Vegas SMG
UZI Talk Life Member,
FNC; Belgium's Compact Carbine
by Peter G. Kokalis
MATURITY of a system - as I've said before - usually determines its reliability. And if there's a senior system for cranking out the tools of war, it's in Liege.
Liege, an old French-speaking city in eastern Belgium, has been selling weapons to foreign belligerents since the Middle Ages. In 1889 a group of Liege armsmakers formed a syndicate called Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre (National Manufactory of Weapons of War). They immediately entered into a contract to supply the Belgian government with 150,000 Model 1889 Mauser rifles. They've been busy plying their trade ever since. True to their calling, these unbiased merchants have often supplied weapons and/or designs to opposing sides. A most recent example was the Falklands fracas: Brits and Argies merrily blew each other away with FN's Browning Hi-Power pistols, FN FAL rifles and MAG 58 GPMGs.
In 1963 FN began development of a 5.56x45mm rifle in anticipation of that caliber's adoption by most NATO countries. The rifle was introduced in 1966 as the FN CAL (Carabine Automatique Legere, or Light Automatic Carbine).
It was gas operated in the manner of the FAL. A unique double-interrupted thread on the bolt head locked behind a similar thread on the barrel extension when the bolt was rotated. The recoil spring was wrapped around the short-stroke piston to permit any type of butt configuration. The trigger mechanism, patterned after that of the M1 Garand, provided both full-automatic fire and a three-shot burst control. Upper and lower receivers, as well as the forearm, were sheet-metal pressings and there was a hold-open device. The bolt, carrier and piston were machined from steel bar-stock. Screw-threaded to the upper receiver, the barrel was held in place by a lock nut dropped down from the muzzle and threaded onto a cone on the front of the receiver.
All in all, the FN CAL was a very smart-looking piece. It reeked quality. It had the FN FAL mystique. And it was a dismal failure. During trials conducted in France between 1971 and 1974, the CAL's deficiencies erupted. Expensive to manufacture, difficult to disassemble and properly maintain, the CAL's life expectancy in simulated combat proved all too short. The project was abandoned, and a small quantity of semiautomatic-only samples were sold in the United States.
Within two years, FN designers patched together another effort, called the FNC (Fabrique Nationale Carabine), just in time to enter the Swedish arms tests in 1976. This time around, FN stressed simplicity and reliability. And what better to emulate for these attributes than the works of Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov? The result is much easier to disassemble and maintain, usually reliable and far less expensive to fabricate. Some have suggested that FN's goal was to design a rifle that could be easily produced by Third World countries under the usual license-to-manufacture agreement. Nonsense. FNC's cost effectiveness has been achieved through extensive use of investment castings, CNC (computer numerical control) machinery, robot welding and hammer-forged barrels. Making an FNC takes 421 machine and 98 manual operations. None of this equipment - or the technology required to employ it - is available to any Third World country on this planet. Furthermore, FN and Colt have been burnt badly in recent years by license-to-manufacture agreements with producers in the Far East who have badly abused their relationship.
Most of its components are finished with semigloss black baked enamel. This excellent rust-resistant surface works well in tropical climates and it also masks minor blemishes.
The gas-operated FNC fires from a closed bolt. Mounted above the barrel, the gas cylinder has six ports 1.5 inches behind the barrel's gas vent. At the end of that short stroke, all gases escape the cylinder when the piston head passes those exhaust ports. A handle welded to the rear of the gas cylinder rotates the cylinder, opening and closing a small port in the gas block. When the adjustment handle is rotated to the left, this gas block port is exposed and a small amount of the propellant gases escape before the piston begins its rearward travel. This is the "normal" operating position. Under adverse conditions, the gas cylinder can be rotated to the right which covers the gas block port and re-directs this extra volume of gas onto the piston face: a nice feature but seldom required in this caliber.
Provision for launching grenades with ballistite (blank) ammunition is provided in the form of a sheet-metal, flip-up, combination grenade sight/gas valve called the alidade. The alidade is mounted to the gas block/front sight assembly. When pivoted up to the vertical position the alidade axis turns to close the gas vent. Then all gases propel the grenade. (Of course, when all propellant gases bypass the gas system, the weapon does not cycle and the bolt must be retracted manually.) Once this sheet-metal switch is pulled upright, it acts as a crude V-notch sight which must be aligned with the nose of the rifle grenade and the target.
