DSA FAL SA58 16 or 18 or 21 inch
- Thread starter Fox84
- Start date
I have owned 5 FALs in my life and used 4 others overseas. I am a fan of the rifle.
The DSAs I have owned have been excellent. The only thing I didn't like about FALs is that the length of pull is pretty long. It fits taller men well, and any many with longer arms than average.
The military specs held on the production of the barrels allow for good accuracy, but seldom excellent. If you have an FAL with an excellent barrel you can see groups that average close to MOA with match ammo, but most of them shoot about 2.25-2.5 MOA with new barrels and good ammo.
For bench use you may want to go with the short barrel or the mid length. Shorter is stiffer. Stiffer is often more accurate. Now that's a generality. Not a hard and fast rule. The most accurate FAL I ever had was a C-1 with a full length barrel and a long flash hider, but that one would shoot 20 rounds into a group at 100 Meters that I could cover with a 50 cent piece.
I have an Arizona Response Systems FAL now that is very accurate too, but not as good as my old C-1 was. (in fact I am going to sell my A.R.S. FAL soon, but not because I don't like it. It is a wonderful rifle. I am just shooting others more. )
Anyway, the object of all this verbiage is to point out that you should have one made for a specific purpose if you have a specific purpose in mind. I would love a Para-FAL so I could cut the LOP down to 13.5" but I can't afford one so I now use a Ruger SR762. It came with a tele-stock so I can make it fit me better than my FALs ever did.
What every rifle you get, make sure you get the very best barrel you can if you intend to shoot paper with it. I use a DSA scope mount on my A.R.S. rifle and I have it scoped. With hand loads I can shoot 2MOA with it. I had an original Belgian 20" rifle years ago that was delightfully reliable but the bore was a bit tired and it would only do 3.5" at 100 yds at it's best, no mater how good the ammo was. I was going to re-barrel it but a collector convinced me to sell it to him instead.
So get a very good barrel if you are making a gun for bench shooting. You will not be happy with anything else.
If you will put a scope on it consider using JB Weld to secure the clamps. FALs are designed to be easy to clean and the removal top cover is cool for cleaning, but not really necessary. When I secure a DSA mount with JB weld I get excellent results and you can clean out the upper easily with just shotgun brushes and a mop.
The DSAs I have owned have been excellent. The only thing I didn't like about FALs is that the length of pull is pretty long. It fits taller men well, and any many with longer arms than average.
The military specs held on the production of the barrels allow for good accuracy, but seldom excellent. If you have an FAL with an excellent barrel you can see groups that average close to MOA with match ammo, but most of them shoot about 2.25-2.5 MOA with new barrels and good ammo.
For bench use you may want to go with the short barrel or the mid length. Shorter is stiffer. Stiffer is often more accurate. Now that's a generality. Not a hard and fast rule. The most accurate FAL I ever had was a C-1 with a full length barrel and a long flash hider, but that one would shoot 20 rounds into a group at 100 Meters that I could cover with a 50 cent piece.
I have an Arizona Response Systems FAL now that is very accurate too, but not as good as my old C-1 was. (in fact I am going to sell my A.R.S. FAL soon, but not because I don't like it. It is a wonderful rifle. I am just shooting others more. )
Anyway, the object of all this verbiage is to point out that you should have one made for a specific purpose if you have a specific purpose in mind. I would love a Para-FAL so I could cut the LOP down to 13.5" but I can't afford one so I now use a Ruger SR762. It came with a tele-stock so I can make it fit me better than my FALs ever did.
What every rifle you get, make sure you get the very best barrel you can if you intend to shoot paper with it. I use a DSA scope mount on my A.R.S. rifle and I have it scoped. With hand loads I can shoot 2MOA with it. I had an original Belgian 20" rifle years ago that was delightfully reliable but the bore was a bit tired and it would only do 3.5" at 100 yds at it's best, no mater how good the ammo was. I was going to re-barrel it but a collector convinced me to sell it to him instead.
