L1A1 (SLR) 7.62mm self-loading rifle
01. Original name | L1A1 (SLR) 7.62mm self-loading rifle | |
02. Other official names | Rifle, 7.62mm, L1A1 (SLR) | |
03. Popular names | SLR | |
04. Chamberings | 7.62mm NATO, .280 British | |
05. Designed by | Dieudonné Saive and Ernest Vervier | |
06. Design date | 1947-1953 | |
07. In service date(s) | 1956 | |
08. Adopted by | UK and Commonwealth | |
09. Production quantities | Over 2 million (FN FAL, all variants) | |
10. Mechanism | Gas operated, tilting breechblock, loaded with a twenty or thirty-round magazine | |
11. Weight | 9.56lbs (4.34kg) unloaded | |
12. Mountings | Sling, bayonet | |
13. Practicality in action | Medium-to-High – easy to use and maintain, accurate, rugged and reliable while firing a relatively powerful cartridge. Main issues revolve around weight and length | |
14. Comments / Other information | The SLR was an ‘inch pattern’ variant of the Belgian FN FAL (Fabrique Nationale Fusil Automatique Léger), adopted by the UK and Commonwealth countries after the British designed EM-2 (an assault rifle of bullpup design firing the .280/30 intermediate-calibre cartridge) had been side-lined due to international politics within the NATO Alliance after the standardisation trials of the early 1950s. Another difference was that UK and Commonwealth rifles were mainly semi-automatic while the ‘metric’ FN FAL was capable of fully automatic fire. The rifle was in-service first with the Canadian Army (C1A1) in 1956. It was in-service with the British Army a year later, being manufactured at the Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) Enfield, Birmingham Small Arms Ltd and Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF) Fazakerley. The FN FAL served with over ninety countries, in many Cold War and immediate post-Cold War conflicts, including the Arab-Israeli Wars, Kenya, Aden, Malaya, Vietnam, the Indo-Pakistani Wars, Rhodesia, South Africa, the Falklands War, Northern Ireland, Oman, Indonesia, Congo and South America and became known as the ‘Right Arm of the Free World’.. L1A1 7.62mm Self-Loading Rifle (UK) Introduced 1957; chambered for the 7.62x51mm round; 20-round box magazine; weight without magazine 9.5lb; modified version of the FN Light Automatic Rifle (FAL). The FN version has been distributed widely; as with some other self-loading rifles fully automatic fire becomes difficult to control. |