I wish I had bought one back in the early 90's. Back then they were $4k and I had a line on one. Turns out the dealer screwed me over, took my money and never delivered the gun. It took me 3 months with the help of the ATF to get my money back.
Oh well... I tried. Now I get to look at them in pictures.
Posts: 7 | Location: Valpo, IN - USA | Registered: 08 April 2005
I think that it is a terrible rifle! Sorry! But probably, at least, being a product of France, better made than the SA80 which is an awful rifle!
What a useless thing...SA80 too...to inflict on a soldier. Almost the story of the French Army. Elan and panache but poorly designed long arms.
How can the nation that gave the world "Balle D" equip it soldiers with this travesty of a battle rifle? No doubt the same way the nation that gave its men the SMLE and No4 can give them SA80!
Like all bullpups, although I've only shot a FAMAS once it has a terrible balance and I think would be a poor melee weapon. A real risk - as with the SA80 which killed a soldier in training - of shooting oneself if executing a buttstroke following a left parry.
Also too many projections for an opponet to get a hold of. I can't see the point of the long carry handle, and it can't be fired off the left shoulder around cover. Just as the SA80 cannot.
And again.like all bullpups lethal to the user if having to change magazines whilst in the prone position and under fire having to take one eyes off the target and raise ones body and generally excessively move around and reveal ones position.
It's terrible. Sorry! There is only one advantage...like the SA80...it will easily fit in the "poubelle" (dustbin/trash can) when you have the chance to throw it away and get a proper rifle.
With the exception of the Austrian Steyr rubbish everybody else does it better because they don't do "bullpup"...Colt M16, Beretta, Sig, HK.
A measure of how bad the FAMAS and the SA80 are is that, AFAIK, nobody else that has a choice of what their armed forces use has purchased it. The SA80? Used in Jamaica but only because we gave them some for free...and where the individual there has a choice they choose the M16.
How much does it weigh? SA80 is far too heavy!
Now I did have a MAB P-15 and that was good! So is my easy-opener Fusil Robust E28 16 Bore.
Posts: 6824 | Location: United Kingdom | Registered: 18 November 2007
You probably did not have to carry your MAB P 15 a whole day, not even one...And you never had fun like being in an armoured personal carrier with a rifle, doing house clearing with a rifle, lauching AP grenades with a rifle. With an overall length equal to a M4 carbine, the barrel is equal to the M16 A2 barrel. it has been proven in combat in desert like in Chad, Iraq and other african countries as well as in jungle. It works at minus 30°C. It is accurate up to 600 m and newly trained soldiers hit with 90% rate the first times they handle it. It is reliable. Its three point combat sling has been copied everywhere. And I like its shape because of its design and because you immediately ID friend or foes.
Posts: 157610 | Location: Ukraine, Europe. | Registered: 12 October 2002
Originally posted by enfieldspares: I think that it is a terrible rifle! Sorry! But probably, at least, being a product of France, better made than the SA80 which is an awful rifle!
What a useless thing...SA80 too...to inflict on a soldier. Almost the story of the French Army. Elan and panache but poorly designed long arms.
How can the nation that gave the world "Balle D" equip it soldiers with this travesty of a battle rifle? No doubt the same way the nation that gave its men the SMLE and No4 can give them SA80!
Like all bullpups, although I've only shot a FAMAS once it has a terrible balance and I think would be a poor melee weapon. A real risk - as with the SA80 which killed a soldier in training - of shooting oneself if executing a buttstroke following a left parry.
Also too many projections for an opponet to get a hold of. I can't see the point of the long carry handle, and it can't be fired off the left shoulder around cover. Just as the SA80 cannot.
And again.like all bullpups lethal to the user if having to change magazines whilst in the prone position and under fire having to take one eyes off the target and raise ones body and generally excessively move around and reveal ones position.
It's terrible. Sorry! There is only one advantage...like the SA80...it will easily fit in the "poubelle" (dustbin/trash can) when you have the chance to throw it away and get a proper rifle.
