FN Fal Light Automatic Rifle 7.62 User Manual

							Fig. 19
Fig. 20
When the retaining pin has been removed, the
firing pin will come out of its housing under action
of its spring (fig. 21).
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							Fig. 21
5. REMOVING THE GAS PiUGUse the nose of a cartridge to press in the plun-
ger (fig. 
22), then turn the gas plug a quarter turn
in a clockwise direction (fig. 23).
Fig 22Fig. 23
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							In this position, the plug will be pushed from
its housing by the piston spring.
6. REMOVING THE PISTON
Remove the piston and its spring from the gas
cylinder (fig. 24).
Fig. 24
Separate the piston spring from the piston rod
(fig. 25).
Fig. 25
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							Note: There is no need for the soldier to strip theextractor.It is necessary to use a cartridge for
this, or a special tool, and it is normally done by
the armourer when making o 
perio?Jic inspection.
7. ASSEMBLY AFTER FIELD STRIPPING
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-Replace the piston spring on the piston rod
(fig. 25).
Replace the piston and its spring in the gas
cylinder (fig. 24).
Insert the gas plug, 
compressng the piston
spring, with the big end of the plunger turned
towards the barrel (fig. 23).
When the gas plug is fully home, rotate it 
one-eighth of 
a turn, so that the letter “A” moves
upwards.
Use the nose of a cartridge to push the plungerand rotate so that the letter “A” appears
uppermost (fig. 22).
Replace the firing pin spring and the firing
pin in the breech block (fig. 21); compress
the spring by working the firing pin and replace
the pin.
Replace the breech block in the slide, insertingthe rear part obliquely in the slide (fig. 19).
Exert pressure on the breech block so that the
firing pin spring is slightly compressed and the
breech block is swung downwards into its cor-rect position in the slide.
Insert the ribs of the cover in the correspond-
ing grooves in the receiver (fig. 18) and slide
the cover fully forward.
Replace the mechanism in the body, inserting
the ribs of the slide in the corresponding
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							grooves in the receiver.When this is done, the
breech block should be in its forward position
(fig. 17) and the muzzle of the rifle pointing
downwards; the mechanism will then fall into
position correctly.-Close the rifle, still holding the muzzle down-
wards, to prevent any possibility of the slide
rod protruding.
36 
						

							VII. CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE1. GENERAL REMARKSIt must be emphasized that all automatic weap-
ons require constant cleaning and maintenance
and that most of the stoppages mentioned else-
where are the result of the soldier’s negligence
or lack of knowledge of his weapon.All weapons,whether automatic or repeating rifles, should be
cleaned at the end of a day’s firing and special
core must be taken after firing with blank car-
tridges.2. MAINTENANCE OF THE RIFLE
a) Maintenance by the soldier
The FN Rifle cal. 7.62 mm only needs to be
partially stripped for this maintenance (field
stripping); maintenance routine is 
0s follows:-
-
-
-Use the barrel cleaning brush, oiled with the
special rifle bore oil provided, and pass throughthe barrel several times:
Follow this by pulling through two or three
dry rags;Clean the chamber with the cleaning brush
provided for this purpose;
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							Clean the slide, rear of the barrel and insidethe body;Clean the breech block, firing pin and its hous-
ing;Clean underneath the extractor claw, without
stripping it;
Remove the gas plug, the piston and its spring
and carefully clean these parts, as they are
exposed to gas fouling;
Clean the gas cylinder and wipe with a slight-
ly oiled rag;this rag should also be passed
through the barrel;
Very slightly oil the moving parts of the me-
chanism.Inspection and maintenance by the unit ar-
mowerIt is essential that the rifle should be examined
periodically by the armourer, who will check that
it is being properly cared for by the user.
All components of the rifle will then be checked
for correct functioning. When this examination
is made, the following special cleaning and inspec-tion operations will also be carried out:-
-
Cleaning the exhaust port in the gas cylinder;
-Stripping and cleaning the extractor;
’- Checking the gas setting;
-Checking the sight and correcting, if necessary.38 
						

							3. COMPLETE CLEANING OF BARREL AND GAS
CYLINDERThe barrel and gas cylinder must be cleaned
regularly so that they never get into such a state
that the use of abrasives is necessary; all abra-
sive material such as emery paper, sand, etc., is
always harmful.The full cleaning of barrel and gas cylinder
should be done unhurriedly, when circumstances
permit, 
0s follows:
Wash the barrel, using barrel brush, or sponge,steeped in special oil.
Wash the inside of the front part of the gas
cylinder and gas block, using the brush for
cleaning the chamber and the special oil.
After the barrel and gas cylinder have been
thoroughly cleaned in this way, dry carefully,
using clean rags.After drying, the 
rag-usually white service flannelette-should come
out of the barrel and gas cylinder unstained.
After drying, slightly oil the barrel (bore and
chamber) and the gas cylinder.Dry the outside of the barrel and polish with
a greasy rag.
The pieces of flannelette for this cleaning will
usually be cut to the tollowing measurements:
length approx. 120 mm, width approx. 60 mm
(about 
5” x2+“).For possing through the barrel, use an unfolded
piece, for cleaning the gas cylinder, double it over
to give a 
60x60 mm square before inserting in the
loop of the cleaning rod or pullthrough.
Rags or cotton waste can be used for cleaning
the remaining parts of the rifle.
39 
						

							Note: The inside of the barrel and inside of front
half of the gas cylinder come into direct contact
with the combustion gases and are also submitted
to friction;they consequently require more care
and attention. Other components are protected
against oxidising by phosphating (parts of the
mechanism and receiver) and the piston and gas
plug are hard chromed.Precaution after firingTo be on the safe side, particularly in hot cli-
mates, and to make subsequent cleaning of barrel
and gas cylinder easier, the user is strongly advisedto take the following preventive measure:
Immediately ofter firing, before leaving the
firing range or scene of manceuvres, clean barrel
and gas cylinder by wiping with a rag steeped in
special oil (Rifle bore oil).
This precaution has the effect 
of:-Neutralising the harmful effect of any fouling
caused by residue of powder gases;Preventing the formation of carbon deposits in
the gas cylinder ond gas block;
Allowing the usual cleaning operations to be
postponed for at least 24 hours, without
causing any damage.
Within 48 hours of carrying out this precaution,
the rifle should be completely cleaned as indicated
in paragraphs 2 and 3.
40 
						

							4. PREPAkATlON OF RIFLE BEFORE FIRINGThe L. A. R. functions with very little or 
proc-
ticolly no lubrication.
Before firing, wipe off any oil remaining on bar-
rel and gas cylinder surfaces; if the piston and
chromed part of the gas plug have been slightly
oiled, dry clean these 
too.The tabulation given below gives on one side
the list of parts which can be slightly oiled, on the
other the list of parts which require no oiling and
which, in some cases, can be adversely affected,
if oiled.
Components,or ports of components,
which 
wtll be very slightly oiled
Components,or parts of components, which
will not be oiled before firing
OILED
-Inside breech block slide.
- Breech block, ot lockingshoulders.
- Body, at bottom ond
olong guide grooves for
slide.
-Holding open device.LEFT DRY
- Barrel.
- Gos cylinder.
- Piston.i chromed- Gos Plug. ) ports
- Outer surface of slide.
- Front face of breech
block.
-Mogorine and plotform.
- Magazine catch
- Sights.
41