Enterprise FAL receivers.

[Bucc]

Anyone have any experience with the?

I decided to do an FAL build and would be interested in hearing from anyone who has done business with Enterprise.

Thanks in advance.

[Lon Moer]

They are a Vendor here and have their own Forum in the Vendors area.

[Bucc]

Shows how smart I am doesn't it?
I hadn't seen them here.
Thanks Lon.

[REDHORSE]

Pre-2000 I had them fix my Imbel FAL, the head spacing was too tight. Runs like a champ, after I had their gun-smith Lawrence (doesn't work there anymore) fix it. This was before I knew anything about FALs.

They've cut down and threaded a couple FAL barrels for me.

When I got addicted to building FALs, I built several on Entreprise receivers. They went together basically without any major hick-ups.

I may have had to use my FAL barrel shoulder shaving tool to shave a few 0.00X off the barrel shoulders, to properly time the barrels. Used a few locking shoulders larger than your typical LS, than if you had built them on a DSA or Imbel receivers.

Top: Entreprise G1 Type 1 custom receiver (with German markings and cuts for stripper clip cover), built with a German G1 parts kit. I've since reparkerized the lower to better match the upper. Bottom: Entreprise STG-58C Type 3 built with an Imbel parts kit.

[thedrickel]

Buy a DSA. Dealer price is $350.

[C.G.]

This is a more appropriate place to find info and ask questions for Fal:

http://www.falfiles.com/forums/index.php

[chuck762]

Hopefully they ahve improved their quality control on the newer receivers. I have a couple made before 2000 and I would consider them an 80% receiver as both required machine work (not just fitting) to assemble. I have a third that went together with only minor fitting but the mag well is oversize and the mags flop from side to side.
Some of the problems with the ones that needed a lot of work were receiver #1: charging handle lug slot was way undersize (had to mill to correct size), the bolt catch hole was undersize, the locking shoulder hole was oversize (had to buy a larger series shoulder to correct), bolt carrier slots undersize. Receiver #2: the front of the receiver where the barrel shoulder seats was cut at an angle. I machined it square with the threads and had to make a british style breeching washer for it, undersize bolt hold open hole, mag catch bolt hole threads rough enough to require cleaning up.

Being they were bought as stripped receivers and registered exchanging them was out of the question so I made them workable myself. If the newer ones are better like i have seen in a couple of reviews then they should be ok.

[jimx]

There was a resent thread discussing Enterprise

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=83572

I am not a fan. Some of the pros are local CA company, Cheaper than DSA. Good customer service, they need it You can read the above thread for some of the cons.

One of the selling points Enterprise brings up is that one of the gun smiths, Arizona Response Systems, which would not work on their guns, has started accepting them. The review that ARS did on the two receivers that Enterprise sent them can be found at

http://www.arizonaresponsesystems.com/notes/falent3/pagefalent3.htm

[FlyingPen]

What's the positive of FAL? They seem to use pretty expensive 308 ammo... how accurate is a FAL?

[chuck762]

What's the positive of FAL? They seem to use pretty expensive 308 ammo... how accurate is a FAL?

No more accurate than any other .308 battle rifle. With the fixed mag you get to keep the pistol grip and a stripper clip dust cover makes them easy to load. Next to a M1A they are one of the least affected by the ban 308 rifles.
Parts are cheap and easy to aquire, reliable and easy to maintian.
Any firearm these days is expensive to shoot (excluding the .22lr) but a lot of people stocked up on surplus ammo or shoot the cheapest .308 ammo in them.

[dwtt]

Buy a DSA. Dealer price is $350.

I second this advice. I got a DSA and all the cuts are straight and well made.

[Bucc]

What's the positive of FAL? They seem to use pretty expensive 308 ammo... how accurate is a FAL?

Positives;

.308 stopping power. I like turning cover into concealment.
Insane durability in harsh environments.
Serviceable accuracy even at distance.
Parts availability everywhere. Not just some cheap commercial crap from Freds garage machine shop or Uncle Chins factory either. Real mil surp. goods and mostly cheap though getting higher like everything else.
Adjustable gas system so you can use just about any available ammo as opposed to say an M1A that will bend an op rod on 170 gr. commercial ammo.
Cheap, plentiful mags. if you have a place out of state to keep them or like me already had some from a previous rifle.
If not and you fix the mag with the right top cover you can use stripper clips.
AR can't do that and if you haven't already got pre-ban regular cap. AR mags what's the point?
If worse came to worse you can hang a bayonet off it and spear the goblins with confidence if you run dry or break( they rarely break) and I was always leery of using a letter opener on an AR.

Negatives;
They are heavy.
They use expensive ammo.
They are expensive compared to an AR or especially and AK in general.


I was gonna get a PTR-91 but wanted to get my hands dirty so to speak and put it together myself at least to some extent and the CETME parts seem to be in much shorter supply. Also I'm partial to machined or cast steel receivers rather than bent sheet metal or aluminum.
Somewhere down the road there may be no gunsmiths around and I might be glad I familiarized myself with and stocked parts for what I feel is going to be the last semi auto battle rifle I'll buy.

