FN CAL
«Carabine Automatique Légère»
Assault rifleBelgium1966Historic
FN's first 5.56×45 mm assault rifle — a commercially unsuccessful precursor to the later FNC but the technical forerunner of FN's modern line.
Assault rifle//Belgium
ID — FN-CAL
Designation
FN CAL
FN Herstal
Caliber
5.56×45 mm
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Data trust
- Reliability
- Unverified
- Sources
- Sources pending review
Identity
- Designation
- FN CAL
- Alias
- Carabine Automatique Légère
- Manufacturer
- FN Herstal
- Country
- Belgium
- Year
- 1966
- Category
- Assault rifle
- Status
- Historic
Ballistics
- Caliber
- 5.56×45 mm
- Muzzle velocity
- 970 m/s
- Rate of fire
- ~850 rpm
- Effective range
- 400 m
Dimensions
- Barrel length
- 467 mm
- Overall length
- 760 / 980 mm
- Empty weight
- 3.35 kg
Mechanics
- Operating system
- Gas-operated, long-stroke piston
- Bolt / action
- Otturatore rotante a 7 tenoni
Feed
- System
- Caricatore amovibile
- Standard capacity
- 20 rounds
Fire modes
SafeSemi-autoBurstAuto
Historical profile
Developed in the late 1960s as Belgium's answer to the emerging 5.56 NATO standard inspired by the U.S. M16.
It used a seven-lug rotating bolt instead of the FAL's tilting bolt, anticipating solutions that would become standard.
Expensive and limited in distribution, it was adopted only in small batches (Lebanon, Gabon) and withdrawn in 1975, replaced by the FNC the following decade.
Main users
Libano · Gabon
Key components
- ●Stock — Shoulder rest.
- ●Receiver — Weapon body with internal mechanisms.
- ●Grip — Primary grip.
- ●Magazine — Cartridge feed.
- ●Barrel — Guides the projectile.
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