Quick correction: The Bush War was from 64-79, not 76. I misspoke, because English is my only language and I barely speak it. Thanks for watching though, and be sure to vote on UMP vs P90 for upcoming range video! Thanks to Americana Pipedream for sponsoring this video! Use code “bussin” for 10% off! tribelink.co/AKGuyPipeDream Thanks to SDI! Again, it’s SDI.edu for more info!
I was playing MW2 with a FAL. My old Tio saw the FAL through the TV then went on about how good the FAL was throughout his service in the Military. He said he liked it better then the light gun with the suitcase handle and better than the long gun you had to smack to reload. I learn two things that day. That the FAL has infact Been every where and not to ask my tio what he did in the Mexican army during the 70's.
I was in the Rhodesian security forces. My FAL had a skinny thin front sight which made it very accurate. My rifle had full auto function which is totally useless. We were taught to ‘double tap.’ Using full auto turns it into an anti aircraft rifle. It is supremely reliable and well constructed.
The muzzle break was used for a rifle grenade. I noticed your FAL still has the grenade sighs attached. And the bolt was called a mouse. You can see the resemlance if you remove it from the rifle.
I was in the NZIR as a territorial soldier I would not know how many rounds I put through the weapon I used. We never had full auto although we were shown how it could operate just be putting a matchstick in the mechanism. If you got caught while on the range like one idiot did , well he was on a charge. I loved the SLR great rifle, I earned to shot for my intake something I am proud of considering I had done very little rifle shooting.
I had the tremendous opportunity to talk to an old Rhodesian trooper who told me the halbek device was primarily designed to push exhaust gasses up while they were prone so it didn’t kick up dust and give away the shooters position during ambushes. The amount of random shit they did to the FAL was amazing
Problem with the Halbek device, was that if you wanted to use a rifle grenade then you had to remove it. After putting 5-7 rounds past it I'm sure you'd do yourself an injury. Never fired my FN in the prone position (only on the range) in any contact /firefight as the Rhodesian bush was so thick, that if you went to ground you could see fuck all. The only Halbek device l saw in 8 years of being involved in this war was on a "jam stealer's" weapon (a company HQ rear echelon type)
I now have a STG-58C, made by Steyer, Austrian FAL. If you think the halbek break is weird, the thingofmajig on my FAL is even weirder, it’s a combination of a flash hider, grenade launcher and wire cutter. Go figure.
@@calummackenzie1797 We went to ground quite often when crossing the grasslands to get to the bush, especially while under fire. ...this is why we loved the FAL so much... it would punch through all that grass and still take down an enemy behind a gnarly tree... you didn't have to see them to know where to fire...they were sometimes thicker than the trees. Former member of "1".
I bought 5 Rhodesian FAL parts kits in the mid 80's, I wish I'd bought 100, they were going for $45 each. I cast receivers and machined them and Viola, 5 Rhodesian Fal's, that run perfectly. I miss the days of myriad parts kits for super cheap. AMD 65's for $30, milled AK's for $35, CETME's for $35, Mk2 stens for $25, Draganovs for $55, those were the days.
@@tturi2 the .303 Bren mag is curved because.303 is a rimmed cartridge. The RSF converted hundreds of .303 Brens into 7.62x51 (not rimmed and therefore straight mags) which could take FAL mags so they were interchangeable with riflemen using FALs. Later in the war most gunners moved to the FN MAG and the Bren became less common.
@@Loveenduro326 He's right actually, I have 3 Bren mags for my FAL that I filed the front hook down to fit in a metric receiver. They aren't as curved as a .303 Bren magazine, but they are curved. The DSA 30 round mags are straight.
@@NewCaliforniaRepublic2077 tietkop. These were the guys who stayed behind and fought the commies while the western world turned their backs. Stay proud dude and keep telling his story.
@@NewCaliforniaRepublic2077 He fought on the side of a small nation with limited resources against China-armed and funded ZANLA and Russia-armed and funded ZIPRA to prevent the spread of communism that's lead to hyperinflation and the slow transformation of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe from a small economic superpower to a third world country. He should absolutely be proud.
I knew a guy, a former "Canum Belli" if you will and whose name I'll omit that was in the bush war. He's not around any more thanks to the big C but he was an awesome bloke, a former teacher, a boxing trainer, and an author and despite being a chonky little Welshman he had a genuine way with the ladies. Some of the stories he could tell... makes me wish he was still around to tell them. Seeing this FAL certainly put me in a nostalgic kind of mood. Very cool.
I was thinking Hepatitis C, but then figured CIA made way more sense in terms of CoD. heh Like like I'm oh-for-two! lol But... If he was an author, I see no reason to keep their name secret. That is, unless they had, and wrote under a pen name...?
As someone born in Zimbabwe and whose family fought in the Rhodesian Bush War. Thanks for putting a smile on my face. The camo is proper Rhodesian! and I loved seeing doughnut operator in the video! The accent is spot on too bru!
As a South African whose grandfather served during the war, I can confirm the Rhodesian larp was perfect Edit: Some punctuation fixes. Also, jeez, there are lots of South Africans here in the comment.
A few hundred R1s (the South African branding) are still in service with National Parks, provincial parks and private big game reserves since its equally effective against poachers and elephants. Carried mine (serial number R1306) for nearly 20 years in the field. Best shooting, most reliable and accurate rifle I've ever used... and that's with irons.
They could have helped by not setting up a blockade. Most of the West had been succesfully psyopped by the USSR and CCP into not helping Rhodesia against the communist coup. Their tactic was making it look an "anti-colonial black" and "colonial white" war... Which wasn't the exact case, the majority of pro-Rhodesians on the Rhodesian side were black and were fighting against the communists and several rival factions. Meanwhile, various groups were marauding the entire nation for other purposes. It was a huge shitstorm. And now, look at it.... Nearly 70 years later, it still is considered to be one of the worst nations to live. From the Gem of Africa to the biggest shithole in a decade or less. That is the communist way of doing things. It could have been like South Africa, at least... Those who "won" threw the baby out with the bathwater. Zimbabwe is a cautionary tale... How not to do it. A phyrric victory in a sense.
I was a trooper in 14 troop, 3 commando RLI in 1973. I was an MAG gunner. The FN MAG fired between 800 and 1000 rounds per minute. In those days, 3 commando operated almost exclusively in Mozambique. We were dropped in by helicopter in a stick of 5 with one MAG and 4 FN rifles. We were re-supplied every 7 days with a helicopter drop. We operated mainly along the Ruhr river where we saw a lot action because it was the only viable water source for about 100km.
During my time in the Army, my Woobie was THE SINGULAR most important piece of kit i had. That thing was my pillow, blanket, poncho liner, hammock AND TENT on MANY occasions. That thing kept me warm, dry and comfy in ALL of my field exercises out in the snowy cold winters of Germany's Black forest and even out in the deserts of Iraq. I still have my original woobie here at home 10 years after getting out of the Army. That thing is the Army man's "blanky", and im NOT afraid to admit it....LMAO.
Mate of mine had family in the Rhodesian SAS. You will never read of a more hardcore group of people. These lads were asked to perform super-human operations with little-no support. Rhodesia is a loaded conversation but its military is fascinating.
@@Alexander-cg1ey everywhere on this globe has been colonized and re-colonized non-stop, over and over again since the beginning of life, we're all colonizers, unless you and everyone in your family line still lives in the primordial ooze we dragged our fat asses out of. When is the exact point in time where it became an unforgivable sin? who even gives a care.
@@GC_Rallo That's ahistorical tripe. You seem to majorly lack understanding of human immigration with your first statement. Do you even know what a colony is?
@@Hangedman11911 Rhodesia wasn´t an empire. The communist enemies weren´t freedom fighters. And since many of the enemies of the Rhodesians were part of the bantu peoples, they were just as native to the land as the Rhodesians
South African here who did my national military service in 1979 and 1980. We were issued these rifles but it was called the R1. It had a couple of tweaks on it from the original FN FAL and the South African military like to call their rifles R this and R that. A heavy sucker that you initially hates but grow to love. When carried with one hand just in front of the magazine it balances perfectly in your hand. The magazine we used had only 10 rounds .I've never seen a 29 round magazine for the R1. Actually a 30 round mag but one less to prevent stoppages. It was a prima donna. Long story . (For the Bren, yes) and NEVER used on automatic. They gave us literally one opportunity to fire it on auto just to scratch that itch and get the Audie Murphy out of us, and that was the end of it. It was a single or double tap , finish and klaar. A very impressive weapon for the time . Still is.
As a South African, I appreciate your interest in the history of the firearms in Africa. Would love to see you shoot a Denel NTW 20, awesome anti-material rifle Edit: Yes, they are hard to find, even here in South Africa
My father used this in combat during the Rhodesian bush war. So nice to see media coverage of Rhodesia that doesn't hate me for it. Oh, also, it wasn't really Dutch vs local - toward the end of the war, more than half of the Rhodesian force (Selous Scouts in particular) was composed of black locals (The term 'black' is not offensive down here).
Brandon's bushwalk isn't a bad impresonation.. the only inaccurate bit is his shorts are FAR too baggy for period shorts.. they were like Speedos back in the day, man!
White Rhodesians are mostly of English descent right? But there is some overlap between you guys and the Afrikaners, so there’s probably some Dutch in there too.
No hate here Brother. It was freedom versus communism. I'll not comment on the other issues of the war. All of my favorite gun tubers are on here I don't want to get banned. But as usual the collective West backed the wrong side 😜
@@moritamikamikara3879 from what I can gather pay, and that while many were against the apartheid system, they didn't want to kill innocent people (like ZANU did, like when they shot down an commercial aircraft and executed eveyone on board)
Fun fact that green, it's actually a yellow, I found this out when looking into the F1 SMG and I found that it was popular in Australian forces too after it aged and turned more green
It was in use before we got the Styr Aug . The Australian army used two versions , the first was the same as Brandon used and the second had no front furniture and a bi-pod for use as a dedicated full auto. We would usually get into a fair bit of trouble for running our L1A1 which was in the video as a full auto. During a firepower demonstration a sergeant full dumped about ten magazines and destroyed the barell deliberately. The L1A2 was our machine gun version before switching to the M60.
Not a correction, merely information. Rhodesia was supplied arms by South Africa at that time due to political embargos. The Rhodesian FAL was a South African R1 rifle - a FN FAL license made in South Africa. It was adopted as the SA service rifle in the 60’s. It’s different to the British L1A1 as the R1 is a metric pattern rifle where as the British rifle was an inch pattern and had a number of changes specific to the British army.
Israel also supplied a large number of Uzi´s that were commandeered by the farmers wives in general...and I often remember seeing schoolgirls going to school with one slung hanging off the shoulder. Israel also supplied other weapons and munition's, through south Africa also.
The Missus is from South Africa, her dad is Rhodesian and he fought in the bush war. Cool dude, owns a large hunting safari now. Based is an understatement.
When my grandfather went to Africa to hunt big game a good while after WW2, his instructor came from Rhodesia, they remained in contact until the latter died in the 90s. According to my grandfather he was one of the most stand up men he ever met.
Out of curiousity whereabouts is that hunting safari? Wondering if family have been there accidentally encountering your family. My father is from Rhodesia as is my last remaining grandmother. Everyone else is South African except for my other Grandmother who was a very very English nurse.
So based! So glad you're pushing your support for Admin, Brandon. He's a good dude and you are as well. Glad you're still ripping out the TH-cam content despite the new asinine TH-cam content policies.