So get a very good barrel if you are making a gun for bench shooting. You will not be happy with anything else.
If you will put a scope on it consider using JB Weld to secure the clamps. FALs are designed to be easy to clean and the removal top cover is cool for cleaning, but not really necessary. When I secure a DSA mount with JB weld I get excellent results and you can clean out the upper easily with just shotgun brushes and a mop.
Model12Win
Moderator
16"
Get as short as you can. .308 does not need more than a 16" bbl to be effective out to 1000 meters either, and makes for a short and compact package.
Get as short as you can. .308 does not need more than a 16" bbl to be effective out to 1000 meters either, and makes for a short and compact package.
dakota.potts
New member
I think it's personal preference. Shorter barrels are considered to be stiffer than longer barrels, but with the piston system moving around anyways I don't know that it makes much of a difference on that platform. 16" is lighter and handier. Will be a pretty good muzzle blast, though. .308 does continue improving in performance past 16" as well. I'd probably be looking at 18 or 21" for a bench only gun. Probably 18" for hunting out to intermediate ranges. I don't think I'd pick 16" unless I had some interest in portability or as a "tactical" rifle.
For what it's worth, I have previously considered building a paratrooper/folding stock model with an 11" barrel and a 6" compensator permanently welded to see what kind of fireball I could get out of one
For what it's worth, I have previously considered building a paratrooper/folding stock model with an 11" barrel and a 6" compensator permanently welded to see what kind of fireball I could get out of one
If you are going to suppress it go with 18". Buy the fluted medium contour barrel DSA makes. They may give you a 19" option which was the barrel for the SPR they submitted for .mil trials. Either one is good.
A 16" with any normal loads is going to give you lots of fouling in your suppressor. When my medium contour is clean I get 1.5 MOA with surplus and 1 MOA with hand loads. This is only for the first 5-8 shots. After that, vertical stringing starts stretching it out to 5-6 MOA. My normal contour FAL's give me 3 good shots.
2 of mine are DSA and two are Imbel on Imbel kit guns.
The difference in handling between a 16" and 18" is minimal. 21" is LONG.
A 16" with any normal loads is going to give you lots of fouling in your suppressor. When my medium contour is clean I get 1.5 MOA with surplus and 1 MOA with hand loads. This is only for the first 5-8 shots. After that, vertical stringing starts stretching it out to 5-6 MOA. My normal contour FAL's give me 3 good shots.
2 of mine are DSA and two are Imbel on Imbel kit guns.
The difference in handling between a 16" and 18" is minimal. 21" is LONG.
Short 308's are loud. Most FALs have rather flexible barrels, a lot of mass hanging off them at odd angles (gas tube), and a somewhat inconsistent bolt lockup (compared to a squared-up rotating bolt arrangement), which usually limits the gun's accuracy potential.
Buy whichever one looks coolest, and practice with it as a 'battle rifle' with irons or low magnification optics inside several hundred yards, and you'll be happy. The shorty will likely end up not getting shot that much if you have longer barreled (quieter) alternatives, and an accuracy build with telescopic sight has a high probability of being an exercise in frustration. Treat it like a much-improved bone-stock Garand
TCB
Buy whichever one looks coolest, and practice with it as a 'battle rifle' with irons or low magnification optics inside several hundred yards, and you'll be happy. The shorty will likely end up not getting shot that much if you have longer barreled (quieter) alternatives, and an accuracy build with telescopic sight has a high probability of being an exercise in frustration. Treat it like a much-improved bone-stock Garand
TCB
FairWarning
New member
I personally wouldn't go less than 18" for .308....
When I had mine built I went with an 18" barrel and enjoy it a lot. I really am not a fan of a 308 in a short barrel and this is the shortest I personally like. To much noise and flash from the unburnt powder with a short barrel and commercial ammo. Plus you already have a 16" and a 22" so get something in the middle. Good luck with your decision.