The final word for me is I just think they are great rifles over all.
I feel like I am holding onto a rifle and not a squirt gun when I'm in charge of one.

Thanks by the way for all the responses folks.
I found a swinging deal on a DSA receiver and by happenstance as I was doing to paperwork at Bright Spot Pawn in Riverside today (great people there) I was shown another identical type II at a decent enough price that I threw down and did the deed for that one too.


YOU GUYS ARE A REALLY BAD INFLUENCE AND MY WIFE IS FURIOUS WITH YOU ALL!

[-hanko]

Positives;

.308 stopping power. I like turning cover into concealment.
Insane durability in harsh environments.
Serviceable accuracy even at distance.
Parts availability everywhere. Not just some cheap commercial crap from Freds garage machine shop or Uncle Chins factory either. Real mil surp. goods and mostly cheap though getting higher like everything else.
Adjustable gas system so you can use just about any available ammo as opposed to say an M1A that will bend an op rod on 170 gr. commercial ammo.
Cheap, plentiful mags. if you have a place out of state to keep them or like me already had some from a previous rifle.
If not and you fix the mag with the right top cover you can use stripper clips.
AR can't do that and if you haven't already got pre-ban regular cap. AR mags what's the point?
If worse came to worse you can hang a bayonet off it and spear the goblins with confidence if you run dry or break( they rarely break) and I was always leery of using a letter opener on an AR.

Negatives;
They are heavy.
They use expensive ammo.
They are expensive compared to an AR or especially and AK in general.

YOU GUYS ARE A REALLY BAD INFLUENCE AND MY WIFE IS FURIOUS WITH YOU ALL!

Further plus's...
Fielded by at least 90 armies.
Much better ergonomics than an hk/ptr
If you reload, kinder to brass than an hk/ptr
A real battle rifle that shoots big bullets a long way.
Very rarely described as tactical
You won't see a dozen duplicates of your fal on every visit to the range
The FAL files is a wonderful, mature, and ultra-supportive forum for anything related to FAL's.

Further negatives...
Assembly, while not the LEGO AR quickie build process, is still not has difficult as an AR or HK clone.
Prices are on a quick rise for both receivers and parts kits; get 'em while you can.
FAL addiction is way beyond being hooked on oll's...Bucc, if you think one is enough

-hanko

[Bucc]

Who said one is enough?
I bought two!

[duenor]

I didn't see this thread earlier because I was busy running around at SHOT.
I own quite a few EAI rifles, all of which function very well. The ones that I had built at our factory have perfect fit and finish; the ones that were homebuilt by folks in their garage are a bit rougher. Unsurprisingly, the factory smiths are intimately familiar with our own receivers, and so have an advantage over the homebuilder. Some of these receiver traits are discussed at ARS's website. We will support our end users; if you are having trouble working on a particular receiver, let us know. We may know a trick or two not on the books.

Besides ARS's recent reversal of his own previous, decade-old vehement condemnation of EAI receivers (sparked in no small part due to an unfortunate flame war years ago), I spoke to a Master Corporal, Armorer yesterday at SHOT who had been sent from the Canadian military. I specifically asked him to look over our rifles and what he thought of them. As you might know, the Canadians fielded the C-1 FAL many years ago, and he had an intimate knowledge of all things FAL. He felt that our having swapped out perfectly good military IMBEL parts for US aftermarket 922R parts was rather silly, but otherwise deemed the rifles good.

But rather than continue offering anecedotal evidence (and that, really is what all of this is).. how about this: I invite you, personally, to come shoot my own personal CA-FAL. Although it is my own personal gun, I purchased it long before I ever started working for EAI, so there was no special attention paid to it (not that Ive ever had any) if anyone wonders.

Just a plain jane standard IMBEL built FAL. I'm in Los Angeles and can meet you at Angeles, Burro, or DM on most weekends. Or, come by our factory showroom in Baldwin Park.

As for FAL traits:
The FAL is battle-accurate. It is not a tack driver. Its priority was to kill the enemy at 300 meters with a single shot.
The FAL is incredibly adaptive. Its gas regulator system makes it much more advanced than either the M1A or the AR15 (I own those two, and they have their advantages as well... but not in this regard). This means that the FAL can shoot ANY kind of chambered ammo, regardless of powder charge - ranging from minimally downloaded practice rounds to full-house knockdown rounds to rifle grenades.
Parts are cheap and easy to maintain, and take an obscene amount of abuse including freezing temperatures, stifling heat, physical damage, rust, and neglected lubrication. Look on the internet for Rhodesian soliders and you will invariably see a guy carrying about a FAL literally red with rust.
The unique FAL chamber significantly increases FAL chamber reliability.
The FAL was based off of Saive's FN-49, which had a fixed 10 round magazine and was top-fed via stripper clips. Unsurprisingly, then, the FAL is easily converted to CA legal status. The magazine is fixed by simply installing a non-releasable magazine catch in place of the standard catch, and the top cover is relieved. Indeed, the Canadian C1 had a stripper clip top cover for precisely that purpose.