Did anyone hate on Admin? (I mean I got that he's been doxxed by some shithead and the people of the blue bird cult arn't very happy with Admins drip and neither is Reddit I guess.. But who cares about them? Am I missing something?
@@Kremit_the_Forg Perhaps I didn't word that the best. After the incident that happened I'm sure he took a lot of heat from nutso anti gunners. Thankfully the majority of the pro 2A community support Admin but I can't imagine the harassment him and his family are receiving after the leak. Even a picture of a hunter showing his kill on the internet can result in endless harassment so I can't imagine what Admin has to deal with at the moment. As you can probably tell I'm not trying to bring attention to what actually occurred. Don't worry though - Admin wasn't caught getting jackhammered by a stallion. At least not as of yet....
I love the idea and a great plug there. I also love (like, seriously) going back to the beginning and watching him learn though the last few years, becoming the man he is with the knowledge and gun collection that he has now and is still getting. Legend has its place in the world but this particular crazy reality is even better!
My dad loved his FAL during military service here in Argentina (78/79). I'm showing him this video and when he saw you shooting it full auto he said "yeah, this dude is crazy" 😂
@@drno4837 yes sir. After the Malvinas (Falklands) conflict. Don't really know the full details but I guess they probably discarded most of them since they had better gear than ours. The whole thing was a mess and it still hurts. Lots of young men lost their lives during that war. Luckily my dad wasn't deployed back then, I don't know if I'd be here otherwise.
@@Pablo-tx9sd One of the more interesting things about that conflict is everyone had the same gun. The British and ArgentinansBOTH had FALs. If memory serves the British had semi autos and the Argentian's where full auto.
I did my national service in South Africa between January 86 and December 87, as I was in a medical unit we were issued this rifle , in the SADF this was referred to as an R1, other units were issued the R4 (South African version of the Galil) mine was camouflaged just like this rifle, great memories. Best 2 years I would never want to do again
I think make sense the similarity, since the G3 project came to satisfy the germany desire to manufacture the FAL, but the FN didn't gave them the rights to do
@@ReanuKeevesAus it's really just that the war was officially over in 45 that gets everyone thinking krautboss managed to not eat the lead pill for an extra year
@@traficantededolly9922 This is kind of a bad take, as Ludwig Vorgrimler and Theodor Löffler were conscripted by the French "Direction des Etudes et Fabrication d'Armament " or DEFA to work on development of StG45 based roller-delayed carbines for the French army. The G3 is a derivative of the work Vorgrimler and Löffler did at CETME (in Spain) resulting in the CETME Modelo B. The G3 is an German weapon, designed by Germans, for the German market. It has no commonality with the FN FAL.
Just some corrections: as mentioned below the war started after 1965 but the heaviest fighting was after 1976 - late 1979. 75% of the Army was Black. The Rhodesia African Rifles was formerly the King's African Rifles and served around the World and distinguished themselves in the Burma campaign in WW2 and later in the Malayan campaign fighting under British Command in the 1950's. A large part of the army were conscripts of boys coming out of school and doing initially 9 months service and later 2 years. These guys would later do one month in and one month out of the army on call ups. The White regular (permanent) unit was the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI) which later became para trained and formed the core of Fire Force operators which were fast Heli borne fast reaction units. Members of RLI would later form the core of SAS after qualifying The Rhodesian SAS was formed in the early '60's as C Squadron under 22 SAS (British). Early Rhodesian SAS operators served with British SAS in various theatres around the World. Rhodesians were prominent in the Long Range Desert Group in Egypt during WW2 and integrated into the first SAS formations there. The founder of the SAS, David Stirling actually retired to Rhodesia. Because of a lack of ammunition the FAL was never used on full auto. The troops were all trained to use the "double tap" in combat. The standard formation was a "stick" comprised of 4 men because they could fit in an Alouette helicopter. The stick comprised an NCO, normally a corporal (FAL), MAG gunner (Light General purpose machine gun 762), rifleman (FAL) and a man carrying rifle grenades (FAL). Although there were a lot of people of South African Afrikaaner extraction I would say the majority were of British extraction as a result of ex British servicemen settling in Rhodesia after WW2.
Well said. I am guessing that you are a Bush War veteran? My late Dad served in the Bush War in the Rhodesian Corps of Engineers. I wish he had written a book - or that I had somehow recorded his stories. He carried an SLR (essentially a British FAL, from what I understand). My maternal Grandfather served in Burma (as a Chindit) during the Second World War, and later in Malaya. I am incredibly proud of my Dad, despite the best efforts of virtue-signaling morons who don't know the difference between Rhodesia and Apartheid South Africa.
and of course the many immigrants to the country who in time were called up after 2 years residency.....I was one of them, but used the much-maligned H+K G3
As a veteran of the Rhodesian NS I served in Internal Affairs that was my service weapon I absolutely loved it and have some great memories of mine. I sure wish I could find one. I would even consider getting my license to own it in the full auto.
@Hondo SA58s used to be $1,700 new when I bought mine, but they're above the $2,000 mark now. Real original FALs are usually quite a bit more expensive, though, it's not uncommon to find them for $5,000-10,000. If you find a non-DSA FAL for $1,200, you struck gold
@Hondo You MIGHT be able to find one of the older Century FALs for $1,200 but even that's unlikely. I'm not old enough to have ever seen them go that cheap, and the FAL is one gun I watch for obsessively.
@@bakenbeans420 Send me a link to a sub $2,000 FAL because I don't believe you, if you find an FAL that cheap I need to buy it now so I can make some money. The DSA for $2,250 is exactly my point, I said they're above the $2,000 mark now.
@@bakenbeans420 I will correct myself, though, because the last time I bought from DSA they had one basic SA58 model available and it was $1,700. It looks like they've added some more affordable options now called the "Bush Warrior," "Jungle Warrior," and "Cold Warrior" and those are surprisingly in the $1,500 range. That being said, the only SA58 I owned was quite a bit worse production quality than any original military issue FAL, the individual parts were good but there were a lot of feeding issues related to the magazine well being machined out of tolerance. It actually fed properly with a DSA mag 90+% of the time but would often have bolt-over-base failures, once I started using surplus mags from FN, Imbel, and new old stock Israeli mags, the gun wouldn't run ANY of them and they all fit very tight. Ironically those magazines all work fantastic in original FAL receivers, and the DSA mags fit loose in an actual FAL. When I emailed DSA about these issues with pictures and videos, they had me send in the rifle for warranty work but then claimed there was nothing wrong with the gun and sent it back, so I sent it to ARS (my preferred FAL builder) and he informed me that the receiver on my rifle as well as most of the other SA58s he sees is out of tolerance. The magazine well was too shallow, and after machining it functioned perfectly. DSA wouldn't cover the bill and still denied that anything was wrong with their rifles. After that whole experience, I have no interest in buying an SA58 again, but I'm also very leary of what other shortcuts they could be making with an even cheaper line of rifles.
Rhodesians weren't Dutch. A slight majority of white South Africans were Afrikaners, Dutch descendents, but not the Rhodesians. The Rhodesians were almost entirely of British extraction.
I am a South African, and still went to war with a R1. We called the bolt part a mouse, it is obvious why, body and a tail. The spring in the stock was called a FSS, f@cking strong spring. 😇 The RLI called their FN's "slayers". Also for obvious reasons. By the way, your buddy in the Rhodie camo, is wearing old SADF skeleton webbing. I still have mine somewhere. And, never load more than 18 roundes in a 20 rounds magazine. It causes stoppages if you load more than 18. Best rifle ever made, I can still strip and assemble it in my sleep. Never shoot on automatic either, it is a total waste of ammo. Identify your target, and then nuke the prick with 7.62x51. Most of the time he does not want to get up, or even move, afterwards.
Yes we were forbidden to use auto. But I was naughty and substituted it for the bren on fire and movement drills in grahams town shot 10000 rounds in one day. It got so hot I had to use my bush hat to pick it up. Smoking. Never broke and lasted right up to mugabe vote where we were in gonrezou area. Disguised as rhodesian soldiers.
@@tokoloshimampara9932 lmao....as did some of the SADF too, you can tell the difference by the FNs wooden stock Vs the R1 plastic stock. My cousins were in the RLI, my uncle was a Selous scout, (SGT Laurie Ryan) They had R1's....
Im a young Afrikaans dude, still in school but I believe that more people need to own R1 rifles. Hoping to go into politics, it should be a right to bear arms, not a privilage!
The FAL is one that's still on my list,, I remember various people wanting me to enlist in that conflict , and as I recall, periodicals such as Soldier of fortune published ads offering very not bad pay to go help out. A camo painted FAL is synonymous with Rhodesia, can't have one without the other. Great Video, now lets see that PTRD in action...
Reminds me of when my father almost joint a mercenary outfit a few years after the bush war. British passport made him unable to (born in Rhodesia but British passports are useful), however he managed to go back to flying and ended up flying guns into Angola a few times
I am a Rhodesian, live in SA today. The Rhodesian army also made extensive use of the AK47 and RPD. I fired an FN many times on the farm as a teenager - my dad and older brother were given them. …my highlight was when some RLI spent a couple of days around our house (helicopters picking them up and dropping them back). The guy allowed me fire a few bursts with his MAG. They were super friendly and my mom cooked heaps of food for them. We left in 1983.
@@Wolf-hh4rvRhodesia never existed only Zimbabwe you are not Rhodesian you were born on our continent that’s all. A dog born in a stable will never be a horse
My grandfather was a Major in the Rhodesian Army, and seeing this video brought back all the stories he used to tell me when i was younger as we sat drinking,some wholesome, some not so much hehe. A hard man who lived a hard life, but an excellent story teller and drinking buddy.
Nice. My Grandpa was Rhodie Dad’s Army and made friends with some top brass after the war. My dad attended a dinner with him with some big guys IE literally the head of the Rhodesian Air Force.
@@ScottTheBot07 Nice one, i actually met a few of the former higher ups during a remembrance day march for vets of ww2 and later conflicts from the UK and former commonwealth nations, i think i met the former head or deputy head of Mil Intel, some air force officers, a Former Selous scout and a few former Rifle officers like my Granddad.
@@ChadOfAllChads If you live in Zimbabwe, you're the one who truly lost. But I'm sure you live in some non Commie country, where you sing the praises of Spoiled rich boy Karl Marx.
The standard rifle of the Brazilian army from 1964, till today. Today, we are starting to use the imbel IA2, which is, in some terms, a FAL 2.0. FAL, also known as Preto Veio (Old N-word) or Fátima Alves de Lima. Sd Rafael, of the Brazilian army, salute you, Brandon. 🇧🇷
My cousin is a state trooper in Brazil and he is issued a FAL for duty on the highway. Not like anything happens where he needs to use it. Also my friend is a cop in Rio and he has a rusty FAL lol. State troopers in Brazil get better gear
Myself born in Rhodesia during the bush war, it makes me smile watching this and love the flag in the background. The FAL aka FN as we called it was the business in the day and not much to hide behind..... Thanks Brandon
Just so yall know, this comment says it has 4 replies (should be 5 after my posting this) but it only shows 1 from yanate, meaning youtube is hiding your comments. Might wanna make a new reply
Hey Brandon… How’re you doing. Not sure if you’ll ever see this from a year-old video but maybe you will. A whole lifetime ago, I fought in the Rhodesian war. Really interesting video. Thank you. I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this to you, but just to clear something up… We did not refer to the rifle as a ‘FAL’. We called it an ‘FN’. And we referred to the calibre as .762. We also very rarely used full auto, to conserve our ammo. Normally single shots or double-taps. Thanks again and all the best to you. Your channel rocks!
