FN CAL
In 1963 FN began development of a 5.56x45mm rifle in anticipation of that caliber's adoption by most NATO countries. The rifle was introduced in 1966 as the FN CAL (Carabine Automatique Legere, or Light Automatic Carbine). <P> It was gas operated in the manner of the FAL. A unique double-interrupted thread on the bolt head locked behind a similar thread on the barrel extension when the bolt was rotated. The recoil spring was wrapped around the short-stroke piston to permit any type of butt configuration. The trigger mechanism, patterned after that of the M1 Garand, provided both full-automatic fire and a three-shot burst control. Upper and lower receivers, as well as the forearm, were sheet-metal pressings and there was a hold-open device. The bolt, carrier and piston were machined from steel bar-stock. Screw-threaded to the upper receiver, the barrel was held in place by a lock nut dropped down from the muzzle and threaded onto a cone on the front of the receiver. <P> All in all, the FN CAL was a very smart-looking piece. It reeked quality. It had the FN FAL mystique. And it was a dismal failure. During trials conducted in France between 1971 and 1974, the CAL's deficiencies erupted. Expensive to manufacture, difficult to disassemble and properly maintain, the CAL's life expectancy in simulated combat proved all too short. The project was abandoned, and a small quantity of semiautomatic-only samples were sold in the United States. Two years later, the FN designers EVOLVED the FN CAL rifle into the currently produced FN FNC.
Picture and information courtesy of: PIERANGELO TENDAS
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