I am contemplating a trade for an FN FAL. It is a mystery gun to me and I thought you guys might be able to help me out. It is a metric Coonan receiver that was built up from a parts kit I assume. It looks to fit metric pattern magazines. Please take a look at the pics and let me know what you think. What is a reasonable price? What other info do I need to gather to assess value if these pics aren't enough?

Is that the same Coonan arms that makes the 1911 357 mags. I believe they were around M/SP area.

Did the guy you are buying it from build it? Looks like an Imbel kit or maybe Chilean? I don't know. It doesn't really matter. The FAL is the AR of old battle rifles. Meaning you can pretty much swap out parts. Make sure it won't swallow a field gauge and do some function checks like found here - http://www.l1a1.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3891253

The Coonan is my 2nd favorite currently available receiver right neck-n-neck with the DSA. You can't go wrong with either.

DSA factory guns set the upper value limit for kit guns. You can get a comparable new DSA rifle for just a touch over $1,000, so I wouldn't pay more than that.
AIM Surplus DSA Rifle

Great rifles, enjoy it if you get it!

A member of our church from many years ago took over what was left of Coonan Arms and restarted the company. I haven't talked to him in years. I hope he's doing well with it.

Tyrone, the person selling didn't build it and is not knowledgeable on the FAL. They can't answer many questions. I'm valuing what I plan to trade for it at $550 so it seems like good buy, not having any magazines hurts the value a bit.

You're stealing it, man!

Can you even buy a stripped Coonan for that?

There is not anything that can be wrong with a FAL that can't be fixed.

No-brainer at that price.

You can dump it the next day and be well ahead.


Travis

So is there much difference between an Imbel or a Chillean kit? How could I tell them apart?

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

No idea.

I think the FAL is a POS. But there's money in it @ that price.





Dave

It's probably a moot point by now but that's an Imbel parts kit assembled on a Coonan metric receiver.

The parts kits by themselves are selling for +/- 400 bucks currently.

It should be a good shooter, Most of the Imbels were built for armies that carried them a lot but shot them very little. They generally have finish wear but are in very good shape internally.

So, Did you get it?

Coonan receivers are good. There's no way to know if it's an Imbel or any other parts kit, but it's built from some parts kit. If the parts are all metric, then it really doesn't matter. There were no "bad" makers of military FAL's, so regardless of which parts kit, the parts will be made well. At that price I'd probably take it even if it didn't work (anything on a FAL can be fixed).

so your buying it with the intention of moving it to someone else's possession?
and your posting that on a public forum?

I am getting it. After the metric mags get here and I have a chance to check that it appears to function. It's a slow moving transaction!

I'm not planning on selling it. I'm thinking a 2x red dot type optic or maybe a 1-4x scope would be worth exploring as long as I can keep the weight down.

Ooh boy, isn't this special?
http://www.falfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=401462

I'd still buy that FAL, but I was unaware that Coonan was having some problems lately.

How typical. I've messed with a couple of FAL's with Coonan receivers and there were no problems. One, the builder headspaced incorrectly, but that wasn't Coonan's fault.

But how typical of US made stuff these days. Really sad to see that where guns are concerned, "Made in USA" is becoming something that you try to avoid.

Well that sucks! I've built 3 FAL's on older Coonan receivers in the past with no problems and still have one yet to build.

After reading Mark's post I don't think I'd buy anything built by Coonan now unless they get their heads outta' their azzes.

Sure glad I've got a couple of NOS Imbel receivers stashed away.

They don't get any better than that. DSA receivers are pretty nice, but a little pricey.

I always have liked the look of them but can't really get motivated to spend the money on one.

I finally got the chance to shoot it and it has a problem that needs fixed. The trigger does not reset! It functions fine if you push the trigger ahead after every shot. I will need to take it apart, clean it well, and see if I can resolve it. I still think it's a good rifle.

How's the accuracy?

It seemed reasonably accurate, but the trigger problem was too distracting for me to think I really tested it out.

The trigger should have a spring plunger directly behind it that can be seen from the outside of the rifle. Do you have that? The reason I'm asking is that is a coil spring and they typically don't break, so it makes me think that whomever assembled the rifle may have oops'd and forgot to put the trigger spring in.

If you're missing the part, call Rav at The Dealer Warehouse, he usually has a lot of FAL parts in stock. (209) 545-2800




Here's a view with the grip removed.

Otherwise if it was assembled from a kit, that kit probably had Cosmoline all through it, so you could have Cosmoline built up in various places within the lower. The trigger group is copied from an M1 Carbine so it's pretty simple. Gun scrubber and compressed air will get you pretty far if you don't want to take it apart.

just stumbled on this thread.

After reading that Coonan thread, it makes me glad I got a DSA, even though it was "95%" gtg as well.

That Coonan thread is gold btw...some serious players going after each other.

I was able to disassemble the rifle this past weekend. It was clean and oiled inside. I swapped the similar sized trigger return spring with the sear spring. That made the problem much worse. It appears to be a DSA hammer kit. Where does that leave me? Which parts need replaced?

You really need a gunsmith to evaluate what's going on. Sounds like either the hammer or sear are out of spec.