When I joined the British Army at 16, we used our own version of the FN FAL called the 7.62mm L1-A1 SLR, which didn't have full auto. I can tell you that it was an absolutely outstanding weapon, tough, reliable, accurate and packed a massive punch, much more powerful than the 5.56mm SA-80 that we got when they retired the SLR.
I used the SLR too 1988-92. Isn't it ironic that in Afghan they found the SA80 inadequate for longer ranges in the valleys and mountain ranges, so they introduced a 7.62mm ''Sharpshooter'' rifle at section level I think.
Good one Brandon! As an ACTUAL Rhodesian, I can tell you we actually called them Eff Enns back in the day rather than FALs! I’m digging the AM 180 as well... used operationally by our SAS. Cheers!
Is that a bad thing? I knew Harry and Dave from Leprechaun who backed Mike Westcott in ‘it’s a long way to Mukumbura’ and ‘we are the Shumba drinkers’.
@@the_gasworks not a bad thing, i just listened to the song again, though it did give me a wave of melancholy, the old timers are dropping like flies, and ive seen a few more than i can handle well who ive known my whole life go just like that, really makes me appreciate the ones still left, but also leaves me sad at how little has been passed on to the youngsters.
@@user-ez9en7vk2z As I am from there I can correct you there its not half true. Most were not Dutch and many of those "Dutch" names were from Belgium or France. There were also many Jews, Portuguese, Greek, Irish, and Italian.
@@watkinsrory I am also from there and it seems also more informed. The french surnames are Hugenots who went there as 2nd rate afrikaans farmers but managed to thrive over a few generations. The english could go back back to Britain after independence but other "whites" couldn't.
This brought back memories of my time with the SLR as we called it in AUS. We also had an auto version known as the AR from memory which used the larger mags, similar to the one used in your video with fold out bipod/forestock. I loved that weapon so so much and you certainly knew you'd been to the range at the end of the day or being punished and having to do laps at high port arms around the parade ground as it starts to get a little heavy after a while. Thank you guys for sharing.
Hi Jenny, ex-NZ infantry here but living in Brissy. I was issued the SLR first up while the Army was transitioning to the M16. I kept my SLR after seeing what the 7.62 did to ballistic gel on the range in comparison to what the 5.56 didn't do. Mine had iron sights and wood furniture. It would be a real collectors piece now... I miss it.
Man I've never been so happy for a guy on the internet as I am now for Admin. I can't imagine the joy he felt after that full auto mag dump. The whole intro with you guys standing next to each other blasting with the song going in the background just gives off great fucking vibes, great stuff boys!
This video is awesome, thank you, Brandon! We had the FAL in the South African Defence Force (SADF), but it was called the R-1. At the rear of the muzzle break there is a ridge for a metal gas ring. This was used to launch rifle grenades, including anti-tank ones. A ballustite round was used for this - basically a blank on steroids (a FMJ would be somewhat counter-productive). The gas setting was increased for this purpose. The grenade sight is folded down at the front of the handstock. Would be cool to see a video of this, hint, hint. We also had an R-1 Heavy Barrel which could be used for sniping. With the longer barrel and tripod, it was accurate to about 700m.
Ja, we had an R1 on the farm as my dad in a kommando, we had some R4s and R5s as well that I grew up shooting with and carrying. Loved that R1, but shooting it as a kid was a challenge 😁
Mildly inaccurate, the grenade setting on the FAL/R1 gas plug cuts off the gas bleed off to the piston. Essentially making the rifle a straight-pull bolt action.
Ex zimbo here, my dad fought in the war. Proud of him. We had an FN and G3 on the farm, used for hunting, target shooting and pest control. Cool rifle bru ! 😀
Brandon: "That's not a FAL. (pulls out his rhody boi) now this, this is a FAL" Edit: I can't help but see that Brandon is slowly starting to look more like Doughnut with that magnificent mustache. 😂
That was my assigned weapon when I was a part of the Canadian Reserve forces, way back when dirt was new. I loved that thing when it came to qualifying on the range, but humping that thing on hikes was a pain because it weighed 11 pounds without the extra loaded mags and the loose ammo we used to carry. The FAL I had could have castrated a tick 350 yards with iron sights, it was an awesome rifle, but when we made the change to the C7, which was the AR-15 I tried to buy the FAL from the armories but they wouldn't let me. I was very sad. And the switch to the C7 was like using a plastic toy after being used to the FAL, and I so missed the sound of that gun, the FAL sounds so sweet when it fires. Hearing it on your channel brings me back to the early eighties like a vengeance. I had forgotten how awesome the FAL sounds, thanks for bringing it back for me!! As for your question, I would LOVE to see the UMP-45 next, it's one of my Favs from long ago.
Ex Aussie military, I learned my trade on our SLR (British/Australian ) version of this. Our auto had the 30 round mag and the forestock folded out to a bipod and had a much heavier barrel which helped the thing stay a bit more stable, but just a bit. Was and still is my favourite weapon.
If you talk about the Rhodesian FN-FAL, almost all ex-Rhodies are going to come out of the woodwork and start talking about our memories. I was born towards the end of the war, but the FN was the first rifle I handled (my dad's service weapon). When my dad cleaned it, he would sometimes let my brother and I hold it, and it was a constant companion whenever we went on fishing trips or road trips. The LARPs were very entertaining, but I had to take a paralysis break when the lame Bush puns started. 😆😆😆 Great video!
It's true that 11+ round capacity mags magically turn their owners into super deadly assassins but I learned all too late that the Rhodie mags I bought for my FAL (no others were in stock at the time) have magically implanted the lyrics to Rhodesians Never Die into my head. I didn't even know that song existed before the mags arrived in the mail.
Never shot the full auto but I loved being taught firearms with the L1A1 SLR (British FAL). Wonderful thing to give to a teenage cadet and a step up from the rechambered SMLEs we started with :) Oh and the UMP 45 would be nice to see, everyone and their grandma has done a P90 but very few touch on the UMP.
You can make the FAL/SLR full auto by simply placing a bit of wood or metal under the sear, which you can lift when the receiver is open and the dust cover off. Simply a part of the trigger group.
@@carrisasteveinnes1596 For some strange reason we were very carefully watched to make sure that no disassembly or modification occurred. No idea why, we definitely didn't field strip the Bren or GPMG when no one was looking or anything...
Aye boytjie! Great video. My father was stationed in Namibia during the Border War and was telling me all about the R1 - namely that full auto was borderline "useless"...and that if you hit someone once, that would often do the trick. One of my fav videos so far. Looking like a proper bush recce bru!
We call the bolt the mouse as it looks like a mouse with a tail. Also a neat trick if you ever get a round stuck, you step on the charge handle, similar to kick starting a bike. Love these guns. Fortunate enough to shoot one every now and then.
Nice video. Nice to see her run. I have a fairly large and assorted collections of original FAL's and L1A1's. The parts interchangeability and ease of field repair were big pluses with these battle rifles as well. Most parts interchange even between inch and metric patterns. We used them in the Canadian Armed Forces and were actually the first country to fully adopt the rifle in the C1 and C2 configurations. Anyways, nice vid!!
When I was in grade school, I was looking through a book and saw a picture of an FAlL. And said to myself...one day I will have one. Took several decades
In the 1950s the South African Defence Force under license through DENEL (Lyttleton Engineering Works at the time) made their own version of the FN FAL, it is called the Vektor R1 Rifle and was used through out the Bush War and Border War from the 1960s to the late 1980s. Some Police and Military still use it today
Mum lived in Northern Rhodesia now Zambia till 1979. She lost some good friends along the Zambezi Valley during the early part of the Bush War. I always love to see videos like this.
Really enjoy your show. Straight to the point and informative. Living in South Africa we know these FALs quite well. A lot of ours are the R1 which our SADF used before the R4s. Always a jol to see
@@KickbuttBuzzcutDickheadmeh I’m not a fan of them to be honest. Although I do find it hilarious that it has a bottle opener. It’s not my taste I have always loved the G3 it’s one of my favorite historical firearms ever, my favorite rifle out of all the historical ones is it’s going break the bank and my house may even get evicted but it’s the STG 44
I emigrated to the USA several years ago from South Africa. I did my basic training in the SA army with the R1 / FAL. Your video brought back many memories, mostly good ones. Thank you! ps. Only REAL MEN wear short shorts 🙂
The fight is here. Remember that VOW you swore. You even sung it and affirmed it- DIE STEM. Ruis die stem van ons geliefde, Van ons land Suid-Afrika. Ons sal antwoord op jou roepstem, Ons sal offer wat jy vra: Ons sal lewe, ons sal sterwe - Ons vir jou, Suid-Afrika.
Well done guys! Im South African and loved this LARP!! Oh FAL's cut down trees very well. Personal R1(SA FAL) experience. Fun fact : SA sanitized (R1) FAL's given to Rhodesia have the SA coat of arms proof mark cut out in a big circular cut right side of the mag well.
I shot an SLR as an army cadet, the Australian FAL. At the time I was 4 foot tall and weighed 25Kg's.. every three rounds I had to crawl forward, the recoil for mini me was ridiculous 😂
Loved cadets in high school. Kids teaching kids how to shoot the SLR, field strip, clean and carrying them on ANZAC day. I wonder if Army Cadets touch a gun now days?
@richardgunn7477 I did cadets from 2017 to 2019 and at least my unit which when I was there I believe the largest non school (so non forced) unit in qld and we even barely touched them. Like we used wtss maybe twice a year and got to hold unloaded ones on display once or twice a year as well. I only ever got to shoot once and that was because I did cactc. When I did cadets we couldn't even say opfor and 95% of field exercises was just nav without a purpose. Just walk to these coordinates ok now go to these ones as pretty much anyrh else was deemed to militristic and could be misconstrued to be training child soldiers at least at unit levels. On annual ftx we got to do a bit mlre depepending on what level you where on but It's bs now days. We are basically scouts in cams at best now days I should add that myself was fortunate enough to use the wtss probably bwtween 5 and 10 times a year in 2018/2019 and got to do a bit more weapons handling but as I said that's only because I did the national cactc comp and was training for that so unless you really seek it and get selected for something like that cadets is shlt now days
I'm glad to see you're hooked up with Americana Pipedream. I ordered a few things from them already that are awesome. That FAL is a dream weapon of mine. I want one just like that one day. Glad you got yours, and good to see Admin!
As a fellow enthusiast of short, brushstroke shorts, this may have been my favorite video you've ever done Brandon! Appreciate all the Blood Diamond references too. That remains one of my all time favorites, and the inspiration for the only rifle I've ever actually built.
Thank you for highlighting our battle rifle, but I never personally encountered a full auto FAL, which is very difficult to control. There were some attempts made to create a muzzle climb deflector with various levels of success, but not widely adopted. I certainly preferred the FAL to the G3 used later in the war.
The FAL bolt is built like a shot guns. The best part is the simplicity of function. Simpler than a AK, sturdier than AR, more reliable than a m1, more accurate than a m14. I'd like to see you start making modern FAL's.
