Wikipedia

FN CAL

The CAL (Carabine Automatique Légère, Light Automatic Carbine) is a Belgian assault rifle that was manufactured by Fabrique Nationale. It was the first 5.56 mm rifle produced by the Fabrique Nationale. It resembled the company's highly successful FN FAL, but was an original design. Unlike the FAL, it was a market failure, although its development led to the more successful FN FNC.

FN CAL
FN CAL on display at the National Firearms Museum, United States.
TypeAssault rifle
Place of originBelgium
Service history
Used bySee Users
WarsVietnam War
Colombian conflict
Gaza-Israel conflict
Internal conflict in Myanmar
The Troubles
Lebanese Civil War
Tuareg rebellion (1990–1995)
Production history
DesignerErnest Vervier
Designed1963–66
ManufacturerFN Herstal
Unit cost(FY2022) $820
Produced1966–1975
No. builtApprox. 30,000
Specifications
Mass3.35 kg (7.385 lbs)
Length980 mm (38.58 in)
Barrel length467 mm (18.4 in)[1]
Cartridge5.56×45mm NATO
ActionGas-operated, rotating bolt
Rate of fire850 rounds/min
Feed system20-, 25-, or 30-round detachable box magazine
SightsIron sights

Design details

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Prior to the development of the CAL, FN had already constructed a scaled-down FAL prototype before shelving the idea as unmarketable. Noting the growing sales success of the cheaper and simpler HK G3 rifle, FN decided that for any future rifle to be competitive in the marketplace, it would need to use fewer expensive precision-machined parts. These would be replaced by less expensive castings and stampings where possible. While the construction of the new CAL reflected these design principles, it was still relatively expensive and complex, and met with no significant sales. It was eventually dropped for the even less expensive FN FNC.[2] A small number of FN CALs were sold to the civilian market in the US.

Operation

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Although the weapon resembled a scaled-down FN FAL, it in fact used a rotating bolt, unlike the FAL, which used a tilting bolt design. The earlier models of the CAL had a three-round selector system, which allowed the weapon to fire a three-round burst with each trigger pull. The CAL could also fire in fully and semi-automatic modes.

The gun used long stroke gas piston to operate the bolt carrier, and the bolt itself had interrupted lugs to lock it into the chamber.[3] Locking lugs were cut diagonally at a steep angle. So while the bolt is rotating to unlock, bolt face is slowly moving back, giving primary extraction of the case. Similar feature can be seen on MG 30, MG 15, MG 17 and MG 34.

Users

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For trials

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  •   Pahlavi Iran: Tested the CAL for consideration to the Imperial Iranian Army, but was never adopted.[11]
  •   France: Tested the CAL in the late 1960s and early 1970s for military adoption. It had a MAS-49/56 style rifle grenade launching system. But was never adopted. [12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "FN CAL". Weaponsystems.net. Archived from the original on March 5, 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  2. ^ Kokalis, Peter G. (December 1985). "FNC; Belgium's Compact Carbine". Soldier of Fortune Magazine. Archived from the original on February 14, 2023.
  3. ^ Hogg, Ivan V.; Weeks, John S. (2000), Military Small Arms of the Twentieth Century (7th ed.), Krause Publications
  4. ^ a b c "FN CAL around the world - The FAL Files". Archived from the original on 2017-10-03.
  5. ^ a b Jones, Richard D. Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (January 27, 2009). ISBN 978-0-7106-2869-5.
  6. ^ Clarke, Lism, M. Kathryn, Johnston (2001). Martin McGuinness: From Guns to Government. Mainstream. ISBN 9781840184730.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Small Arms Survey (2005). "Sourcing the Tools of War: Small Arms Supplies to Conflict Zones". Small Arms Survey 2005: Weapons at War. Oxford University Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-19-928085-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 9, 2010.
  8. ^ "wiw_af_morocco (worldinventory)". 2010-02-12. Archived from the original on 12 February 2010. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  9. ^ အကြမ်းဖက်လုပ်ရပ်‌တွေကိုမကြိုက်လို့ ကိုယ်တိုင်ပါဝင် စစ်မှုထမ်းလာတဲ့ ပြည်သူ့စစ်မှုထမ်းများ အပိုင်း-၇ PyoMay Vlogs June 12, 2024
  10. ^ "Belgian FN Herstal CAL rifle in Gaza". Armament Research Services (ARES). 12 December 2015. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023.
  11. ^ "Iranian 5.56mm Rifles: From S5.56 to Masaaf – Silah Report". Archived from the original on March 5, 2023.
  12. ^ Huon, Jean (2010). Le FAMAS et son histoire [The FAMAS and its story] (in French). Crépin-Leblond Éditions. p. 43. ISBN 978-2-70-300336-6.
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