The piston head is welded to a hollow extension which contains the front portion of the recoil spring and guide rod assembly. The piston extension is pinched in the center and pierced by a hole which retains a roll-pin on the end of the guide rod. The piston head and extension, as well as the gas port block, barrel bore and chamber, are hard-chrome plated by an automated process developed by FN. A sheet-metal backplate is attached to the rear of the guide rod. Three robot welds have been used to mount the bolt carrier to the piston extension.
Another roll-pin holds the firing pin in place on the bolt carrier and a 3-inch firing-pin spring fits tightly over the pin itself. Patterned after the Kalashnikov system, the rotary bolt has two locking lugs which run in guide rails welded onto the upper receiver walls and the feed lug on the bottom of the bolt head drives the magazine's top round into the chamber. Rotary movement is begun and primary extraction is provided by a small lug on top of the bolt head.
A double roll-pin retains the extractor to the bolt head. I don't like this feature. Extractors take a lot of stress in selective-fire weapons. They break - usually when no armorer is present. The operator should be able to replace this component himself, without special tools. FN has now corrected this problem by changing the extractor attachment to a single roll-pin. This allows freer extractor movement and easier repair.
A stud on the bolt body moves in the carrier's cam track and rotates the bolt into the locked and unlocked positions. The retracting handle fits in a hole on the right side of the bolt carrier. It has a thin stem, and it appears to me that several kicks with the heel of a combat boot would bend it. Canted slightly upward, it can be retracted with the left hand, but not quite as conveniently as that of the Galil.
A fixed ejector is riveted to the upper receiver above the rear of the magazine well and it puts one hell of a dent in the empty case (of no consequence to military users). Marked with the weapon's serial number, the upper receiver body is of robot welded, sheet-metal construction. An ejection port and retracting handle slot are cut into the right side and a peculiar six-component dust cover is mounted over the rear portion of the cocking handle's slot. Spring-loaded, it remains closed at all times. In my opinion, its primary function is to mesmerize observers, as it continuously oscillates open and closed in a strange elliptical pattern during burst-fire sequences. Ejecting cases frequently spring back to scuff the dust cover and receive a second dent.
The upper receiver is also welded to the barrel extension block. In turn the barrel is threaded to the extension and held in place by a heavy lock nut. Two barrel lengths are available: 19.1 and 15.8 inches (including the flash suppressor). Hammer forged, with six grooves, right-hand twists of either 1:12 or 1:7 can be ordered. Twelve ports arranged in four rows of three surround the barrel's muzzle device. Tapped at an angle to the bore's axis, these ports throw gas forward to propel rifle grenades and also to slightly moderate muzzle climb. The FNC's effective flash eliminator (taken directly from the FN FAL series) accepts the current hollow-handle FAL bayonet. A blank-firing adapter is available as well as an optional lug attachment to take the U.S. M7 bayonet. Rotating a full 360 degrees, the front sling swivel is attached to the barrel by two snap rings.
Annular ribs around the barrel in back of the sling swivel are used to attach a lightweight cast-aluminum bipod. Nonadjustable, the bipod offers a command height of 11 inches. It's sturdy and quite superior to the flimsy bipod supplied with the M16-series rifles. However, it costs $78.43 and cannot be folded against the handguards.
Ergonomically pleasing handguards effectively dissipate heat radiating from the barrel during burst-fire sequences. A sheet-metal ventilated heat shield is riveted to each plastic handguard with six brass nails. A large rib, molded into the front end of the plastic handguard, prevents the support hand from sliding onto the heat shield. That's neat. But removing these handguards is only slightly less irritating than disassembling those on the M16A1. Since they are retained in the rear by a sheet-metal barrel collar, you are supposed to force the handguards' front retaining clip out of its notches with your thumb. You'd do better to keep a knife blade or screwdriver handy for this purpose.
Protective ears for the front sight have been machined into the gas block assembly. They contain a conventional round front sight post which can be adjusted for elevation zero with the same tool used for this purpose on the M249 SAW (FN Minimi). The rear sight assembly has been welded to the end of the upper receiver body. Inside its protective ears is a flip-type sight with two apertures marked 400 and 250 meters, respectively. It can be adjusted for windage zero, but only by means of a special tool or pair of pliers. I don't like that. I suppose people who think soldiers are too stupid to zero their own rifles will.
A notch on top of the barrel extension block and a fork in front of the rear sight accommodate a scope mount of rather unusual design. The mount, which costs $101.96, will accept optics configured to NATO specifications, such as the FN 4x28mm scope (suggested retail price is $638.92, actually manufactured by the now-defunct Hensoldt company). This superb piece of glass carries a reticle used by the German military ever since World War I. Although never popular in the United States, the single, thick, pointed post at the bottom of the field of view with horizontal side bars and stadia lines excels in subdued light and permits faster target acquisition than standard crosshairs. A special Steyr-manufactured NATO-type rail can be substituted with SSG rings so that almost any scope you desire can be mounted.
The lower receiver body is milled from aluminum alloy stock by computer numerical control (CNC) machinery. Slab-sided and ugly, there are machine marks all over its exterior surface that no thickness of paint can hide.
Its magazine well is neither flared nor beveled. That's bad. FN engineers have obviously never inserted a magazine under stress. Located on the right side, the magazine catch release button is under heavy spring pressure, but can be manipulated with the trigger finger. The catch system is similar to the M16's.
Constructed entirely of steel, the FNC 30-rd. magazine is sturdy and reliable - far more reliable than the M16 magazine. Since the FNC does not feature a hold-open device, these magazines - although they can be used in the M16 series - will not hold back the M16's bolt after the last round has been fired. When the bolt flies forward into battery after the final round has been fired, the feed lug on its underside strikes the magazine follower, gouging its soft sheet-metal surface. Also disconcerting is the magazine's floorplate which can be pivoted inward about an inch, along with any amount of sand and/or debris you might want to pour into the magazine. Both 20- and 30-rd. M16 magazines can be used in the FNC. Thirty- and 45-rd. Thermold plastic magazines, as adopted by the Canadian Armed Forces, will also function in the FNC, although they will not fall freely away when released. Those of us accustomed to buying cheap, used M16 magazines at local gun shows will wince at the $37.65 charge for spare FNC magazines, but you can never own too many magazines.
The trigger mechanism remains the same as the old CAL. There are two spring-loaded sears - the rear sear is secondary. An auto safety sear in front holds the hammer at all times until locking has been completed. Pulling the trigger releases the hammer to fire a round. In semiautomatic fire the recoiling boh carrier is held back by the secondary sear. When the trigger is released, both sears move with it and the hammer is once more caught by the auto safty sear. Placing the selector lever on automatic locks the secondary sear so that it becomes inoperative. Each time the bolt carrier goes into battery the auto safety sear releases the hammer. The cycle continues until the trigger is released and the hammer is once more captured by the primary sear. Cyclic rate in fuh-automatic fire is 625-700 rpm.
A removable three-shot burst mechanism is fitted inside the lower receiver. A three-tooth ratchet on this mechanism contacts a spring-loaded pawl on the hammer axis. When the selector lever is set to '3,' the secondary sear is retained by the rear of the ratchet device. The ratchet rotates with each round in the burst and after the third it slips off the secondary sear which moves forward to hold back the hammer. Unlike the mechanism on the M16A2, any interruption in the burst cycle will still result in another three-shot burst because the mechanism resets itseff each time the trigger is released. Each three-shot burst lasts only two-tenths of a second, enhancing hit probability significantly.
Semiautomatic-only versions of the FNC are distributed as "police models" throughout the world. Those imported to the U.S. are marked, "CAL. 223 REM. SPORTER," since the 1968 Gun Control Act prohibits the importation of military small arms (the recently passed Dole amendment applies only to firearms manufactured before 1946). In addition to the deletion of the full-auto and three-shot burst modes and their respective selector markings, FNCs brought into the U.S. have other modifications to the trigger mechanism (including the absence of the auto safety sear) to inhibit their conversion to selective fire. In all other regards they are unaltered; for instance, these "sporters" can launch grenades.
by Peter G. Kokalis
MATURITY of a system - as I've said before - usually determines its reliability. And if there's a senior system for cranking out the tools of war, it's in Liege.
