The Very Rare FN CAL at the Range
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- Опубліковано 8 лип 2024
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The FN CAL (Carabine Automatique Legere) was Fabrique Nationale's first attempt at a 5.56mm rifle, and it was not successful. They replaced it with the FNC, which saw much wider success. The CAL is quite scarce today, and it was a very cool opportunity to take one out to the range! It performed rather better than I expected, to be honest...
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3 at the range videos within 9 days? Gun Jesus is truly kind to us.
And on UA-cam? We are truly blessed.
Amen brother
He is Risen!!
Trust him and he shall provide
Praise him
"I sound like a wine connoisseur now."
The mental image of someone like Ian describing firearms the same way a wine connoisseur describes wine was something I never thought I needed until now.
Rifle Sommelier? :D
Where's Peter Serafinowicz when you need him?
Very robust.
@@marcbloom7462
John Wick: "I need something to clean the place up, something that will guarantee a clean job this time."
Sommelier: "May I recommend:
the all new KITCHEN GUN!"
"Judging by the smell the steel was made in FN's plant in Diest. You can tell because of the straw. I've had lunch with the former manager. Great guy."
Speaking of FN, we’re still waiting for your special episode on the FN Minimi because of the super obscure but super interesting history background of the SAW trials and especially with the Minimi’s competitors being HK XM262, Colt XM106, Rodman XM235, and proposed 6 mm SAW cartridge.
Amazing weapons platform. I hate it never caught on. Literally, the only thing on the CAL I would change is the reciprocating charging handle. What a beautiful firearm.
Does the movement of the charging handle affect much on the firearm?
@@shinka2109 i guess it affects the integrity of your fingers if you aren't careful
@@bobybot9320 garand thumb but instead of bleeding your fingers disintegrate
Nonreciprocating is a detriment in my book.
reciprocating handle gives you more control in case of jams/freezing over/etc.
It's always a great time watching you Mr McCollum
That’s Gun Jesus to you, good sir!
SAM
In the late 1970s, the Canadian Forces launched a Small Arms Replacement Project (SARP) with the goal of replacing its existing FNC1A1 service rifle and FN C2 squad automatic rifle. The FN CAL was one of the candidates, but it didn't make the cut. In the end, the CF went with the M16A3 from Colt in the US, and manufactured it under licence in Canada at the Diemaco plant in Kitchener, Ontario. The Canadian rifles were designated C7 and C8, with the C8 taking a carbine form similar to the US M4. The C7 and C8 entered service in 1986. The squad automatic rifle was replaced with the FN Minimi 5.56 light machine gun and designated C9. The C8 was developed for use by tank and other armoured vehicle crews.
As an aside, the Canadian Forces are just now embarking on procuring replacements for the C7 and C8, and potentially the C9. As the Colt Canada plant (formerly Diemaco) where the C7 and C8 were made has been bought out by CZ of the Czech Republic, it's a bit of a toss-up as to whether the new rifle and carbine will simply be an updated C7 design, something from CZ, or something else entirely.
Man, that gun looks remarkably controllable. A fast rate of fire can sometimes make a gun more controllable. It depends on a lot of factors it seems. Awesome content as always!
The FN CAL (paratrooper model with the folding stock) was Bachir Gemayal's rifle of choice in Lebanon
may he rest in hell
@@geediosman6415 That fabled place is a figment of religious delusion. He is dead. Its that simple.
@@causewaykayak still hopin hes in hell and i do believe that hell exists
@@geediosman6415 Ah yes, believing ... Mind you it's a great mental image and I would share with you sour thoughts of many activists and politicians. We can agree at least on the propriety of the first stage of such a journey.
Thank you for expressing an opinion. These days it is unfashionable.
Just me who kind of wanted to see the 3 round burst too?
Me too
Looks like that section was cut out, as there is a jump just after the wine connoisseur comment. I wonder if it failed to run in 3 round mode.
Me too. It feels mean to carp at these wonderful presentations ... but I would like impact area or target images if that were technically possible. PLEASE 🙏☘️
Ditto, lol.
Same
My 1st rifle in the army was a FN 7.62. (yes i'm very old) was still there for the 5.56 conversion. To me this is what a gun must look like. 7.62 much more effective for infantry in dense bush. 5.56 great for penetrating thin amour.
