FN FAL Country Belgium Type Automatic Rifle Manufacturer Dieudonne Saive Introduction 1953 Specifications Weight 4.0-4.45 kg (8.8-9.8 lb) Length 1,090 mm (43 in) Barrel length 533 mm (21 in) Cartridge 7.62x51mm NATO Action Gas-operated, tilting breechblock Rate of fire 650 rounds/min Muzzle velocity 823 m/s (2,700 ft/s) Effective range 500 meters Feed system 20 or 30-round detachable box magazine Sights Aperture rear sight, hooded post front sight

The Fusil Automatique Léger (Light Automatic Rifle) or FAL is a 7.62x51 NATO self-loading, selective fire rifle produced by the Belgian armaments manufacturer Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FN) during the Cold War, and adopted by many North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries. It has also been adopted by many other nations for their armed forces and has proven to be a popular civilian rifle for hunting and sport shooting. The FN FAL was also produced under license in many of the adopting countries.

In 1947, the first FN FAL prototype was completed. It was designed to fire the intermediate 7.92x33mm Kurz cartridge developed and used by the forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. US Army officials suggested that FN should redesign their rifle to fire the US prototype .30 Light Rifle cartridge. FN opted to do so. As a result of this modification and the subsequent adoption by many NATO countries, FN created what is possibly the classic post-war battle rifle.

Despite using a full-power .30 cartridge, the FAL\'s recoil is relatively light. This is due mainly to the rifle\'s weight, but also to its gas-operated design. In fully-automatic mode, however, the shooter receives considerable abuse from recoil, and the weapon climbs off-target quickly. Most military forces adopting the FAL eventually eliminated full-automatic firearms training in the light-barrel FAL.

While no production numbers are known, it is estimated that FAL production (in all of its variants) has exceeded 1,000,000 units.