That's an R1 7,62 modelled by South Africa on the FN 7,62 that Rhodesia originally used before being supplied by RSA. Pause the video and you will see the R1 stamping on the body!
I noticed this as well. This rifle was most probably made under license in RSA. I hated the rifle as I am left handed and when we went shooting would come back to the base with burns down my right hand arm. We used to go out on patrol in the SAW/Namibia war with 14 Mags each loaded with 18 rounds. Heavy as hell.
Congrats on your new acquisition!!! THAT rifle is magnificent!!!! Great piece of history. Thanks Admin and Doughnut!!! Nice to have you in a Brandon vid. Nice Larp too BTW!!! Thanks for a wonderful video. Great history lesson, pretty good humor, and 3 goof ballz shooting a FAL!!!! WHAT is there, NOT to love!!!!!!!!!
Australia took the L1A1 to Vietnam too. Dished up much more "satisfying" results than any M16 or derivative ever could. Oh, ours had a different, and fairly effective flash suppressor.
My mom was born in Rhodesia and my grandpa fought in the bush wars. I’m not sure 100% what weapon he used. My mom grew up in Salisbury in a suburb and said it was a really nice place to have grown up. They ended up leaving in 1977 when mugabe came to power and went to the UK. My grandma was heart broken and my grandpa still refers to zimbawe as Rhodesia to this day if I ask anyone asks about it.
Forgive me if someone else has commented the same: I was in the South African army 79-80 as a conscript and volunteered to serve as a paratrooper. We, along with most infantry units were issued the same weapon - the FAL you posted on. I noted the wording above the safety lever on your FAL said "R1-7.62mm." This is what the rifle was called in South Africa - an R1. Chambered for a 7.62x51mm NATO standard cartridge (your .308 you mentioned). The Rhodesian version was identical. I imagine, but am not certain, that they were supplied by South Africa, since the weapon was a carbon copy of the FN FAL. Paratroopers were issued with a folding stock version of the R1 and were really amazing. During my second year we migrated to the R4, a copy of the Israeli Galil (5.56×45mm NATO cartridge). Also, an awesome weapon with a lot less kick than the R1 and way more rounds to a magazine (35 capacity, but normally filled with 30 to spare the spring). Thank you for your great content.
30000 R1's were sold to Rhodesia, most Rhodie "FN's" were originally South African R1's. There were also "FN's" from other nations which Rhodesia possessed eg Israel, West Germany (G1) etc. And of course Brit "FN's" i.e. SLR's. But most of Rhodesia's stock would have been South African R1's. PS thank you for your service! A few of my family served in the Bats...I was born "too late" to have been a part of that era.
I was in 6sai the same time as you. I wasn't impressed with the 5.56 when the parabats had a contact next to us in the caprivi /zambia the bullet was too light for penetrative power through the long grass.
The FAL and the British QuickKill technique were designed around each other. The combination is an incredible fast-acquisition/fast-action shooting system that I haven’t seen quite duplicated anywhere else.
South african here 🇿🇦. This is a awesome video Brandon. Some of the FAL's supplied to Zimbabwe was from South Africa but to hide that the South African government removed alot of the markings on the guns namely the coat of arms on the magwell by cutting it off.
My dad used these while part of the British Royal Engineers. In his words "One of the best weapon systems I have used!". These were issued with the Wood Hand Guard and Buttstock and 20 Round Box Mags.
Yip had something similar in the SADF 1976. The first one issued in basics was still stamped FN. Rhodesia was mainly English - the Dutch in SA but thats irrelevant ....when they fitted the non wooden stocks it made a very smooth carry. Even at age 65 I will accept nothing else going to war for guarding townships or fuel stations. My only regret is we never got to fire them on full auto - the bush war was going at high speed so it was for the privvy of fighting dudes.
Quick correction: The Bush War was from 64-79, not 76. I misspoke, because English is my only language and I barely speak it.
Thanks for watching though, and be sure to vote on UMP vs P90 for upcoming range video!
Thanks to Americana Pipedream for sponsoring this video! Use code “bussin” for 10% off! tribelink.co/AKGuyPipeDream
Thanks to SDI! Again, it’s SDI.edu for more info!
You motherfucker finally did it! Good shit man, good shit.
I don’t speak English only bad English
#Akgnotificationsquad
So true king
P90
Can I just say, watching Administrative Results dump a full auto 308 that steady is damn impressive.
Would ya look at his arms?! Just look at 'em!
@@HomerEscobar1 thicc arm boi.
@@HomerEscobar1 I dont know man, I think it's the balaclava
When you hear him talking about his military experience and what he specialized in and what he taught it makes sense for him to be fit
0:45 Brandon vs Admin lol
I was playing MW2 with a FAL. My old Tio saw the FAL through the TV then went on about how good the FAL was throughout his service in the Military. He said he liked it better then the light gun with the suitcase handle and better than the long gun you had to smack to reload. I learn two things that day. That the FAL has infact Been every where and not to ask my tio what he did in the Mexican army during the 70's.
@𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓱 pretty sure it was the m16 an G3. My cousin said he used the G3 during his Mexican service.
If your talking about the new MW2 the FAL is not in it but the G3 looks sorta similar.
@𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓱 nah I pretty sure they did use the mp5 as well
@𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓱 also he said the smack gun was large, I forgot to mention that
@@doctormudbone4432 no I mean the old Mw2.
I was in the Rhodesian security forces. My FAL had a skinny thin front sight which made it very accurate. My rifle had full auto function which is totally useless. We were taught to ‘double tap.’ Using full auto turns it into an anti aircraft rifle.
It is supremely reliable and well constructed.
Same with the U.S.A M-14.
On full auto you need to be inside a room to hit anything.
Hmm anti aicraft gun , ours spoke Afrikaans😂
The muzzle break was used for a rifle grenade. I noticed your FAL still has the grenade sighs attached. And the bolt was called a mouse. You can see the resemlance if you remove it from the rifle.
I was in the NZIR as a territorial soldier I would not know how many rounds I put through the weapon I used. We never had full auto although we were shown how it could operate just be putting a matchstick in the mechanism. If you got caught while on the range like one idiot did , well he was on a charge. I loved the SLR great rifle, I earned to shot for my intake something I am proud of considering I had done very little rifle shooting.
Ex ADF here your right better left as a semi auto.
I had the tremendous opportunity to talk to an old Rhodesian trooper who told me the halbek device was primarily designed to push exhaust gasses up while they were prone so it didn’t kick up dust and give away the shooters position during ambushes. The amount of random shit they did to the FAL was amazing
One day we'll both get one
Problem with the Halbek device, was that if you wanted to use a rifle grenade then you had to remove it. After putting 5-7 rounds past it I'm sure you'd do yourself an injury. Never fired my FN in the prone position (only on the range) in any contact /firefight as the Rhodesian bush was so thick, that if you went to ground you could see fuck all. The only Halbek device l saw in 8 years of being involved in this war was on a "jam stealer's" weapon (a company HQ rear echelon type)
I now have a STG-58C, made by Steyer, Austrian FAL. If you think the halbek break is weird, the thingofmajig on my FAL is even weirder, it’s a combination of a flash hider, grenade launcher and wire cutter. Go figure.
@@StryderKit'll also slice, chop, puree and flambe.
@@calummackenzie1797 We went to ground quite often when crossing the grasslands to get to the bush, especially while under fire. ...this is why we loved the FAL so much... it would punch through all that grass and still take down an enemy behind a gnarly tree... you didn't have to see them to know where to fire...they were sometimes thicker than the trees. Former member of "1".
You know you've made it when you have an actual full auto Rhodesian FAL
You mean extra fast semi-auto, right?
@@lunartipsyextra fast fully semi auto *
@KingxMoonstar but those ammunition clips have the bullets and when they run out they won't have anymore. - US Congresswoman, paraphrasing
Dang and his shoulder thing goes.....down.
Or you’re in fucking Zimbabwe 😂
That Rhodesian LARP, “Africa” by Toto, Administrative Results firing the FAL on full auto so well all made one of Brandons most legendary intros.
Can’t beat it.
Absolutely - one of the top 3 - outstanding
My favorite intro ever
the song "Rhodesians never die" would have been a better fit instead of toto.
LET'S GO BRANDON!!
I bought 5 Rhodesian FAL parts kits in the mid 80's, I wish I'd bought 100, they were going for $45 each. I cast receivers and machined them and Viola, 5 Rhodesian Fal's, that run perfectly. I miss the days of myriad parts kits for super cheap. AMD 65's for $30, milled AK's for $35, CETME's for $35, Mk2 stens for $25, Draganovs for $55, those were the days.
55 for a dragunov kit? Hot DAMN the crimes I’d commit for that today
What's so great about em?
@@ChadOfAllChads 7.62x51mm and atleast for the CETME Cs and the FAL, basically indestructible (to an extent, obviously)
@@ChadOfAllChadshistory behind them.
Aint no way thats amazing
Man those 29 round FAL mags must've been hard to get ahold of. They're quite rare.
Imagine what the Sons of Liberty would have tolerated?
They are in reality meant for a 7.62 Bren machine gun...
@@russelsellick316 the bren ones were curved?
@@tturi2 the .303 Bren mag is curved because.303 is a rimmed cartridge. The RSF converted hundreds of .303 Brens into 7.62x51 (not rimmed and therefore straight mags) which could take FAL mags so they were interchangeable with riflemen using FALs. Later in the war most gunners moved to the FN MAG and the Bren became less common.
@@Loveenduro326 He's right actually, I have 3 Bren mags for my FAL that I filed the front hook down to fit in a metric receiver. They aren't as curved as a .303 Bren magazine, but they are curved. The DSA 30 round mags are straight.
My dad fought in the Rhodesian bush war and I showed him this video, he couldn't stop talking about the FAL after that.
No offense but I don’t think you should be proud of that
@@NewCaliforniaRepublic2077 yes the fuck he should. He is a veteran
@@NewCaliforniaRepublic2077 shows how little you know about Rhodesia
@@NewCaliforniaRepublic2077 tietkop. These were the guys who stayed behind and fought the commies while the western world turned their backs. Stay proud dude and keep telling his story.
@@NewCaliforniaRepublic2077 He fought on the side of a small nation with limited resources against China-armed and funded ZANLA and Russia-armed and funded ZIPRA to prevent the spread of communism that's lead to hyperinflation and the slow transformation of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe from a small economic superpower to a third world country. He should absolutely be proud.
I knew a guy, a former "Canum Belli" if you will and whose name I'll omit that was in the bush war. He's not around any more thanks to the big C but he was an awesome bloke, a former teacher, a boxing trainer, and an author and despite being a chonky little Welshman he had a genuine way with the ladies. Some of the stories he could tell... makes me wish he was still around to tell them. Seeing this FAL certainly put me in a nostalgic kind of mood. Very cool.
The big c? Communism killed lots of rhodesians
@@berniegores2083 Heh, alas it was Stomach cancer, not Communism. And he was Welsh.
@@mister_woot I thought you meant CIA, but stomach cancer sucks..like all cancers its a sad way to go.
@@GovernmentalMoments you're thinking of roland in the congo. Damn that van owen
I was thinking Hepatitis C, but then figured CIA made way more sense in terms of CoD. heh
Like like I'm oh-for-two! lol
But... If he was an author, I see no reason to keep their name secret.
That is, unless they had, and wrote under a pen name...?
As someone born in Zimbabwe and whose family fought in the Rhodesian Bush War. Thanks for putting a smile on my face. The camo is proper Rhodesian! and I loved seeing doughnut operator in the video! The accent is spot on too bru!
