On a recent deer hunt I ended up with more friends coming than I had hunting rifles. I decided to so if I could set my Fal up to use for hunting. The first problem to tackle was the need for a five round mag and getting one ordered in 2 days was not going to happen. I brought up a picture of a 5 rounder on the Internet and measured it with calipers. Measuring across the top on one of my mags, I found the difference and did the math to get the height needed. Drawing a couple of tabs on the sides and one on the back to hold the floor plate. I then used a dremel with cutting wheels to cut the mag down. Beginning the bends on the tabs was done with pliers. Then I guessed on the spring and cut a little over half off and re shaped the end to a similar fashion of the original. Putting it all back to gather I finished bending the floor plate tabs with a hammer. Bingo a cheep five round mag. Next I grabbed a dust cover with a rail that I had and a Burris scope off my 22. Reloaded some rounds an ran to the shooting range. A few rounds latter she was sighted in and printing about 2 inch groups. No functioning problems with the mag ether. The friend I lent the Fal to is a younger guy just back from the desert where he carried a SAW so the feel and weight of the Fal was natural to him. Once he got the Idea we were not patrolling for AL-Qaeda he relaxed and had a great time. Every one filled a tag on the hunt. By the way unless you like big holes don't use the nossler ballistic green tips.
Deer with a Fal
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Congratulations on the hunt. I've been thinking about posting a wtb for an old, crappy fal mag that I could justify cutting down to five or ten rounds for the range. For hunting, it's perfectly legal to use a 20rd mag as long as it's blocked to only hold five rounds. Remove the floor plate and add a piece of wood or something.
My very first deer was taken with a Federal Ordnance M-14 SA and I did the same as you. Hard to tell it wasn't a factory five rounder.
My very first deer was taken with a Federal Ordnance M-14 SA and I did the same as you. Hard to tell it wasn't a factory five rounder.
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One of the things I like about Georgia. They have no mag capacity limit for hunting. I killed two deer with my AR15 in 6.8SPC on the day before thanksgiving with 10 rounds loaded into a 15 round mag. Just to keep it straight, I only fired two rounds. Do you suppose the people who come up with these laws actually hunt? If you have 3 or 4 deer standing in a field, chances are you are only going to get 1 good shot unless of course you are good at taking shots on running game. It wouldn't increase your kill ratio any if you were carrying 30 round mags in my opinion.
I agree, woodstock. A large capacity magazine has no real effect in hunting. The major military role for a 30-round magazine is to put down suppressive fire, which is about 99%+ of small arms fire in combat. Live targets in the wild and in combat take cover and/or run away ASAP and/or return fire. This rule does apply to "gun-free zones."
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