Liege, an old French-speaking city in eastern Belgium, has been selling weapons to foreign belligerents since the Middle Ages. In 1889 a group of Liege armsmakers formed a syndicate called Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre (National Manufactory of Weapons of War). They immediately entered into a contract to supply the Belgian government with 150,000 Model 1889 Mauser rifles. They've been busy plying their trade ever since. True to their calling, these unbiased merchants have often supplied weapons and/or designs to opposing sides. A most recent example was the Falklands fracas: Brits and Argies merrily blew each other away with FN's Browning Hi-Power pistols, FN FAL rifles and MAG 58 GPMGs.
In 1963 FN began development of a 5.56x45mm rifle in anticipation of that caliber's adoption by most NATO countries. The rifle was introduced in 1966 as the FN CAL (Carabine Automatique Legere, or Light Automatic Carbine).
It was gas operated in the manner of the FAL. A unique double-interrupted thread on the bolt head locked behind a similar thread on the barrel extension when the bolt was rotated. The recoil spring was wrapped around the short-stroke piston to permit any type of butt configuration. The trigger mechanism, patterned after that of the M1 Garand, provided both full-automatic fire and a three-shot burst control. Upper and lower receivers, as well as the forearm, were sheet-metal pressings and there was a hold-open device. The bolt, carrier and piston were machined from steel bar-stock. Screw-threaded to the upper receiver, the barrel was held in place by a lock nut dropped down from the muzzle and threaded onto a cone on the front of the receiver.
All in all, the FN CAL was a very smart-looking piece. It reeked quality. It had the FN FAL mystique. And it was a dismal failure. During trials conducted in France between 1971 and 1974, the CAL's deficiencies erupted. Expensive to manufacture, difficult to disassemble and properly maintain, the CAL's life expectancy in simulated combat proved all too short. The project was abandoned, and a small quantity of semiautomatic-only samples were sold in the United States.
Within two years, FN designers patched together another effort, called the FNC (Fabrique Nationale Carabine), just in time to enter the Swedish arms tests in 1976. This time around, FN stressed simplicity and reliability. And what better to emulate for these attributes than the works of Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov? The result is much easier to disassemble and maintain, usually reliable and far less expensive to fabricate. Some have suggested that FN's goal was to design a rifle that could be easily produced by Third World countries under the usual license-to-manufacture agreement. Nonsense. FNC's cost effectiveness has been achieved through extensive use of investment castings, CNC (computer numerical control) machinery, robot welding and hammer-forged barrels. Making an FNC takes 421 machine and 98 manual operations. None of this equipment - or the technology required to employ it - is available to any Third World country on this planet. Furthermore, FN and Colt have been burnt badly in recent years by license-to-manufacture agreements with producers in the Far East who have badly abused their relationship.
Most of its components are finished with semigloss black baked enamel. This excellent rust-resistant surface works well in tropical climates and it also masks minor blemishes.
The gas-operated FNC fires from a closed bolt. Mounted above the barrel, the gas cylinder has six ports 1.5 inches behind the barrel's gas vent. At the end of that short stroke, all gases escape the cylinder when the piston head passes those exhaust ports. A handle welded to the rear of the gas cylinder rotates the cylinder, opening and closing a small port in the gas block. When the adjustment handle is rotated to the left, this gas block port is exposed and a small amount of the propellant gases escape before the piston begins its rearward travel. This is the "normal" operating position. Under adverse conditions, the gas cylinder can be rotated to the right which covers the gas block port and re-directs this extra volume of gas onto the piston face: a nice feature but seldom required in this caliber.
Provision for launching grenades with ballistite (blank) ammunition is provided in the form of a sheet-metal, flip-up, combination grenade sight/gas valve called the alidade. The alidade is mounted to the gas block/front sight assembly. When pivoted up to the vertical position the alidade axis turns to close the gas vent. Then all gases propel the grenade. (Of course, when all propellant gases bypass the gas system, the weapon does not cycle and the bolt must be retracted manually.) Once this sheet-metal switch is pulled upright, it acts as a crude V-notch sight which must be aligned with the nose of the rifle grenade and the target.