You guys lost to a bunch of commies.
You guys got beat by a bunch of communists
As a South African whose grandfather served during the war, I can confirm the Rhodesian larp was perfect
Edit: Some punctuation fixes. Also, jeez, there are lots of South Africans here in the comment.
Ek stem saam
Aweh!!
Hello fellow Saffas
Lekker Afrikaners incoming
As another Saffa I can confirm
A few hundred R1s (the South African branding) are still in service with National Parks, provincial parks and private big game reserves since its equally effective against poachers and elephants. Carried mine (serial number R1306) for nearly 20 years in the field. Best shooting, most reliable and accurate rifle I've ever used... and that's with irons.
Jesus... Has she seen blood? Sounds like she served you well.
Rhodies, Aussies, Brits, Kiwis…it’s iconic to the Commonwealth and helped many fellas get back home. Thanks Belgium
They could have helped by not setting up a blockade.
Most of the West had been succesfully psyopped by the USSR and CCP into not helping Rhodesia against the communist coup.
Their tactic was making it look an "anti-colonial black" and "colonial white" war... Which wasn't the exact case, the majority of pro-Rhodesians on the Rhodesian side were black and were fighting against the communists and several rival factions.
Meanwhile, various groups were marauding the entire nation for other purposes. It was a huge shitstorm.
And now, look at it.... Nearly 70 years later, it still is considered to be one of the worst nations to live. From the Gem of Africa to the biggest shithole in a decade or less. That is the communist way of doing things.
It could have been like South Africa, at least... Those who "won" threw the baby out with the bathwater.
Zimbabwe is a cautionary tale... How not to do it.
A phyrric victory in a sense.
No problem bro! (I am a Belgian gun enthousiast)
You're welcome. Comming from a belgian. We got beer, chocolate and high tech guns 😂
@@ilikepussys And hot chicks.
@@PvpPetahI am Belgian, would really like to shoot this gem
I was a trooper in 14 troop, 3 commando RLI in 1973. I was an MAG gunner. The FN MAG fired between 800 and 1000 rounds per minute. In those days, 3 commando operated almost exclusively in Mozambique. We were dropped in by helicopter in a stick of 5 with one MAG and 4 FN rifles. We were re-supplied every 7 days with a helicopter drop. We operated mainly along the Ruhr river where we saw a lot action because it was the only viable water source for about 100km.
During my time in the Army, my Woobie was THE SINGULAR most important piece of kit i had. That thing was my pillow, blanket, poncho liner, hammock AND TENT on MANY occasions. That thing kept me warm, dry and comfy in ALL of my field exercises out in the snowy cold winters of Germany's Black forest and even out in the deserts of Iraq. I still have my original woobie here at home 10 years after getting out of the Army. That thing is the Army man's "blanky", and im NOT afraid to admit it....LMAO.
Why is called a Woobie? Because if you don't have it, you woo bie cold.
@@Knights_of_the_Nine oh my lord havent heard this one in forever ahahaha the memories
Man I'm 100% just a civi but if that thing kept you warm in Germany then I need one lol I get cold in fall in Texas, I NEED that lvl of warm
You sir, deserve a prize for most REAL comment. You didn't tell a single lie lol.
How are you meant to line a poncho with it? Is it for a specific kind of poncho?
Mate of mine had family in the Rhodesian SAS. You will never read of a more hardcore group of people. These lads were asked to perform super-human operations with little-no support. Rhodesia is a loaded conversation but its military is fascinating.
The military is fascinating. The only loaded part is being pro or against colonization of Africa.
@@Alexander-cg1ey everywhere on this globe has been colonized and re-colonized non-stop, over and over again since the beginning of life, we're all colonizers, unless you and everyone in your family line still lives in the primordial ooze we dragged our fat asses out of. When is the exact point in time where it became an unforgivable sin? who even gives a care.
@@GC_Rallo That's ahistorical tripe. You seem to majorly lack understanding of human immigration with your first statement. Do you even know what a colony is?
The Rhodesian SAS, like the British SAS fought for imperialism.
@@Hangedman11911 Rhodesia wasn´t an empire. The communist enemies weren´t freedom fighters. And since many of the enemies of the Rhodesians were part of the bantu peoples, they were just as native to the land as the Rhodesians
As a South African with heritage from Rhodesia plus my grandpappy used this in the Bush war, I can safely say this is one AWESOME video !
*Zimbabwe
@@dutbud9049 rhodesia
@@dutbud9049 Grandfather was born in Rhodesia; Rhodisian heritage.
Ancestry is history, history isn't the present.
@@dutbud9049 *apenoises
Iam just gonna assume you guys are staring at each other in warlord.
South African here who did my national military service in 1979 and 1980. We were issued these rifles but it was called the R1. It had a couple of tweaks on it from the original FN FAL and the South African military like to call their rifles R this and R that. A heavy sucker that you initially hates but grow to love. When carried with one hand just in front of the magazine it balances perfectly in your hand. The magazine we used had only 10 rounds .I've never seen a 29 round magazine for the R1. Actually a 30 round mag but one less to prevent stoppages. It was a prima donna. Long story . (For the Bren, yes) and NEVER used on automatic. They gave us literally one opportunity to fire it on auto just to scratch that itch and get the Audie Murphy out of us, and that was the end of it. It was a single or double tap , finish and klaar. A very impressive weapon for the time . Still is.
20 rd mags.
As a South African, I appreciate your interest in the history of the firearms in Africa. Would love to see you shoot a Denel NTW 20, awesome anti-material rifle
Edit: Yes, they are hard to find, even here in South Africa
Isn’t the NTW a 20mm? If so, BASED
*cue Halo music*
Ntw:
Nowhere
in The
World can you find one
@@CRob172 indeed it is
NTW 20 is such a beautiful rifle.
My father used this in combat during the Rhodesian bush war.
So nice to see media coverage of Rhodesia that doesn't hate me for it.
Oh, also, it wasn't really Dutch vs local - toward the end of the war, more than half of the Rhodesian force (Selous Scouts in particular) was composed of black locals (The term 'black' is not offensive down here).
This is going to sound extremely ignorant, and it 100% is, but... why?
Why would black Africans fight for the old Rhodesian government?
Brandon's bushwalk isn't a bad impresonation.. the only inaccurate bit is his shorts are FAR too baggy for period shorts.. they were like Speedos back in the day, man!
White Rhodesians are mostly of English descent right? But there is some overlap between you guys and the Afrikaners, so there’s probably some Dutch in there too.
No hate here Brother. It was freedom versus communism. I'll not comment on the other issues of the war. All of my favorite gun tubers are on here I don't want to get banned. But as usual the collective West backed the wrong side 😜
@@moritamikamikara3879 from what I can gather pay, and that while many were against the apartheid system, they didn't want to kill innocent people (like ZANU did, like when they shot down an commercial aircraft and executed eveyone on board)
Fun fact that green, it's actually a yellow, I found this out when looking into the F1 SMG and I found that it was popular in Australian forces too after it aged and turned more green
I remember seeing some pictures of Owen SMGs painted with the same paint
Thought it was olive.
@@Knights_of_the_Nine nugh it's a colour kinda like bananas
Nope- SLR's not FAL's. Stop bullsht posting yobbo.
It was in use before we got the Styr Aug . The Australian army used two versions , the first was the same as Brandon used and the second had no front furniture and a bi-pod for use as a dedicated full auto. We would usually get into a fair bit of trouble for running our L1A1 which was in the video as a full auto. During a firepower demonstration a sergeant full dumped about ten magazines and destroyed the barell deliberately. The L1A2 was our machine gun version before switching to the M60.
Not a correction, merely information. Rhodesia was supplied arms by South Africa at that time due to political embargos. The Rhodesian FAL was a South African R1 rifle - a FN FAL license made in South Africa. It was adopted as the SA service rifle in the 60’s.
It’s different to the British L1A1 as the R1 is a metric pattern rifle where as the British rifle was an inch pattern and had a number of changes specific to the British army.
Israel also supplied a large number of Uzi´s that were commandeered by the farmers wives in general...and I often remember seeing schoolgirls going to school with one slung hanging off the shoulder. Israel also supplied other weapons and munition's, through south Africa also.
First thing that came to mind in just looking at the thumbnail was I hope he mentions it's a R1
The Missus is from South Africa, her dad is Rhodesian and he fought in the bush war. Cool dude, owns a large hunting safari now. Based is an understatement.
no one is rhodesian, it's a fake country
When my grandfather went to Africa to hunt big game a good while after WW2, his instructor came from Rhodesia, they remained in contact until the latter died in the 90s.
According to my grandfather he was one of the most stand up men he ever met.
@@iamsucharetard That would essentially exclude every US, UK and Soviet/Russian soldier in history.
Out of curiousity whereabouts is that hunting safari? Wondering if family have been there accidentally encountering your family. My father is from Rhodesia as is my last remaining grandmother. Everyone else is South African except for my other Grandmother who was a very very English nurse.
@@iamsucharetard based
So based! So glad you're pushing your support for Admin, Brandon. He's a good dude and you are as well. Glad you're still ripping out the TH-cam content despite the new asinine TH-cam content policies.
So what happened with Admin?
Did anyone hate on Admin?
(I mean I got that he's been doxxed by some shithead and the people of the blue bird cult arn't very happy with Admins drip and neither is Reddit I guess..
But who cares about them?
Am I missing something?
@@meeshterman he made a video with that cringe ass brandon herrera dude
what happend to admin?
@@Kremit_the_Forg Perhaps I didn't word that the best. After the incident that happened I'm sure he took a lot of heat from nutso anti gunners. Thankfully the majority of the pro 2A community support Admin but I can't imagine the harassment him and his family are receiving after the leak. Even a picture of a hunter showing his kill on the internet can result in endless harassment so I can't imagine what Admin has to deal with at the moment.
As you can probably tell I'm not trying to bring attention to what actually occurred. Don't worry though - Admin wasn't caught getting jackhammered by a stallion. At least not as of yet....
Legend has it that Brandon spent 2 days with the SDI and then opened his own AK building shop and became a billionaire.
I love the idea and a great plug there. I also love (like, seriously) going back to the beginning and watching him learn though the last few years, becoming the man he is with the knowledge and gun collection that he has now and is still getting. Legend has its place in the world but this particular crazy reality is even better!
Nice to see an R1 making an appearance. My old service rifle in SA. "Met my R1 hier styf teen my sy".
Jou vrou!
Ja, Jou R1 was jou vrou vir die 2 jaar
My dad loved his FAL during military service here in Argentina (78/79). I'm showing him this video and when he saw you shooting it full auto he said "yeah, this dude is crazy" 😂
did the British not take ownership of a lot of those in 82?
@@drno4837 yes sir. After the Malvinas (Falklands) conflict. Don't really know the full details but I guess they probably discarded most of them since they had better gear than ours. The whole thing was a mess and it still hurts. Lots of young men lost their lives during that war. Luckily my dad wasn't deployed back then, I don't know if I'd be here otherwise.
@@Pablo-tx9sd One of the more interesting things about that conflict is everyone had the same gun. The British and ArgentinansBOTH had FALs. If memory serves the British had semi autos and the Argentian's where full auto.
@@jaywerner8415That’s why Argentinians ran out of ammo.
@@jaywerner8415 Well, Inch vs. metric, yeah. L1a1s had a nub that prevented the selector from going around to full auto.
I did my national service in South Africa between January 86 and December 87, as I was in a medical unit we were issued this rifle , in the SADF this was referred to as an R1, other units were issued the R4 (South African version of the Galil) mine was camouflaged just like this rifle, great memories. Best 2 years I would never want to do again
It says R1 on his receiver if you look. 😉
Very cool
It's always amazed me how the G3 and the FAL can look so similar, yet be so fundamentally different.
I think make sense the similarity, since the G3 project came to satisfy the germany desire to manufacture the FAL, but the FN didn't gave them the rights to do
@@traficantededolly9922 when have the Germans ever taken no for answer?
@@ReanuKeevesAus 1944 buddy. It was 1944.
@@ReanuKeevesAus it's really just that the war was officially over in 45 that gets everyone thinking krautboss managed to not eat the lead pill for an extra year
@@traficantededolly9922 This is kind of a bad take, as Ludwig Vorgrimler and Theodor Löffler were conscripted by the French "Direction des Etudes et Fabrication d'Armament " or DEFA to work on development of StG45 based roller-delayed carbines for the French army. The G3 is a derivative of the work Vorgrimler and Löffler did at CETME (in Spain) resulting in the CETME Modelo B. The G3 is an German weapon, designed by Germans, for the German market. It has no commonality with the FN FAL.
Just some corrections: as mentioned below the war started after 1965 but the heaviest fighting was after 1976 - late 1979. 75% of the Army was Black. The Rhodesia African Rifles was formerly the King's African Rifles and served around the World and distinguished themselves in the Burma campaign in WW2 and later in the Malayan campaign fighting under British Command in the 1950's. A large part of the army were conscripts of boys coming out of school and doing initially 9 months service and later 2 years. These guys would later do one month in and one month out of the army on call ups. The White regular (permanent) unit was the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI) which later became para trained and formed the core of Fire Force operators which were fast Heli borne fast reaction units. Members of RLI would later form the core of SAS after qualifying The Rhodesian SAS was formed in the early '60's as C Squadron under 22 SAS (British). Early Rhodesian SAS operators served with British SAS in various theatres around the World. Rhodesians were prominent in the Long Range Desert Group in Egypt during WW2 and integrated into the first SAS formations there. The founder of the SAS, David Stirling actually retired to Rhodesia.
Because of a lack of ammunition the FAL was never used on full auto. The troops were all trained to use the "double tap" in combat. The standard formation was a "stick" comprised of 4 men because they could fit in an Alouette helicopter. The stick comprised an NCO, normally a corporal (FAL), MAG gunner (Light General purpose machine gun 762), rifleman (FAL) and a man carrying rifle grenades (FAL).
Although there were a lot of people of South African Afrikaaner extraction I would say the majority were of British extraction as a result of ex British servicemen settling in Rhodesia after WW2.
Well said. I am guessing that you are a Bush War veteran? My late Dad served in the Bush War in the Rhodesian Corps of Engineers. I wish he had written a book - or that I had somehow recorded his stories.
He carried an SLR (essentially a British FAL, from what I understand).
My maternal Grandfather served in Burma (as a Chindit) during the Second World War, and later in Malaya.
I am incredibly proud of my Dad, despite the best efforts of virtue-signaling morons who don't know the difference between Rhodesia and Apartheid South Africa.
and of course the many immigrants to the country who in time were called up after 2 years residency.....I was one of them, but used the much-maligned H+K G3
C Sqn 22 SAS still remains vacant today as a mark of respect to the Rhodesian SAS members that served and died.
Love the inclusion of the AM180. Perfect fit considering they did actually use it.
if they'd included a g3 would have been even better
Yes, but suppressed.
As a wise (and highly inebriated) Russian once said
*"This FN gun is F-in' awesome!"*
Nikolai Belenski from COD Zombies, nice.
@@ryanspalding875 never got into COD zombies but I still like to say I have no boorets, and no honor
"I love this FN gun!... get it? FN? Just like... fuck"
Is this fn fal good weapon no
As a veteran of the Rhodesian NS I served in Internal Affairs that was my service weapon I absolutely loved it and have some great memories of mine. I sure wish I could find one. I would even consider getting my license to own it in the full auto.
Look guys, a proud apartheid ethnostate suporter^
@Hondo SA58s used to be $1,700 new when I bought mine, but they're above the $2,000 mark now. Real original FALs are usually quite a bit more expensive, though, it's not uncommon to find them for $5,000-10,000. If you find a non-DSA FAL for $1,200, you struck gold
@Hondo You MIGHT be able to find one of the older Century FALs for $1,200 but even that's unlikely. I'm not old enough to have ever seen them go that cheap, and the FAL is one gun I watch for obsessively.
@@bakenbeans420 Send me a link to a sub $2,000 FAL because I don't believe you, if you find an FAL that cheap I need to buy it now so I can make some money. The DSA for $2,250 is exactly my point, I said they're above the $2,000 mark now.
@@bakenbeans420 I will correct myself, though, because the last time I bought from DSA they had one basic SA58 model available and it was $1,700. It looks like they've added some more affordable options now called the "Bush Warrior," "Jungle Warrior," and "Cold Warrior" and those are surprisingly in the $1,500 range. That being said, the only SA58 I owned was quite a bit worse production quality than any original military issue FAL, the individual parts were good but there were a lot of feeding issues related to the magazine well being machined out of tolerance. It actually fed properly with a DSA mag 90+% of the time but would often have bolt-over-base failures, once I started using surplus mags from FN, Imbel, and new old stock Israeli mags, the gun wouldn't run ANY of them and they all fit very tight. Ironically those magazines all work fantastic in original FAL receivers, and the DSA mags fit loose in an actual FAL. When I emailed DSA about these issues with pictures and videos, they had me send in the rifle for warranty work but then claimed there was nothing wrong with the gun and sent it back, so I sent it to ARS (my preferred FAL builder) and he informed me that the receiver on my rifle as well as most of the other SA58s he sees is out of tolerance. The magazine well was too shallow, and after machining it functioned perfectly. DSA wouldn't cover the bill and still denied that anything was wrong with their rifles. After that whole experience, I have no interest in buying an SA58 again, but I'm also very leary of what other shortcuts they could be making with an even cheaper line of rifles.
Rhodesians weren't Dutch. A slight majority of white South Africans were Afrikaners, Dutch descendents, but not the Rhodesians. The Rhodesians were almost entirely of British extraction.
The boer wars tend to trip people up, I believe.
thank you
not Dutch , otherwise the A for automatic would have been for “Afrikaans “ 😂
Spot on from a Rhodesian.😊
Thank you, bloody yanks need geography lessons.
I am a South African, and still went to war with a R1. We called the bolt part a mouse, it is obvious why, body and a tail. The spring in the stock was called a FSS, f@cking strong spring. 😇
The RLI called their FN's "slayers". Also for obvious reasons.
By the way, your buddy in the Rhodie camo, is wearing old SADF skeleton webbing. I still have mine somewhere.
And, never load more than 18 roundes in a 20 rounds magazine. It causes stoppages if you load more than 18. Best rifle ever made, I can still strip and assemble it in my sleep. Never shoot on automatic either, it is a total waste of ammo. Identify your target, and then nuke the prick with 7.62x51. Most of the time he does not want to get up, or even move, afterwards.
Yes we were forbidden to use auto. But I was naughty and substituted it for the bren on fire and movement drills in grahams town shot 10000 rounds in one day. It got so hot I had to use my bush hat to pick it up.
Smoking.
Never broke and lasted right up to mugabe vote where we were in gonrezou area. Disguised as rhodesian soldiers.
We called "A" Afrikaans, in SA. (Old Sapper) we had "heavy barrel R1" thicker barrel for extended fire, had 30 round magazine.
@@tokoloshimampara9932 ..."floppy" was slang for getting shot with an R1, as in "he flopped around on the ground".
@@tokoloshimampara9932 lmao....as did some of the SADF too, you can tell the difference by the FNs wooden stock Vs the R1 plastic stock. My cousins were in the RLI, my uncle was a Selous scout, (SGT Laurie Ryan) They had R1's....
Im a young Afrikaans dude, still in school but I believe that more people need to own R1 rifles.
Hoping to go into politics, it should be a right to bear arms, not a privilage!
Looks like the real Based Battle Rifle really *was* the friends we made along the way.
indeed
The FAL is one that's still on my list,, I remember various people wanting me to enlist in that conflict , and as I recall, periodicals such as Soldier of fortune published ads offering very not bad pay to go help out. A camo painted FAL is synonymous with Rhodesia, can't have one without the other. Great Video, now lets see that PTRD in action...
Reminds me of when my father almost joint a mercenary outfit a few years after the bush war. British passport made him unable to (born in Rhodesia but British passports are useful), however he managed to go back to flying and ended up flying guns into Angola a few times
There's always going to be another war. Last year I received several offers to join the fight in Ukraine.
If you think a full auto FAL isn't controllable, try a G3 😊
@@MegaEvoluzione I'd had enough with an old AR-10.
I am a Rhodesian, live in SA today. The Rhodesian army also made extensive use of the AK47 and RPD. I fired an FN many times on the farm as a teenager - my dad and older brother were given them. …my highlight was when some RLI spent a couple of days around our house (helicopters picking them up and dropping them back). The guy allowed me fire a few bursts with his MAG. They were super friendly and my mom cooked heaps of food for them. We left in 1983.
Is rhodesia in the Room with us right now?
@@Evilknight76 what do you mean ?
@@Wolf-hh4rvRhodesia never existed only Zimbabwe you are not Rhodesian you were born on our continent that’s all. A dog born in a stable will never be a horse
@@RoCK3rAD you are absolutely right although born in Africa I am a proudly a person of exclusively European ancestry.
Zimbabwe isn't real buddy, there's only occupied Rhodesia@@RoCK3rAD
My grandfather was a Major in the Rhodesian Army, and seeing this video brought back all the stories he used to tell me when i was younger as we sat drinking,some wholesome, some not so much hehe. A hard man who lived a hard life, but an excellent story teller and drinking buddy.
Nice. My Grandpa was Rhodie Dad’s Army and made friends with some top brass after the war. My dad attended a dinner with him with some big guys IE literally the head of the Rhodesian Air Force.
@@ScottTheBot07 Nice one, i actually met a few of the former higher ups during a remembrance day march for vets of ww2 and later conflicts from the UK and former commonwealth nations, i think i met the former head or deputy head of Mil Intel, some air force officers, a Former Selous scout and a few former Rifle officers like my Granddad.
Be a man among men 🫡
Wasn't that hard, he lost
@@ChadOfAllChads If you live in Zimbabwe, you're the one who truly lost. But I'm sure you live in some non Commie country, where you sing the praises of Spoiled rich boy Karl Marx.
The standard rifle of the Brazilian army from 1964, till today. Today, we are starting to use the imbel IA2, which is, in some terms, a FAL 2.0. FAL, also known as Preto Veio (Old N-word) or Fátima Alves de Lima. Sd Rafael, of the Brazilian army, salute you, Brandon. 🇧🇷
Grab up any surplus FAL magazines as they adopt the new gun and sell them to me in the states
My cousin is a state trooper in Brazil and he is issued a FAL for duty on the highway. Not like anything happens where he needs to use it.