With the exception of the Austrian Steyr rubbish everybody else does it better because they don't do "bullpup"...Colt M16, Beretta, Sig, HK.
A measure of how bad the FAMAS and the SA80 are is that, AFAIK, nobody else that has a choice of what their armed forces use has purchased it. The SA80? Used in Jamaica but only because we gave them some for free...and where the individual there has a choice they choose the M16.
How much does it weigh? SA80 is far too heavy!
Now I did have a MAB P-15 and that was good! So is my easy-opener Fusil Robust E28 16 Bore.
IS there not an old saw about not throwing stones re 'awful' and 'ugly'? Is this - no, can this - be coming from a denizen of the country that gave the world the Sten ["Stench"] gun?? That little bugger had to have held the patent on 'ugly!'
Lord, give me patience 'cuz if you give me strength I'll need bail money!! 'TrapperP'
Posts: 3742 | Location: Moving on - Again! | Registered: 25 December 2003
Edmond, my friend. I've carried an M-1 and an M-14 all day for days. These cute, and ungodly ugly, plastic toys, shooting goundhog calibers just don't cut it. Real rifles are 30 caliber, have wooden stocks and are heavy.
Jim
PS Now days I play with an AR10 carbine. Plastic, yes, but 30 caliber.
"Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force." --Thomas Jefferson
Posts: 6173 | Location: Richmond, Virginia | Registered: 17 September 2000
I started with carrying a MAS 49/56 or an AA52, I can understand. but it was wonderful when I carried something lighter like a MAT 49, the FA MAS was entering service.
Pictures of the silent grenade launcher used by the French.
Posts: 157610 | Location: Ukraine, Europe. | Registered: 12 October 2002
An honor guard from the French army's 6th Battalion stands at attention as they await the arrival of Lt. Gen. Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, commander of Joint Forces in Saudi Arabia, during Operation Desert Shield.
Posts: 157610 | Location: Ukraine, Europe. | Registered: 12 October 2002
Robthom, I am not aware of any left hand versions of 15/16 rifles/carbines in use today in U.S. Military. Perhaps special situations, but not the norm. Stag in my area does not have a very high reputation on dependability as far as the left hand version goes. Perhaps a fluke?? Noted the comments on the bullpup design by the French and Brits and thought the latest word from Janes was that both were being scrapped, for sure the Brit version. Do either of these weapons utilize the M16-NATO magazine system?? Do they both use the 5.56mm NATO ammunition??
Posts: 1165 | Location: Banks of Kanawha, forks of Beaver Dam and Spring Creek | Registered: 06 January 2005
FA MAS being scrapped? Sure not. The F1 version is being fitted with a new barrel, the G2 version already has a barrel optimized for the NATO round plus a STANAG magazine. Next step is the FELIN system based on a modified FA MAS.
Posts: 157610 | Location: Ukraine, Europe. | Registered: 12 October 2002
Give the guy nice optical sights plus back up irons and holographic , yet he still does the old Pray and Spray.
Grizz
Indeed, no human being has yet lived under conditions which, considering the prevailing climates of the past, can be regarded as normal. John E Pfeiffer, The Emergence of Man
Those who can't skin, can hold a leg. Abraham Lincoln
So what is the need for this FELIN sighting system?
I know that the US played around with remote sighting and eventually decided it was not particularly useful on a rifle.
Given the size of the sight, I can't imagine it is useful for anything except some really specialized roles and probably more police type activity than military. It looks like something a general would dream up and the troops would have to deal with...
I would think it would make the rifle too unwieldy at CQB ranges and it would be too susceptible to being knocked out of alignment for any sort of ranged shooting.
Since you have some contacts with your military, what is the general role for that device?
Posts: 11283 | Location: Minnesota USA | Registered: 15 June 2007
I started with carrying a MAS 49/56 or an AA52, I can understand. but it was wonderful when I carried something lighter like a MAT 49, the FA MAS was entering service.