The piston head is welded to a hollow extension which contains the front portion of the recoil spring and guide rod assembly. The piston extension is pinched in the center and pierced by a hole which retains a roll-pin on the end of the guide rod. The piston head and extension, as well as the gas port block, barrel bore and chamber, are hard-chrome plated by an automated process developed by FN. A sheet-metal backplate is attached to the rear of the guide rod. Three robot welds have been used to mount the bolt carrier to the piston extension.
Another roll-pin holds the firing pin in place on the bolt carrier and a 3-inch firing-pin spring fits tightly over the pin itself. Patterned after the Kalashnikov system, the rotary bolt has two locking lugs which run in guide rails welded onto the upper receiver walls and the feed lug on the bottom of the bolt head drives the magazine's top round into the chamber. Rotary movement is begun and primary extraction is provided by a small lug on top of the bolt head.
A double roll-pin retains the extractor to the bolt head. I don't like this feature. Extractors take a lot of stress in selective-fire weapons. They break - usually when no armorer is present. The operator should be able to replace this component himself, without special tools. FN has now corrected this problem by changing the extractor attachment to a single roll-pin. This allows freer extractor movement and easier repair.
A stud on the bolt body moves in the carrier's cam track and rotates the bolt into the locked and unlocked positions. The retracting handle fits in a hole on the right side of the bolt carrier. It has a thin stem, and it appears to me that several kicks with the heel of a combat boot would bend it. Canted slightly upward, it can be retracted with the left hand, but not quite as conveniently as that of the Galil.
A fixed ejector is riveted to the upper receiver above the rear of the magazine well and it puts one hell of a dent in the empty case (of no consequence to military users). Marked with the weapon's serial number, the upper receiver body is of robot welded, sheet-metal construction. An ejection port and retracting handle slot are cut into the right side and a peculiar six-component dust cover is mounted over the rear portion of the cocking handle's slot. Spring-loaded, it remains closed at all times. In my opinion, its primary function is to mesmerize observers, as it continuously oscillates open and closed in a strange elliptical pattern during burst-fire sequences. Ejecting cases frequently spring back to scuff the dust cover and receive a second dent.
The upper receiver is also welded to the barrel extension block. In turn the barrel is threaded to the extension and held in place by a heavy lock nut. Two barrel lengths are available: 19.1 and 15.8 inches (including the flash suppressor). Hammer forged, with six grooves, right-hand twists of either 1:12 or 1:7 can be ordered. Twelve ports arranged in four rows of three surround the barrel's muzzle device. Tapped at an angle to the bore's axis, these ports throw gas forward to propel rifle grenades and also to slightly moderate muzzle climb. The FNC's effective flash eliminator (taken directly from the FN FAL series) accepts the current hollow-handle FAL bayonet. A blank-firing adapter is available as well as an optional lug attachment to take the U.S. M7 bayonet. Rotating a full 360 degrees, the front sling swivel is attached to the barrel by two snap rings.
Annular ribs around the barrel in back of the sling swivel are used to attach a lightweight cast-aluminum bipod. Nonadjustable, the bipod offers a command height of 11 inches. It's sturdy and quite superior to the flimsy bipod supplied with the M16-series rifles. However, it costs $78.43 and cannot be folded against the handguards.
Ergonomically pleasing handguards effectively dissipate heat radiating from the barrel during burst-fire sequences. A sheet-metal ventilated heat shield is riveted to each plastic handguard with six brass nails. A large rib, molded into the front end of the plastic handguard, prevents the support hand from sliding onto the heat shield. That's neat. But removing these handguards is only slightly less irritating than disassembling those on the M16A1. Since they are retained in the rear by a sheet-metal barrel collar, you are supposed to force the handguards' front retaining clip out of its notches with your thumb. You'd do better to keep a knife blade or screwdriver handy for this purpose.