Also my friend is a cop in Rio and he has a rusty FAL lol. State troopers in Brazil get better gear
used to have a century imported fal with an imbel receiver, was told they are some of the more desirable ones
My FAL is built mostly from an Imbel parts kit 👍 (and a DSA receiver)
Myself born in Rhodesia during the bush war, it makes me smile watching this and love the flag in the background. The FAL aka FN as we called it was the business in the day and not much to hide behind..... Thanks Brandon
rip bozo
@@Yanate1991 gook*
@@Yanate1991 Marxist found
@Yanate1991 The Zimbabweans dying from hunger today? 😂😂😂yes, true rip bozo moment
Just so yall know, this comment says it has 4 replies (should be 5 after my posting this) but it only shows 1 from yanate, meaning youtube is hiding your comments. Might wanna make a new reply
Hey Brandon… How’re you doing. Not sure if you’ll ever see this from a year-old video but maybe you will.
A whole lifetime ago, I fought in the Rhodesian war. Really interesting video. Thank you.
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this to you, but just to clear something up…
We did not refer to the rifle as a ‘FAL’. We called it an ‘FN’. And we referred to the calibre as .762.
We also very rarely used full auto, to conserve our ammo. Normally single shots or double-taps.
Thanks again and all the best to you. Your channel rocks!
Came for Brandon's bush war gun, stayed for the talking balaclava
When I joined the British Army at 16, we used our own version of the FN FAL called the 7.62mm L1-A1 SLR, which didn't have full auto. I can tell you that it was an absolutely outstanding weapon, tough, reliable, accurate and packed a massive punch, much more powerful than the 5.56mm SA-80 that we got when they retired the SLR.
I used the SLR too 1988-92. Isn't it ironic that in Afghan they found the SA80 inadequate for longer ranges in the valleys and mountain ranges, so they introduced a 7.62mm ''Sharpshooter'' rifle at section level I think.
@@simonh6371yeah two sharpshooters per section i believe
Good one Brandon! As an ACTUAL Rhodesian, I can tell you we actually called them Eff Enns back in the day rather than FALs!
I’m digging the AM 180 as well... used operationally by our SAS.
Cheers!
now the mukumbura song is in my head again
Is that a bad thing? I knew Harry and Dave from Leprechaun who backed Mike Westcott in ‘it’s a long way to Mukumbura’ and ‘we are the Shumba drinkers’.
@@the_gasworks not a bad thing, i just listened to the song again, though it did give me a wave of melancholy, the old timers are dropping like flies, and ive seen a few more than i can handle well who ive known my whole life go just like that, really makes me appreciate the ones still left, but also leaves me sad at how little has been passed on to the youngsters.
RHODESIANS NEVER DIE!!! ....we keep them North of the Sambesi....
We argentinians call them FALs
The warcrimes and unnecessary warfare gun
The Rhodies were not Dutch or afrikaners, they were distinctly brittish. Source: Me, a South African with Rhodesian relatives.
Half true.
Many Afrikaner farmers went there. Generation or two later you got many Afrikaans surnames that spoke english very fluently.
@@user-ez9en7vk2z I still don't think it justifies calling Rhodesians as a whole "Dutch."
thank you
@@user-ez9en7vk2z As I am from there I can correct you there its not half true. Most were not Dutch and many of those "Dutch" names were from Belgium or France. There were also many Jews, Portuguese, Greek, Irish, and Italian.
@@watkinsrory I am also from there and it seems also more informed. The french surnames are Hugenots who went there as 2nd rate afrikaans farmers but managed to thrive over a few generations. The english could go back back to Britain after independence but other "whites" couldn't.
This brought back memories of my time with the SLR as we called it in AUS. We also had an auto version known as the AR from memory which used the larger mags, similar to the one used in your video with fold out bipod/forestock. I loved that weapon so so much and you certainly knew you'd been to the range at the end of the day or being punished and having to do laps at high port arms around the parade ground as it starts to get a little heavy after a while. Thank you guys for sharing.
Hi Jenny, ex-NZ infantry here but living in Brissy. I was issued the SLR first up while the Army was transitioning to the M16. I kept my SLR after seeing what the 7.62 did to ballistic gel on the range in comparison to what the 5.56 didn't do. Mine had iron sights and wood furniture. It would be a real collectors piece now... I miss it.
Man I've never been so happy for a guy on the internet as I am now for Admin. I can't imagine the joy he felt after that full auto mag dump. The whole intro with you guys standing next to each other blasting with the song going in the background just gives off great fucking vibes, great stuff boys!
Throwing down a full auto mag dump puts a smile on your face like no other.
You know what else is a thiccc chonky boi like that magazine? Brandon’s jaw line!! Boy is getting THICCC! Time to get back to the gym.
This video is awesome, thank you, Brandon! We had the FAL in the South African Defence Force (SADF), but it was called the R-1. At the rear of the muzzle break there is a ridge for a metal gas ring. This was used to launch rifle grenades, including anti-tank ones. A ballustite round was used for this - basically a blank on steroids (a FMJ would be somewhat counter-productive). The gas setting was increased for this purpose. The grenade sight is folded down at the front of the handstock. Would be cool to see a video of this, hint, hint. We also had an R-1 Heavy Barrel which could be used for sniping. With the longer barrel and tripod, it was accurate to about 700m.
Ja, we had an R1 on the farm as my dad in a kommando, we had some R4s and R5s as well that I grew up shooting with and carrying. Loved that R1, but shooting it as a kid was a challenge 😁
Mildly inaccurate, the grenade setting on the FAL/R1 gas plug cuts off the gas bleed off to the piston. Essentially making the rifle a straight-pull bolt action.
@@guymansonjr4780 Thanks Guy, I didn't know that.
@@henryvandeventer2457 I was in in the SAAF and also had the dubious honour of having the R-2 aka H&K G3 during basics. It was awful in every way.
@@guymansonjr4780 How was the recoil when launching a rifle grenade?
Ex zimbo here, my dad fought in the war. Proud of him. We had an FN and G3 on the farm, used for hunting, target shooting and pest control. Cool rifle bru ! 😀
Pest control......floppies
"G3 and a FAL on our farm for pest control" is the most American shit I've ever heard from a non american.
@@PhansiKhongoloza thats a funny way of saying the native population that kicked out white's.
@@Alexwhatisit So the San and Khoi kicked the whites out???
Funny history lessons you had!
@@PhansiKhongoloza countries not called Rhodesia now for a reason. And vast majority left after.
Brandon: "That's not a FAL. (pulls out his rhody boi) now this, this is a FAL"
Edit: I can't help but see that Brandon is slowly starting to look more like Doughnut with that magnificent mustache. 😂
*Australian accent "that's not a Rhodesian"
*Rhodesian accent "Now that's a Rhodesian"
That was my assigned weapon when I was a part of the Canadian Reserve forces, way back when dirt was new. I loved that thing when it came to qualifying on the range, but humping that thing on hikes was a pain because it weighed 11 pounds without the extra loaded mags and the loose ammo we used to carry. The FAL I had could have castrated a tick 350 yards with iron sights, it was an awesome rifle, but when we made the change to the C7, which was the AR-15 I tried to buy the FAL from the armories but they wouldn't let me. I was very sad. And the switch to the C7 was like using a plastic toy after being used to the FAL, and I so missed the sound of that gun, the FAL sounds so sweet when it fires. Hearing it on your channel brings me back to the early eighties like a vengeance. I had forgotten how awesome the FAL sounds, thanks for bringing it back for me!! As for your question, I would LOVE to see the UMP-45 next, it's one of my Favs from long ago.
My condolences on not being able to buy a FAL. Maybe one day, you'll be able to own one.
Ex Aussie military, I learned my trade on our SLR (British/Australian ) version of this. Our auto had the 30 round mag and the forestock folded out to a bipod and had a much heavier barrel which helped the thing stay a bit more stable, but just a bit. Was and still is my favourite weapon.
If you talk about the Rhodesian FN-FAL, almost all ex-Rhodies are going to come out of the woodwork and start talking about our memories. I was born towards the end of the war, but the FN was the first rifle I handled (my dad's service weapon). When my dad cleaned it, he would sometimes let my brother and I hold it, and it was a constant companion whenever we went on fishing trips or road trips.
The LARPs were very entertaining, but I had to take a paralysis break when the lame Bush puns started. 😆😆😆
Great video!
All us ex Rhodies kids handle that gun
You guys lost lol
@@ChadOfAllChads>self proclaimed chad
>spams copypasta in yt comment sections
>defends communism
Sounds like someone else is losing
@@wasabia349 Spams copy pasta? Lol
@@ChadOfAllChads Your only comeback? Lol
It's true that 11+ round capacity mags magically turn their owners into super deadly assassins but I learned all too late that the Rhodie mags I bought for my FAL (no others were in stock at the time) have magically implanted the lyrics to Rhodesians Never Die into my head. I didn't even know that song existed before the mags arrived in the mail.
Makes sense. Should probably come with a warning.
Relatability 💯
@@ScottTheBot07 rholatability*
As a gun nut South African, this video is class!!!! GOOD LORD!!!! Admin's character is great!
Hey Brandon! Love the content. Glad to finally see the other guys back. Love you man!
2:46 Rhodesia's white population is mostly of British descent with a good number of Afrikaners thrown in.
My Father served with 32 Battalion (Special forces) in the SA Army during the Bush war and loved the FAL (R1 main battle rifle)
It's quite rare that you see a full auto FAL.
And it's good to see donut and Administrative results in the same video.
Never shot the full auto but I loved being taught firearms with the L1A1 SLR (British FAL). Wonderful thing to give to a teenage cadet and a step up from the rechambered SMLEs we started with :)
Oh and the UMP 45 would be nice to see, everyone and their grandma has done a P90 but very few touch on the UMP.
I hope he does the UMP
You can make the FAL/SLR full auto by simply placing a bit of wood or metal under the sear, which you can lift when the receiver is open and the dust cover off. Simply a part of the trigger group.
@@carrisasteveinnes1596 how to break the law with a piece of wood hahaha
@@carrisasteveinnes1596 For some strange reason we were very carefully watched to make sure that no disassembly or modification occurred. No idea why, we definitely didn't field strip the Bren or GPMG when no one was looking or anything...
Aye boytjie! Great video. My father was stationed in Namibia during the Border War and was telling me all about the R1 - namely that full auto was borderline "useless"...and that if you hit someone once, that would often do the trick.
One of my fav videos so far. Looking like a proper bush recce bru!
That's partly why we trained to tap the trigger. 2 rounds off at a time
Tis always a good day when Brandon uploads a video. Let alone a video with Administrative Results and Donut
Never a dull moment with range content. Also when larp and Admin included it makes things even more awesome.
We call the bolt the mouse as it looks like a mouse with a tail. Also a neat trick if you ever get a round stuck, you step on the charge handle, similar to kick starting a bike. Love these guns. Fortunate enough to shoot one every now and then.
Nice video. Nice to see her run. I have a fairly large and assorted collections of original FAL's and L1A1's. The parts interchangeability and ease of field repair were big pluses with these battle rifles as well. Most parts interchange even between inch and metric patterns. We used them in the Canadian Armed Forces and were actually the first country to fully adopt the rifle in the C1 and C2 configurations. Anyways, nice vid!!
When I was in grade school, I was looking through a book and saw a picture of an FAlL. And said to myself...one day I will have one. Took several decades
Good for you man I saw a G11 and I want one. I am still trying to get one
@@Yeeoldman63 I think it will be easier for you to get 2 Ferraris before getting 1 G11. Don't worry I do share your struggle
It’s my grail rifle.