British army vet?
@@StinkyGringo South African. Most likely. The original Dutch spellings are "van Zijl"
I'm pretty sure the 7.62 is great for penetrating thin armor too 💀💀💀
Would there be a possibility to make a side by side comparison video of the FNC and the CAL? What are the main differences?
The FNC looks less cool
It looks more controllable in full. That's interesting
Since FN FAL was initially designed for an intermediate rifle cartridge and not the full power one, maybe that's why FN CAL, which is somewhat of a reversion to the roots of FN FAL, is actually pleasant to shoot in full auto?
Power wise, the .280 British is right there in intermediate cartridge land, but size wise it's a full size
It´s allways so fun seeing Ian take cool guns to the range and just have fun with them, therapeutic.
Thank you Gun Jesus for a great start to the week. I want one.
Interesting this got a bolt hold open and the orginal FNC didn't . We swedes added it to our variant of FNC called the AK5
It didn´t exist on AK5(A) or Ak5(B). bolt hold open was one of those things that came with AK5C.
I picked up an FN FNC at an estate sale and scored big time...paid $3.2K for a lnib condition shooter. The compensator still had wax plugs in it not to mention it did not have "SPORTER" stamped on the receiver.
I hate you. How do you find the trigger? I got to fiddle with one (semi) brought over to a competition in South Africa by a Belgian Airforce officer. That trigger was the most atrocious one I've ever felt... But a beautiful rifle.
@@kiwigrunt330 ...Thanks. The trigger isn't too bad after a magazine...drinking from the Geissele kool-aid pond has ruined any tactile perception.
I picked up an optic mount from StormWorkz so my TA01NSN could ride on top...accuracy isn't too bad either.
I am always glad to learn about Another version of the FB. I have wanted an FAL. But not gotten a chance here in Kalifornistan
Especially for the rarer guns that don't get shot often, did you ever thought recording sound with a contact microphone on the gun itself? It could be an interesting archival aspect to hear their mechanical noise.
No idea if it has any real worth, more as a shower thought thing.
Game developers would certainly appreciate it
Recording firearms is surprisingly difficult, this may prove to be a sisyphean task. First, a lot of the muzzle blast is echo, which varies wildly depending on the environment. If you cannot guarantee similar conditions for all weapons, you won't be able to reliably record the differences, for example if a specific weapon is located in a place where you don't have access to an outdoor firing range. Second, the blast itself tends to peak out vast majority of microphones and may require equipment and setup that is logistically highly inconvenient at best.
Even looks like an intermediate evolution between the FAL and FNC.
Let's give it a high rate of fire and a 20 round magazine. Sounds like a plan!
I'll die happy if one day I get to shoot something even near as interesting as this.
LOVE seeing full-auto in the cold, when you see so well all the gases and the smoke!! 🤩
Beautiful firearm......pleasure to see you fire it Ian!
Shame we didn't see the three round burst fire in action.
through this test, we can imagine how the FAL should perform if produced in its original intermediate caliber cartridge design.
.280 British is about like a sped up x39, but in a very long case.
honestly a gorgeous firearm
This thing doesn't seem to have any muzzle flip. The break truly does a good job
Thank you for sharing this with us all. Loads of fun.
I loved the old British FNs. Huge giggle factor.
But they lack a giggle switch...
I love rifles when the charging handle is moving with the bolt. (I hope that is the right way to say it, or at least you know what I mean) Especially on FNC and this one here it looks so nice and the CAL seems interestingly stable shooting full auto. I like that one and didn't even know it exists. So thank you for bringing us this video!
The common term is _reciprocating,_ but your phasing got your meaning across. The charging handles that don't move when the action cycles are referred to as _non-reciprocating._ Both types have their advantages and disadvantages and location is one of the biggest factors in determining which is the ideal type to use for any particular design.
Ian, I sure wish that the U,S, Government had decided to use the FN CAL. I was forced to use the M16 during the 21 years I served in the National Guard, and I hated the M16 every time an ejected case took the route down my shirt ( I'm a left handed shooter just as you are) even though most of the time I used a brass deflector. I also found the M16 to be really finicky when it got the least bit of dirt in it.
I had one of these in Baghdad, great gun!
"Bloop. Outta fun time." Never were truer words spoken
As a jarhead, I always thought this would've been a better choice than the AR platform. The early years of the AR were plagued with stoppages. I trained with an "M-16" back in the seventies, as the Berrettas were pulled from service with slides cracking. I qual with a 1911 in 76. Thanks for showing this, Ian!
The Berettas didn't enter service until the mid 80's. Also, as a grunt, I would rather hump an M-16 with its 6.5 pounds. Not sure what this weighs, but undoubtedly more. Also, the M-16A1 fixed a lot of the problems.
@@oldesertguy9616 I reenlisted in 82 having got out in 80, and we began to qualify with the Berretta, but the slides cracking stopped it for a year or so. I qualified with a 1911 in 83 and the Berretta in 84 when it was back on the armory in Kaneohe. I too, would rather hump a 16 than an A1.
@@johnmcclain3887 I didn't realize the Corps started using them that early. I remember the flying slide problem.
@@oldesertguy9616
FN CAL weighs about 7.4 lb.
OTOH: Folding stock... Take your pick, 1.1 lb. lighter or about 10" shorter?
I was thinking the Movie HEAT and then you referenced it a second or two later. Great video Ian.
Absolutely gorgeous firearm. Just lovely.
Yes, I do remember the review you did on the FN-CAL. I do remember you doing the disasmbly of the bolt/bolt carrier but, not the gas system. Also, unlike the FN-FNC this rifle holds open on the last shot. Still, I believe you when you say, "alot of fun to shoot". 😁
What a super rifle. Just a scaled down FAL, really. Another geat vid! Thanks!
Not FAL. Its long stroke, rotating bolt with 2 rows of lugs, 4 total. The lugs are diagonal, like on MG34, so it has primary extraction.
"Let's try full" pops off 3-4 round bursts the hard way.
When I wore a younger man's clothes, a gun shop in town had a pre-1986 transferrable select fire FNC for $11,000. I wish I'd known that it could be a tremendously beneficial investment then, and not balked at the idea of a gun costing that much.
Yep it’s worth twice that now.
Been waiting to see this beauty, great content 👌
Speaking of the FNC from HEAT, I don't recall that the FNC that Al Pachino used was ever even fired in full-auto or burst. He only fired a few shots in semi-auto during the running street battle scene. The thought didn't occur to me until now, in that it offers a contrast between the robbers dumping magazine after magazine in overlapping covering fire and Al making very careful selective shots such as the one that killed the robber with the Galil holding the girl hostage.
You have the job most of us that watch you would love to have never miss your videos
Never seen one of those ones. Good find sir.
Thanks again Ian
FN design and machining is always excellent
You weren't kidding about the muzzle brake working well.
I love your range videos
Being in Brazil, I viewed the FAL as a piece of shit outdated but now it grew up on me the platform and development as a whole quite nice to see them.
Now we need to see Ian go to Brazil and get his hands on an IMBEL MD rifle to compare
I am glad to see pure joy on the face of hum.
the sound is so crisp💯💯
I really enjoyed this video. Thank you.
Had a chance to fire one the same year they came out. I too was thoroughly impressed with it but couldn't understand why it just didn't sell.
Having watched this and going back over the FNC video it makes me think the UK procurers must have been asleep to not go with either.
Oooh. This is rare! Glad to see it!
The upward-canted charging handle looks really cool.
I did not expect that rate of fire
The mag sorta reminds me of the French early Famas 25 rounders.
That sure did look smooth at full auto, nice!
I've always thought the FN CAL with fixed stock is a darned handsome rifle...next only to a FAL with Type 1 Receiver and Model C furniture. I'd hazard an assumption that it's quick demise from the wider market was more to do with the complexity of manufacture rather than actual complexity of the weapon itself. The apparent Rube Goldberg flavor of its bolt mechanism is actually a clever way to avoid having to use guide/limit rails in order to keep the bolt aligned during travel back and forth. The same system has been successfully applied successfully in the Steyr AUG and the Desert Eagle (and I think the Wildey Pistol too) in simplified permutations. I think the way the designers chose to implement the mechanism in the CAL was needlessly complicated both in layout and machining.
