FN CAL

The CAL (Carabine Automatique Légère, Light Automatic Carbine) is a Belgian assault rifle that was manufactured by Fabrique Nationale. It was the first 5.56 mm rifle produced by the Fabrique Nationale. It resembled the company's highly successful FN FAL, but was an original design. Unlike the FAL, it was a market failure, although its development led to the more successful FN FNC.

FN CAL
FN CAL on display at the National Firearms Museum, United States.
Type	Assault rifle
Place of origin	Belgium
Service history
Used by	See Users
Wars	Vietnam War Communist insurgency in Thailand Colombian conflict Nicaraguan Revolution Myanmar conflict The Troubles Lebanese Civil War Tuareg rebellion (1990–1995) 2014 Gaza War
Production history
Designer	Ernest Vervier
Designed	1963–66
Manufacturer	FN Herstal
Unit cost	(FY2022) $820
Produced	1966–1975
No. built	Approx. 30,000
Specifications
Mass	3.35 kg (7.385 lbs)
Length	980 mm (38.58 in)
Barrel length	467 mm (18.4 in)[1]
Cartridge	5.56×45mm NATO
Action	Gas-operated, rotating bolt
Rate of fire	850 rounds/min
Feed system	20-, 25-, or 30-round detachable box magazine
Sights	Iron sights

Design details

Prior to the development of the CAL, FN had already constructed a scaled-down FAL prototype before shelving the idea as unmarketable. Noting the growing sales success of the cheaper and simpler HK G3 rifle, FN decided that for any future rifle to be competitive in the marketplace, it would need to use fewer expensive precision-machined parts. These would be replaced by less expensive castings and stampings where possible. While the construction of the new CAL reflected these design principles, it was still relatively expensive and complex, and met with no significant sales. It was eventually dropped for the even less expensive FN FNC.^[2] A small number of FN CALs were sold to the civilian market in the US.

Operation

Although the weapon resembled a scaled-down FN FAL, it in fact used a rotating bolt, unlike the FAL, which used a tilting bolt design. The earlier models of the CAL had a three-round selector system, which allowed the weapon to fire a three-round burst with each trigger pull. The CAL could also fire in fully and semi-automatic modes.

The gun used long stroke gas piston to operate the bolt carrier, and the bolt itself had interrupted lugs to lock it into the chamber.^[3] Locking lugs were cut diagonally at a steep angle. So while the bolt is rotating to unlock, bolt face is slowly moving back, giving primary extraction of the case. Similar feature can be seen on MG 30, MG 15, MG 17 and MG 34.

Users

•  Belgium
•  Colombia^[4]
•  Gabon^[5]
•  Ireland: Provisional Irish Republican Army^[6]
•  Lebanon: Lebanese Forces^[5]
•  Mali: People's Movement for the Liberation of Azawad^[7]
•  Mexico
•  Morocco: Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie^[8]
•  Myanmar: Karen National Liberation Army;^[4] captured by the Myanmar junta ^[9]
•  Nicaragua: National Guard and Sandinistas
•  Palestine^[10][4]
•  Thailand

For trials

•  Pahlavi Iran: Tested the CAL for consideration to the Imperial Iranian Army, but was never adopted.^[11]

•  France: Tested the CAL in the late 1960s and early 1970s for military adoption. It had a MAS-49/56 style rifle grenade launching system. But was never adopted. ^[12]

See also

• FN FAL, 7.62mm NATO predecessor
• FN FNC, successor
• List of assault rifles