Imbel FN

I am currently in the process of purchasing the following rifle and I need some info from some of the experts. The info on the rifle is as follows...Imbel Pac 12665 Itajuba Brazil Pacific Armament Corp FZ SA 7.62 C3A ..the selector shows three positions S,R,and A. I believe this is a FN-FAL in 7.62 x 51. Also is the 7.62 x 51 the same as 308? Thanks for any info you guys can provide.(the purchase price is $650 out the door.Good deal/bad deal?

Hi Micah, I'm not a FN Fal expert but seeing as no one else has replied,I thought I would. The Imbel is a License built FAL, FN is Belgian (Fabrique National or National Factory in English) so the Imbel is a Imbel Fal. These Fals are built to Metric tolerances as opposed to the Commonwealth Imperial toleranced L1A1s and C1s etc. built by Canada, UK, Australia and India.

As far as I know the 7.62 x 51 NATO round is the same round as the .308 commercial. There will be numerous diffrences in the build of the round, i.e. wall thickness, charge weight, bullet weight etc. all which is beyond my knowledge. Hope this is of help.

Cheers, Chris.

I too am no expert but I have indulged in FAL. 95 armies adopted it. The one you are looking at with an Imbel receiver is fairly priced. However it is a "kit" rifle built by who knows. Make sure it is 922 compliant with enough US parts. The selector should have a stop added to prevent rotation to "A". Also, 7.62x51 Nato has heavier walled cases to allow for "generous" military chambers. Commercial .308 has cheaper thin wall cases which can rupture in military chambers. This is all my opinion. I love my Fals with the French tilting bolt from 1927. Regards, Gary

Micah - as others have said, IMBEL is a Brazilian made FAL under license by FN. The photos I am posting here are of my IMBEL semi-automatic FAL built on a Century Arms R1 receiver. It has a long Stolle (after Col. Stolle of Austria) flash guard. Today I switched to the stamped metal handguard which is how the Austrian STG58 variant was equipped.

It was built locally by the same person who's made my other 2 FALS. I like it with the metal handguards.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...04/fal_1-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...04/fal_3-1.jpg

I purchased this FN from Isreal Military Industries. It's tough on the jaw bone when fired.

Is the Springfield SAR 48 the same as? I have 2 both marked "Match".

7.62mm shoots the .308 NATO round? I have had for over 10 years.

"...s...Imbel Pac 12665 Itajuba Brazil Pacific Armament Corp FZ SA 7.62 C3A ..the selector shows three positions S,R,and A..."

Imported by Pacific Armament. If the selector lever does not have a projection to stop it from turning to A (for Automatic), the hammer will follow the bolt back down with a shot, effectively producing a single shot FAL. Imbel receivers are good.

For your purposes, you can shoot either .308 or 7.62 with no problems. If you are really interested in the detailed differences, Google will help.

It is 7,62 mm NATO and .308 Winchester! NOT .308 NATO!

The Springfield Armory, Inc, SAR-48 was produced by IMBEL. Springfield Armory, Inc imported them under the SAR-48 model designation. "MATCH" is a marketing tool.

I recently had a case separation in one of my reloaded Black Hills 308. Years ago I purchased a FN/FAL stuck case remover but how does it work? I did remove the case successfully with the tool. I was told this tool was for a machine gun.

Hey, do You think a firm thin pad would help ?:sos: