FN 7.62mm, manufactured by Fabrique Nationale

Having served in the South African Navy, through Basic Training, Gunnery Training and later as VIP Security we used the FN 7.62 Rifle.

Apparently it has now been replaced and most of these rifles, if not all, have been destroyed by the Military. This was one of the best photos i could find to remind me of those days, specifically this weapon.   





http://www.milsimempire.com/viewtopic.php?f=138&t=8995



"Those of you who have had occasion to carry its 9+lbs for any length of time may dispute the “light” designation, but next to its squad mate, the MAG machine gun, it is as thistledown in the breeze! During the cold war era, the FN rifle was without doubt the most popular and widely adopted battle rifle among all the non - Eastern bloc countries (with the exception of certain deviants - the U.S. Army rejected it in favour of the domestically designed M-14 rifle."

http://tybroughny.com/military/military.htm



http://cdn.wn.com/pd/b8/84/db8485c83648398f9b0a2fa125db_grande.jpg



7.62mm rounds and magazine



https://www.aimsurplus.com/handler/makethumbnail.ashx?product=mrwbfal.jpg&raw=1

During my search for images of this weapon, i came upon this historical reminder;

"The History of the 7.62mm FN-F.A.L. Rifle in South Africa

This history will, of necessity, be rather vague in some respects as the South African government has not, at this stage, seen fit to release or give access to the archives of Armscor, the state armaments procurement agency. This has stunted detailed research and is preventing the publishing of the full story. Any documentation which you, the reader, may have which would assist in filling in some of the gaps will be greatly appreciated.

Overview: Possibly as early as the very late 1950s negotiations were started with Fabrique Nationale of Liege, Belgium to produce a quantity of these rifles for the South African Defence Force. The first batch (or batches) of rifles arrived in the SA in 1960 or 1961 and were of the early M1 type (no flash-hider and standard gas plug). Later deliveries, presumably as a result of ‘lessons learnt’, were of the FAL type with 22mm grenade launcher flash-hider and gas plug, some being a unique variation of the folding stock ‘Para’ model as well as the FN-FALO or ‘Heavy Barrel FN’. All the FN made contract rifles procured for the SA Defence Force were identified, as was common practice at the time, with the purchasing nation’s coat-of-arms roll-stamped onto the right hand side of the magazine well. Additional smaller quantities of non- contract models were purchased by, and for, the SA Police and the SA Prisons.

At some time in the early 1960s an agreement was signed between FN and Armscor whereby the FAL would be produced, under licence, by LIW (Lyttleton Ingeneurswerke), an Armscor/Denel subsidiary located outside Pretoria. The SA produced version was officially named the ‘R1’ and the first rifle produced, serial numbered 000001, was presented to the then Prime Minister, Dr Hendrik Verwoerd, by Armscor and is now on view at the National Museum of Military History in Johannesburg. This rifle is atypical of regular R1 production as it boasts a wooden stock and leather sling and there is some evidence that it was not assembled from 100% SA manufactured components. No Para or heavy barrel versions were produced in South Africa.

A Long and Useful Life: The introduction of the ‘FN’ (as it was simply known in those days) into the South African Defence Force meant the phasing out of the .303 No4Mk1/2 rifles then in use. Starting with in the National Service training units, the rifles were issued as they became available but it was many years before all Commando units received their quota of the new rifles.

All arms of the Defence Force (Army, Air force, Navy and Medical Services) as well as the South African Police and Prisons Service welcomed the advent of the FN and it was to serve them through many busy years and on many fronts. It was the standard issue weapon of all infantry units at the start of the border wars and internal strife until replaced by the R4 (a locally manufactured version of the Israeli Galil 5.56mm assault rifle) in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. It excelled on the shooting range in local and international competition and won a very special place in the hearts of all servicemen who used it.

The End (or nearly so!): When the FN was finally declared obsolete by the SA Army in the late 1990s they were withdrawn from service and placed in war reserve until finally the vast majority of remaining stock (206,454 of various models to be exact) were destroyed in Operation Mouflon during 2001. Attempts to preserve a cross-section of these models for posterity were vigorously pursued but to no avail."

http://www.newrhodesian.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=48&start=30

What a great piece of history, especially for those men who spent time away from their families, doing National Service for their country.

For those who have carried the weapon many a mile, those who have felt it's weight on route marches and it's recoil at the shooting range, especially those who did it for the love of the country (South Africa), it then hurts to see how the "New Democracy" has "developed" and how the country is heading onto a path of selfdestruction.