@@Seb-Storm yea I own a 82 DeLorean and it’s probably more cheaper than a G11
In the 1950s the South African Defence Force under license through DENEL (Lyttleton Engineering Works at the time) made their own version of the FN FAL, it is called the Vektor R1 Rifle and was used through out the Bush War and Border War from the 1960s to the late 1980s. Some Police and Military still use it today
Also used by the ANC cadres for CIT's now days.
Mum lived in Northern Rhodesia now Zambia till 1979. She lost some good friends along the Zambezi Valley during the early part of the Bush War.
I always love to see videos like this.
There’s a family in my village who comes from Zimbabwe, the dad fled during the Rhodesian Bush War. They’re a very nice and friendly family.
Zimbabwe sounds like monkey. Rhodesia is the real name.
@@pvdp2 They call it Zimbabwe, so I call it Zimbabwe. Cope.
@@pvdp2This is why you lost and were kicked out of Africa and its peoples land 🇿🇼🇿🇼🇿🇼😂😂😂
@@MalcolmIIofCaledonia I call it Hungry
Why in Gods name would you ever want to be live in a place named after a british person?
Really enjoy your show. Straight to the point and informative. Living in South Africa we know these FALs quite well. A lot of ours are the R1 which our SADF used before the R4s. Always a jol to see
"We are the Shumba Drinkers..."
More of this rifle please!!
One of the best battle rifle but not better than g3
@@u2beuser714 I would love to have a true G3 cause I fucking love that rifle
@@Chris09978 Get you a galil instead.
@@KickbuttBuzzcutDickheadmeh I’m not a fan of them to be honest. Although I do find it hilarious that it has a bottle opener. It’s not my taste I have always loved the G3 it’s one of my favorite historical firearms ever, my favorite rifle out of all the historical ones is it’s going break the bank and my house may even get evicted but it’s the STG 44
@@u2beuser714 Fn FAL all the way.
I emigrated to the USA several years ago from South Africa. I did my basic training in the SA army with the R1 / FAL. Your video brought back many memories, mostly good ones. Thank you!
ps. Only REAL MEN wear short shorts 🙂
YES.... YES we do! 😏👍
Based
Men wear trousers
Real men wear shorts
The realest of men wear kilts
And James Reeves....
The fight is here. Remember that VOW you swore. You even sung it and affirmed it- DIE STEM.
Ruis die stem van ons geliefde,
Van ons land Suid-Afrika.
Ons sal antwoord op jou roepstem,
Ons sal offer wat jy vra:
Ons sal lewe, ons sal sterwe -
Ons vir jou, Suid-Afrika.
1:08 CONTACT!!! ...and then chorus hits, beautifully done🫡
Well done guys! Im South African and loved this LARP!! Oh FAL's cut down trees very well. Personal R1(SA FAL) experience. Fun fact : SA sanitized (R1) FAL's given to Rhodesia have the SA coat of arms proof mark cut out in a big circular cut right side of the mag well.
It had me doing a double take when he said it was an original rifle
@@ianpeifer Too his credit he did say the receiver was USA made. 100% authentic Rhodesian FAL's are hard to get! Larry Vickers has one!
Larry Vickers had one like that.
@@guymansonjr4780 Thanks, I did just mention that. Good to know some take History seriously as I do!
I shot an SLR as an army cadet, the Australian FAL. At the time I was 4 foot tall and weighed 25Kg's.. every three rounds I had to crawl forward, the recoil for mini me was ridiculous 😂
Loved cadets in high school. Kids teaching kids how to shoot the SLR, field strip, clean and carrying them on ANZAC day. I wonder if Army Cadets touch a gun now days?
@@richardgunn7477, last time I saw a cadet with a rifle, it was an all white resin replica. Tragic really.
@@saltyseadawg4768 I used to carry and some times get to fire them. I think we were some of the last to do that though.
@@saltyseadawg4768 a shame, especially since the lower recoil of 5.56×45mm makes the modern EF88 Austeyr even more suitable for inexperienced cadets.
@richardgunn7477 I did cadets from 2017 to 2019 and at least my unit which when I was there I believe the largest non school (so non forced) unit in qld and we even barely touched them. Like we used wtss maybe twice a year and got to hold unloaded ones on display once or twice a year as well. I only ever got to shoot once and that was because I did cactc. When I did cadets we couldn't even say opfor and 95% of field exercises was just nav without a purpose. Just walk to these coordinates ok now go to these ones as pretty much anyrh else was deemed to militristic and could be misconstrued to be training child soldiers at least at unit levels. On annual ftx we got to do a bit mlre depepending on what level you where on but It's bs now days. We are basically scouts in cams at best now days
I should add that myself was fortunate enough to use the wtss probably bwtween 5 and 10 times a year in 2018/2019 and got to do a bit more weapons handling but as I said that's only because I did the national cactc comp and was training for that so unless you really seek it and get selected for something like that cadets is shlt now days
I'm glad to see you're hooked up with Americana Pipedream. I ordered a few things from them already that are awesome. That FAL is a dream weapon of mine. I want one just like that one day. Glad you got yours, and good to see Admin!
“Fully semi-automatic, the way the founding fathers intended.” - Abe Lincoln
Petition to call the trio of Brandon, Donut and Admin "The Based Boys"
As a fellow enthusiast of short, brushstroke shorts, this may have been my favorite video you've ever done Brandon! Appreciate all the Blood Diamond references too. That remains one of my all time favorites, and the inspiration for the only rifle I've ever actually built.
Love seeing Americana Pipedream get the love they deserve. I've been following them since their first pipe sales :)
Lived in Rhodesia as a kid in 78/79. Used to love it when the army came into town carrying these bad boy.
I swear... I'm never gonna get tired of rhodie FAL videos... you guys keep making them!
Thank you for highlighting our battle rifle, but I never personally encountered a full auto FAL, which is very difficult to control. There were some attempts made to create a muzzle climb deflector with various levels of success, but not widely adopted. I certainly preferred the FAL to the G3 used later in the war.
The FAL bolt is built like a shot guns. The best part is the simplicity of function. Simpler than a AK, sturdier than AR, more reliable than a m1, more accurate than a m14. I'd like to see you start making modern FAL's.
U.S. anyways: m14 still go pew
but was it as cheap as an AK?
@@ASlickNamedPimpback no. It was one of the most expensive rifle of it time. Thanks FN.
Isn't the "DS arms SA 58" called the modern FAL? I have no idea so feel free to correct me.
How do the American PTRs of today compare?
That's an R1 7,62 modelled by South Africa on the FN 7,62 that Rhodesia originally used before being supplied by RSA. Pause the video and you will see the R1 stamping on the body!
I noticed this as well. This rifle was most probably made under license in RSA. I hated the rifle as I am left handed and when we went shooting would come back to the base with burns down my right hand arm. We used to go out on patrol in the SAW/Namibia war with 14 Mags each loaded with 18 rounds. Heavy as hell.
My grandad fought for the Rhodesian security force before we left to America pretty cool to see a real FAL from there
"Rhodesians Never Die"
There's a great series on yt, "fighting men of rhodesia"
@@wingatebarraclough3553 they actually do quite often.
Only after killing 3000+ communists in short shorts
Congrats on your new acquisition!!! THAT rifle is magnificent!!!! Great piece of history. Thanks Admin and Doughnut!!! Nice to have you in a Brandon vid. Nice Larp too BTW!!! Thanks for a wonderful video. Great history lesson, pretty good humor, and 3 goof ballz shooting a FAL!!!! WHAT is there, NOT to love!!!!!!!!!
Australia took the L1A1 to Vietnam too. Dished up much more "satisfying" results than any M16 or derivative ever could. Oh, ours had a different, and fairly effective flash suppressor.
My mom was born in Rhodesia and my grandpa fought in the bush wars. I’m not sure 100% what weapon he used. My mom grew up in Salisbury in a suburb and said it was a really nice place to have grown up. They ended up leaving in 1977 when mugabe came to power and went to the UK. My grandma was heart broken and my grandpa still refers to zimbawe as Rhodesia to this day if I ask anyone asks about it.
Forgive me if someone else has commented the same: I was in the South African army 79-80 as a conscript and volunteered to serve as a paratrooper. We, along with most infantry units were issued the same weapon - the FAL you posted on. I noted the wording above the safety lever on your FAL said "R1-7.62mm." This is what the rifle was called in South Africa - an R1. Chambered for a 7.62x51mm NATO standard cartridge (your .308 you mentioned). The Rhodesian version was identical. I imagine, but am not certain, that they were supplied by South Africa, since the weapon was a carbon copy of the FN FAL. Paratroopers were issued with a folding stock version of the R1 and were really amazing. During my second year we migrated to the R4, a copy of the Israeli Galil (5.56×45mm NATO cartridge). Also, an awesome weapon with a lot less kick than the R1 and way more rounds to a magazine (35 capacity, but normally filled with 30 to spare the spring). Thank you for your great content.
Rhodesia was under some very strict sanctions, so yes, most of their weapons/supplies were secretly sent over by SA for most of the war.
30000 R1's were sold to Rhodesia, most Rhodie "FN's" were originally South African R1's. There were also "FN's" from other nations which Rhodesia possessed eg Israel, West Germany (G1) etc. And of course Brit "FN's" i.e. SLR's. But most of Rhodesia's stock would have been South African R1's. PS thank you for your service! A few of my family served in the Bats...I was born "too late" to have been a part of that era.
💯The steadfast R1, we had the R1 in Basic and then moved to the R4 in Oudtshoorn.
I was in 6sai the same time as you. I wasn't impressed with the 5.56 when the parabats had a contact next to us in the caprivi /zambia the bullet was too light for penetrative power through the long grass.
The FAL and the British QuickKill technique were designed around each other. The combination is an incredible fast-acquisition/fast-action shooting system that I haven’t seen quite duplicated anywhere else.
Is that like QuickClot?
@@johnsmith-fy8jo No - it’s a shooting technique.
South african here 🇿🇦. This is a awesome video Brandon. Some of the FAL's supplied to Zimbabwe was from South Africa but to hide that the South African government removed alot of the markings on the guns namely the coat of arms on the magwell by cutting it off.
Shhhhh
That's a South African secret
Manufactured by Denel?
@@hellowaves yeah, used to be called kentron before Denel
@@Fearsattention A secret that's taught to millions of South African history students in school ?.
Rhodesians never die was such a missed opportunity for the song at the start
I carried a fully camoed R1 (the South African-made FAL) in basic training in the 1980s. Great weapon. Iconic design.
Me too. 78 to 79 July intake grahams town
My dad used these while part of the British Royal Engineers. In his words "One of the best weapon systems I have used!". These were issued with the Wood Hand Guard and Buttstock and 20 Round Box Mags.
My dad served in the Rhodesian Army for 4 years and was in combat, this thing saved his bacon more than once in the bush
Yip had something similar in the SADF 1976. The first one issued in basics was still stamped FN. Rhodesia was mainly English - the Dutch in SA but thats irrelevant ....when they fitted the non wooden stocks it made a very smooth carry. Even at age 65 I will accept nothing else going to war for guarding townships or fuel stations. My only regret is we never got to fire them on full auto - the bush war was going at high speed so it was for the privvy of fighting dudes.
This rifle is stamped R1 ;) 🇿🇦