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I recently picked up my very first (and hopefully first of many) STG-58 FAL rifle
(and yes it does sit next to the bed at night while I admire
it). In the
wonderful state I live in (yes, I am being sarcastic)
FALs are considered an assault rifle and are not legal to
purchase. That was
until recently when several companies began manufacturing and
marketing
"California Legal" (Cali) FAL rifles.
Basically a Cali FAL is the same as a standard FAL with a few
modifications:
- It has a ten round magazine that can only be
removed by loosening a hex screw that is threaded through the magazine release;
- The grenade launcher is replaced by a muzzle brake;
- There is no bayonet lug;
- The receiver cover is shortened to allow feeding of
cartridges through the top of the receiver.
The Cali FAL must be loaded through the
top of the open receiver. This causes some problems if you have
any aspiration to mount a scope. Luckily I found a newly
released scope mount from TAPCO that solves this problem and
then some.
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TAPCO
Contact Information
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TAPCO, Inc.
PO Box 2408
Kennesaw, GA 30156
Orders
Call 800-554-1445 24 hours a day, 7
days a week
Customer Service
Call 800-359-6195 9am-5pm EST
Mon-Fri
Email:
customerservice@tapco.com
Technical
Questions
Call 770-218-9472 9am-6pm EST
Mon-Fri
Email:
TechQuestions@tapco.com
Web Site Address:
http://www.tapco.com
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Manufacturer Product
Description and
Price |
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FAL STRIPPER CLIP RECEIVER COVER MOUNT
TAPCO is proud to
introduce the latest in FAL receiver cover technology. Our
newest addition has ALL the best features at the lowest price.
Brand new production that fits both inch and metric receivers.
It has an ultra high tech, positive frame locking system with no
removable rails! It slides on just like the original military
version and doesn't scratch your receiver. It is made of
aircraft grade aluminum alloy and sports a Mil-Spec Picatinny
rail on top. It uses standard .308 stripper clips (MAG2406, sold
separately), which is loved by all but especially great for you
CA residents as you can load mags from the top! All in all, we
believe that this is hands down, the best, most advanced Weaver
style mount to ever hit the market. ONLY at TAPCO!
PRICE:
$49.99 |
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The
FAL Stripper Clip Receiver Cover Mount
is a heavy duty mount that replaces the receiver cover and
offers a
Mil-Spec Picatinny
Weaver rail to mount your scope on.
Once the mount is placed on the rails of the
receiver there are four external screws that lock small plates
on the inside against the receiver. This way the receiver
cover does not move around causing you to lose "zero".
I chose
Weaver 1" Detachable See-Thru Rings (as
shown in figure 1 above)
so I could also use the FAL's open sights without having to
remove the scope and mount.
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Caution |
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First before starting any firearm related
project: Make sure the rifle is
unloaded and pointed in a safe direction. |
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Cock the bolt and then release the bolt to its closed position. |
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Pull back on the release arm on the left-hand side of the FAL
receiver. Note the shortened receiver cover in figures 3 and
4. |
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Pivot the upper receiver open as shown in figure 4. |
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| Slide the receiver
cover from the upper receiver. |
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Slide the TAPCO receiver cover into place. |
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Push the scope mount receiver cover all the way forward. |
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Lower the upper receiver and latch in place. |
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Tighten the (two per side) locking screws. |
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With the upper receiver open, slide the front scope ring into
place. |
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Next slide the rear scope ring into place. |
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After ensuring proper placement with the scope, install the
scope ring screws. |
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Lock the scope rings in place. |
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Place the scope in the rings and install the tops of the scope rings. |
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Align the reticule of the scope and then tighten down the scope rings. |
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Figure 16 shows the assembled rifle. The setup is very
functional and you can easily switch between using the open
sights and the scope without having to remove anything as I had
intended. |
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I loaded up some NATO stripper clips and was ready for some
shooting. |
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The TAPCO mount made it very easy to align the stripper clips
and quickly load the magazine. This would be an ideal set-up for
any FAL rifle. I have shot many FAL rifles with the
original receiver cover configuration and have found that
sometimes I would expereince either feed or ejection problems. With the original receiver cover
it was difficult to see what the problem was or rectify the
problem without unloading the magazine. The TAPCO mount
alleviates this problem for me. |
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I don't really like SKS
receiver scope mounts as they are not a very stable platform for
mounting a scope. They may provide adequate accuracy - but no
more than can be achieved with iron sights. So as a result I had my doubts as to the stability of the TAPCO mount. Once tightened down and the scope zeroed I took a
hickory hammer handle (I use as a non marring mallet for other
purposes) and tapped fairly vigorously to see if I could
dislodge or disrupt the zero, while being careful not to hit the
scope.
I could not effect the zero!
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Note |
| I did manage to look like a
crazy nut at the
range while tapping my rifle with a piece of wood!
Hey, this is America - I can hit my rifle if I want
to! |
As shown in figure 1
above, you can see the thickness of the receiver cover. The mount is rock
solid. I found it to be very stable and did not lose zero at
all, even after firing 100 rounds. To top everything off (no
pun intended) I am
actually able to achieve better accuracy with the scope than
with the open sights. Well duh....isn't that the way it is
supposed to be? Why yes - yes it is! jlm;) |
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