Protective ears for the front sight have been machined into the gas block assembly. They contain a conventional round front sight post which can be adjusted for elevation zero with the same tool used for this purpose on the M249 SAW (FN Minimi). The rear sight assembly has been welded to the end of the upper receiver body. Inside its protective ears is a flip-type sight with two apertures marked 400 and 250 meters, respectively. It can be adjusted for windage zero, but only by means of a special tool or pair of pliers. I don't like that. I suppose people who think soldiers are too stupid to zero their own rifles will.
A notch on top of the barrel extension block and a fork in front of the rear sight accommodate a scope mount of rather unusual design. The mount, which costs $101.96, will accept optics configured to NATO specifications, such as the FN 4x28mm scope (suggested retail price is $638.92, actually manufactured by the now-defunct Hensoldt company). This superb piece of glass carries a reticle used by the German military ever since World War I. Although never popular in the United States, the single, thick, pointed post at the bottom of the field of view with horizontal side bars and stadia lines excels in subdued light and permits faster target acquisition than standard crosshairs. A special Steyr-manufactured NATO-type rail can be substituted with SSG rings so that almost any scope you desire can be mounted.
The lower receiver body is milled from aluminum alloy stock by computer numerical control (CNC) machinery. Slab-sided and ugly, there are machine marks all over its exterior surface that no thickness of paint can hide.
Its magazine well is neither flared nor beveled. That's bad. FN engineers have obviously never inserted a magazine under stress. Located on the right side, the magazine catch release button is under heavy spring pressure, but can be manipulated with the trigger finger. The catch system is similar to the M16's.
Constructed entirely of steel, the FNC 30-rd. magazine is sturdy and reliable - far more reliable than the M16 magazine. Since the FNC does not feature a hold-open device, these magazines - although they can be used in the M16 series - will not hold back the M16's bolt after the last round has been fired. When the bolt flies forward into battery after the final round has been fired, the feed lug on its underside strikes the magazine follower, gouging its soft sheet-metal surface. Also disconcerting is the magazine's floorplate which can be pivoted inward about an inch, along with any amount of sand and/or debris you might want to pour into the magazine. Both 20- and 30-rd. M16 magazines can be used in the FNC. Thirty- and 45-rd. Thermold plastic magazines, as adopted by the Canadian Armed Forces, will also function in the FNC, although they will not fall freely away when released. Those of us accustomed to buying cheap, used M16 magazines at local gun shows will wince at the $37.65 charge for spare FNC magazines, but you can never own too many magazines.
The trigger mechanism remains the same as the old CAL. There are two spring-loaded sears - the rear sear is secondary. An auto safety sear in front holds the hammer at all times until locking has been completed. Pulling the trigger releases the hammer to fire a round. In semiautomatic fire the recoiling boh carrier is held back by the secondary sear. When the trigger is released, both sears move with it and the hammer is once more caught by the auto safty sear. Placing the selector lever on automatic locks the secondary sear so that it becomes inoperative. Each time the bolt carrier goes into battery the auto safety sear releases the hammer. The cycle continues until the trigger is released and the hammer is once more captured by the primary sear. Cyclic rate in fuh-automatic fire is 625-700 rpm.
A removable three-shot burst mechanism is fitted inside the lower receiver. A three-tooth ratchet on this mechanism contacts a spring-loaded pawl on the hammer axis. When the selector lever is set to '3,' the secondary sear is retained by the rear of the ratchet device. The ratchet rotates with each round in the burst and after the third it slips off the secondary sear which moves forward to hold back the hammer. Unlike the mechanism on the M16A2, any interruption in the burst cycle will still result in another three-shot burst because the mechanism resets itseff each time the trigger is released. Each three-shot burst lasts only two-tenths of a second, enhancing hit probability significantly.
Semiautomatic-only versions of the FNC are distributed as "police models" throughout the world. Those imported to the U.S. are marked, "CAL. 223 REM. SPORTER," since the 1968 Gun Control Act prohibits the importation of military small arms (the recently passed Dole amendment applies only to firearms manufactured before 1946). In addition to the deletion of the full-auto and three-shot burst modes and their respective selector markings, FNCs brought into the U.S. have other modifications to the trigger mechanism (including the absence of the auto safety sear) to inhibit their conversion to selective fire. In all other regards they are unaltered; for instance, these "sporters" can launch grenades.