com/forums/index.php

Ask the store if you can return it if ittsa POS, then go try it out with some ammo you bought from them as a sign of good faith.

If you like it - you have a FAL for the price of an AK these days.

BTW - that sound you hear? That's a lot of keyboards Googlin' for gunstores near Oil City...

[Bama Man]

If it's got a good bore, and is all around generally good condition, then, in my opinion, yes, it is a good price.
They are very similar to the M-14 in length, etc., and shoot about the same,
recoil wise.
I owned one that I assembled from an STG kit, and loved it, and wish I had not let it go.
If I ever run across one at that price, I will most likely pick it up.

[markheck1]

Hmm...thanks guys....
I just happened to see it there while I was drooling over the new AR-15's,

I've shot 1 FAL, but really don't know much about them.
The mag in the gun had G3 marked on it if that means anything.

what I really want is an FNC, but that's a different story.

[nfafan]

<snip>
what I really want is an FNC, but that's a different story.

Those puppies are now upwards of $2k from what I've seen.

IMHO - not worth it. Soapbox on.

Why?

Back in the stone age, you could go to any gunshow, buy an EBR for a decent price, shoot it for 6months, take it to another show and sell it for at least what you paid for it - and repeat the process on another EBR. Who knew the days of cheap EBRs would end?

Anyway, I did just that on an SP1 and an FNC Para, back when they were just $600.00 guns.
I grabbed the FNC as it was kewl as shiite, the AR because it was cheap and the fact that I hadn't shot one in over a decade.

In shooting the 2 .223's back/back, the AR shocked me senseless.

It was light years more enjoyable to shoot than the AK-action, war-club-heavy FNC.
The longer sight radius of the AR made it easier to hit the distant targets as well. (Maybe a more fair comparison would have been with the M4-length CAR-15.)

Also; the FNC was not as nicely built as the Colt, or certainly the bigger-brother FN-FALs or the better FAL clones such as from Armscorp or SA.

I ended up trading away the FNC and the SP1 is the keeper to this day.

IMHO, repeat, IMHO - when you get to that decision point in life, you will more enjoy spending the too-expensive-for-what-it-is-FNC money on a nice Colt M4rgery plus some ammo.

Soapbox off.

[markheck1]

i know....I will probably do the AR, the FNC just looks too cool,

[nfafan]

i know....I will probably do the AR, the FNC just looks too cool,

+100, looks good. But for waht it is, it never really caught on despite the FN DNA. I think outside of Belgium maybe Malaysia or Thailand? and I think Sweden as the AK5.
I think the Japs. "copied" (stole) the design for their Type 89.

Whatever, an M4rgery rocks.

[markheck1]

I dunno what it is about it, the "exoticness" this rifle just looks badass..