Bandit's FrankenFAL "Izzy Carbine" Build

September 11th Range Session and Final Thoughts

September 11 2002... A bitter sweet day. At the beginning of this project I had set a goal of completing all assembly tasks and to have any and all problems/bugs worked out by this date. The goal was set to accomplish two objectives. 1. To honor those who died on that day a year ago, and 2. To stay focused and complete the project in the minimal amount of time my available budget would allow. I won't say the anniversary of this fateful day was the reason to DO the project, however it WAS the main motivation to getting the project completed and a cermonial range session accomplished on that date. Thanks to the support of my wife, my friends, and various vendors and manufacturers who helped tremendously was I able to realize this goal.

I wanted to be able to fire off a volley of rounds at some Osama Bin Ladin (OBL) targets I had handy as close to the time of when the attacks occured, however I wasn't able to take the day off because of the heightened alert we were on for that day. I was however, able to head out to the range after work. As you can see by the picture above, I wrecked havoc on the OBL targets I brought with me. =) At that particular time I had just emptied out one 20 rd mag as fast as I could pull the trigger from about 50yards away. The pic directly below shows, that OBL wouldn't be long for this world if the bastard ever crossed paths with me and my "Texas Jungle" carbine.

If you recall the previous range sessions documented earlier, I had worked out the hammer, trigger, sear issues and had received my camo furniture set back from Mad Dog 7.62. During those sessions, I had experienced several failures to feed (FTF) and a couple jams that were attributed to a tight gun. I noted that a couple mags seemed to be consistanly in use during the FTFs, so days before this range session was to happen, I went through all 7 of the mags I own for the FN/FAL and proceeded to clean them up using MPC's Firepower FP-10. After dis-assembling the mags completely and scrubing them down with a toothbrush saturated with FP-10, I took a clean dry rag and wiped everything down and re-assembled them. At this time I also installed the camo stocks that had arrived. I broke down the lower assembly and relubed it then removed the gas piston assembly from the upper receiver to remove any carbon build up and to replace the Rem-Oil I had previously used during assembly with FP-10. I had learned earlier that FP-10 works magic on metal to metal contact areas and that it's a pretty darn good cleaner to boot.

For my efforts in detailing the mags and replacing my normal lubrication product with FP-10, I was rewarded with a range session that had ZERO FTF malfunctions using any of the 7 mags mags and not a single jam was experienced! The only problems I had that day, was keeping the mags loaded fast enough to keep pace with the fun factor I was experiencing and an issue with one of my mags that consistantly wouldn't hold the bolt back when empty. The "Texas Jungle" carbine digested 160 rounds of 7.62X51mm South African surplus and 40 rds of Winchester 180gr PowerPoint ammo without a hitch. One thing I did note, was that this little jewel has a definite preference for Powerpoints in the accuracy department.

I pronounce the "Texas Jungle" carbine project a total success by my standards. This success couldn't have been realized without a "boat load" of people who either supported me, gave me encouragement or helped me resolve problems as they arose. Below is but a few of the people in no particular order who helped out immensely:

Jen - The FAL Files Forums administrator, for providing a forum that contains a virtual plethora of valuable information on the "Right Arm of the Free World". You had unique parts available for when I needed them and shipped them promptly. You put up with me and Antares' constant shenanigans in the chat room and my constant bugging you about the aforementioned parts. Thanks!

Jim Meredith - Owner of PCS Inc., the countless emails that passed between us were enjoyable and contained valuable information when needed to clear up some confusion during critical steps of the build. You replied quickly and did an OUTSTANDING job on cutting/crowning and threading the barrel for the project. I hope to make a trip north of the border into Oklahoma to shake your hand some day. Thanks Bud!

Harold Shinn - Owner of First Sons Enterprises, (FSE) for working with me and being patient with my stubornness in wanting to resolve the hammer/trigger/sear issue on my own. You gave prompt courteous service that is second to none. Your Business ethics are the standard I'll base My Business ethics on. I hope to do business with you in the near future. Thanks a bunch!!

Last but not least, I'd like to thank you, the visitors of WECSOG.org for the countless emails of encouragement, the sharing of ideas and pics of your projects, along with the criticisms and error reporting I received during the project. After all, these pages were put together for your enjoyment and to hopefully help anyone interested in tackling a FN/FAL home gunsmithin' project, find answers to any questions they may have. As you can see from the pic above, I'm checking out an example of, and am ready to move on to, my next project. An AK-47. Stay Tuned!!!

Shoot Safe!!!

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