Argentina And The FAL
The FAL is without a doubt a legendary rifle and one which has proven its effectiveness throughout history with its 7.62x51mm round. It should come as no surprise that those militaries with a tight budget would be inclined to remain with their use of such battle rifles. One of those countries is Argentina and their history with the rifle expands to 60 years on 2018.
It’s 1958 and the Argentine government is receiving their first batch of FN produced FAL rifles after their original adoption three years prior. Much like with their previous military firearms in the year of 1960 they negotiated with the Belgians for a license of production, and after it was granted production began on the government owned “Fabrica Militar de Armas Portátiles Domingo Matheu” (Military Factory of portable weapons Domingo Matheu) in the city of Rosario changing the designation from FN FAL to FM FAL keeping the nomenclature for the different Belgian variant names up to 1996 where production was moved to the also government owned “Fabrica Militar Fray Luis Beltrán” (Military Factory Fray Luis Beltrán).
Argentina mainly produced three variants:
–FM FAL
The standard FAL variant (However it’s important to note that all Argentine variants have polymer furniture and select fire capabilities)
–FM FAL Para
This variant has a side folding wire stock and a shorter barrel
–FM FAP
This variant has a heavier barrel, comes with a bipod for sustained fire, a wood handguard, and a wood carry handle.
In 2010 Argentina approved a classified number of rifles numbered in the thousands to be modernized and brought into the 21st century, which would appear to indicate that the FAL is not going away any time soon.