....also not to mention the insanely complex stamping involved in the receiver sections.
Apart from that, from a users point of view, only potential source of problems could, as I see, be the main spring wound around the piston.
Funnily enough, i have never heard of it.
Fits the title.
That is a beautiful firearm.
I can't believe this didn't get bigger, seems like an incredible gun, just the right size looks amazing, good recoil and really fast fire rate. Would be very scary to get shot at by one of these
I love this line of guns from FN so much. They look so good. CAL, FAL, FNC. Fuck yessss lemme have it. They look incredible.
Really cool looking gun
I'm amazed at how the gun didn't climb on full auto. I've fired the M16 on three round bursts, and no matter how you held it, the third shot was 20 feet high unless you fired from the hip and held the barrel down with a hand on top.
I am not sure I would like that charging handle going back and forth so close to my face.
Sounds solid and steady. Seems a good gun to me.
Also, after listing to all of those SOG Cast episodes, seeing a 20 round mag dump in full auto is something I have needed
Thank you , Ian .
🐺
looks cool. I like this channel because Mr. McCollum show many polish weapons :) Greets from Poland.
This is probably a very dumb observation, but please bare with this 81 year old guy who only used guns for hunting(30-40 Kraig and 30.06 bolt actions). It seems to me that a full auto with a 20 round magazine doesn't make much sense. In less that 2 seconds, you have to change mags. Wouldn't it make more sense to reduce firing rate on the standard infantry rifle, and leave the high rate of fire to belt fed rifles. Again, I recognize that I must be wrong. The military isn't stupid. It wants these rifles, but I just don't understand the advantage.
That aside, I really enjoy this channel. I've only used u-tube since I retired 2 years ago, and thankfully, found Ian early. His is the first video I open. He has mastered his craft like no other. I wish him all the success in his specialty.
There is no advantage to having a 20 round mag that’s why modern rifles are made with 30 rounders. It was just the size originally used just like the Colt M16 originally came with a 20 round mag.
One thing I'd like is when fired in slomo for there to be a frame rate/timer visible so we can see the actual rate of play. Slomo is great, but being able to read the actual rate of fire tickles my engineering fancies.
That's a really nice sounding gun
Firing on Full Auto puts a smile on my face.
When Gun Jesús is on the range, I would like to see also the effects of the firing on the target and his comments on the gun performance and effectiveness.
Great video like always!!
Just one question Ian.
About the temp when you were shooting. On the cold side? Close to zero?
That seems pretty gassy, seems to put out a lot of gas.
wonderful videos yet again
Hey Ian. Any chance on finding and doing a video on the Swedish FFV 890? It’s nothing more than a GALIL copy but many people may have not heard of it.
RK-62 copy
They need to bring this back to the masses
the sounds 🤩
that gun looks so cool
Great video!! Highly entertaining!!
Ian, you can’t jus tease that you have a video about the FN CAL WITHOUT PUTTING IT IN THE DESCRIPTION!! Now I have to actually do work to learn more!
very rare indeed
Its a shame the CAL barely saw any adoption because I think it is aesthetically superior to the FNC. Its like a FAL and a Daewoo K2 had a child. Would absolutely love to have one, even a reproduction. So envious of how clean the example you are shooting is.
Yes, i also find the FN CAL better aesthetically to the FNC, which looks a bit to bulky to my taste.
This things got vibe for days
Always had a soft spot for the CAL!
That looked very flat shooting in full auto, nice :)
Tbf Ian, you basically are a connoisseur for firearms, describing the experiences of insanely expensive guns to us.
I love FALs. It looks like it works very well👍
It looks great
I just think it looks so much prettier than the FNC. It has great greebles.
That gun sounds awesome
I ran 8 full 30 rd mags from a C7 and it was cooking hot. To hold it I had to put my beret under the fore stock 😊
damn, that thing looks super controllable.
This rifle is So beautiful
I bought one for 4700 USD few yrs ago, great shooting gun if it wasnt for mine having issues with its gas piston and no one knew how to fix.
i betcha the machine gun guy at morphy's would be able to tell you where to take it to get it fixed
@@philbyrd5561 I wish I was in US, I was in Lebanon.