which receiver to buy???

[Ghilly]

Which receiver should I buy???? Hesse, Imbel, no names from FAC??? Where is the cheapest place to buy a good one? Is it worth building one when I can buy one for under $400?


Thanks,

Ghilly

[Court in Fl]

If you buy the IMBEL receiver from FAC for $199.00
you should be very happy with it.
Hard to beat the Imbel quality.

Court in Fl.

[DiabloRT]

IF you want a Type 1 = lightening cuts check out the Coonan receivers at FAC. Reviews have been good.

If you want a plain Type 3 get an Imbel.

If you want a type 1 or 2 and want to pay alot get a DSA

[TooTech]

Just finishing up a G1 build on the Coonan that I got from FAC. Looks great, timed to 10:30, and headspaces on a .263 shoulder.

Of course, I bought it BEFORE they went on sale for $199.

Oh well.

[Pa. Patriot]

I've had wonderful luck with the FAC type 1 rcvrs.
IMO, no need to pay the extra $$ on DSA.

Type III imbels are, in my experience, not fit or finished as nicely as the FAC type 1's. Parkerizing is very thin (no matter on a build that gets refinished, which is how I discovered the diff)
They also often have grinding (very ugly) marks in the magwell. Then there is the ultra cheesy (hand done?) electro pencil markings on the NGL veriety - yuck.
Functional yes, very. Attractive? No.

[Ghilly]

How good are the $400 FAL's that you can buy compared to a hand built imbel receiver w/dan's grade III kits???

Thanks,

Ghilly

[rwwje]

It's a roll of the dice or spin of the wheel (kinda like buying an Entreprise receiver). Some are great, some are fair, and some suck really bad. You can build a better FAL than Century produces, using a TAPCO Imbel kit, FAC Imbel receiver, Penguin funiture, FSE (or Century for the adventurous) hammer, tigger, and sear, various muzzle breaks/weights. The cost should/could be no more than $50 more than the CAI built gun not counting setup costs for gauges, tools, receiver/barrel wrench(s), calipers, etc. I lot of folks love the CAI FAL's; but Century has earned their reputation for poor quality. Although things seem to have improved lately, its still a gamble when you buy a Century built gun.

[MagicAnimal]

Originally posted by Ghilly
Which receiver should I buy???? Hesse, Imbel, no names from FAC??? Where is the cheapest place to buy a good one? Is it worth building one when I can buy one for under $400?


Thanks,

Ghilly


HESSE?@!? You don't need no steekin' HEXXE, man!:devil:

[HATCH]

DSA makes the BEST domestic receiver but it is top dollar.
I like the IMBEL from FAC for $200
If you want a domestic then go with the Coonan for $200 also.

Stay away from the Hesse and Enterprise.

At the build party this weekend there was this guy (name withheld) that had a Enterprise receiver.
It looked nice but I think it took a .269 locking shoulder or was it .264 I can't remember.

My Imbel took only a .2595 LS.

If you don't need the US part then go IMBEL.
If you want the US part then go COONAN.

Either way you will have a hell of a gun when it is done.

CHARLES

[dougworm]

Hi all,

I just bought my very first whole and complete FAL TODAY and I was so excited till I read the post saying to stay away from Entreprise! That really took the wind out of me! I had read someone else writing about how WONDERFUL these receivers are so I went to the web site and found out that they are machined from billet 4140 Steel. Next I drove to their plant and looked first hand .... Man are they beautiful to look at.

They have their "Government" model with Steyr mfg. STG58 parts kits installed on their type one receivers for $999 all refinished like brand new and I just fell in love right there!

But you guys are saying what? That they are sloppy? Out of original specification? What exactly?

They are unconditionally no BS life time warrantied! I am sucker for Life time warranties. What am I going to find out bad about them?? Tell ya one thing Entreprise does not seem to bad mouth their competition. They even they had several display models set up with aftermarket mods like scope mounts and those hold open covers etc ... stuff they don't even sell therefrom DSA. I had no idea that hold open device even existed! That and the making the mag release non funcitionable is THE ticket for Kalif shooting rangesopen top which is essential here in Kalifornia

And BTW Entreprise is the only place I could even find within driving distance where I could even buy an FAL as most other gun shops are scared to death to sell them. Enterprise simply follows the law by removing the pistol grip and 20 round magazine and then is happy to sell it to Comrade Citizens of the Republic of California.

I'm not saying you guys are wrong about Entreprise, I'm just saying it is hard to believe! That place is so clean and they have two NC setups working full time it looks like. Very impressive rifles to look at and handle and I can't wait to shoot ... but now I am kinda bummed, someone tell me it ain't true that they are not up to snuff! Maybe I'll ask him to check which # locking shoulders are in mine? I actually also bought a second type 3 receiver their today along with the other one just cause I was so impressed .. It was $189 and looks pretty much like an Imbel which is what I plan to assemble on to it.

Are you saying that if it has a low tolerance locking shoulder on it then it's probably just okay or great? And if it has high tolerance then what it's crap?

If these are dumb questions pleas forgive me. I just don't know.

Also I was about to order an Imbel receiver to build yet another, but you guys thing the FAC is better? Or the Coonan? (I never heard of that one yet) I have a Century paperweight blank casting and I am not at all impressed by that! #1 it's a casting and #2 I can actually see waves in the plate sections of it! I am probably going to finish that one out by hand with dremels ets .... don't laugh ... no stop ... come on stop laughing ... it's gonna be a wall hanger already! Just something to store a nice parts set on! Sprayed flat black I think it will look terrific hanging up on the wall of my den! I sure can't hang a real gun up there or I could go to jail for breaking the law about having guns unlocked. I just have to figure what to do to it so it stays NON GUN I'm thinking of boring the barrel hole all the way so it's a tight and just shove the barrel in with a dab of bondo or something that I can get off the threads later. And I and thinking of opening up the receiver all the way so there is no bolt rails ... just drop the bolt right in but leave a section at the rear opened to proper width and grind some slotage for the dust cover to hang in The hardest part will be cut the slot for the charging handle but I think I can do it ... ought to kind of fun especially since it never has to work, just look nice from the floor and hold all the parts! Hey it was only $19 and less than $100 for the parts kit ... can't get better wall art for less than that I recon!!.. and the parts kit will always be there waiting for it's own day! BTW if anyone has scrap parts to sell I would be interested so I can slowly replace all the good parts from wall hanger with junk

Man I love these rifles and I would have had one looong ago except they used to cost a bloody fortune IF you could even find em! FALs just put AR15. AKs, G3. M1A1 and every other auto loader known to man to shame ... what great rifles! What GREAT looking and handling rifles. I can hardly wait my ten days to take my new STG58C out and see for myself!! I am just now getting back into guns after being almost all the way out for years and years ... like being in a coma. Imagine my shock and delight to see all these parts kits for $100 to $500 and Receivers all over town for $190 to $400!

This boy is HAPPY ... GOTTA GET ME SOME WOOD NOW! L1A1!

And I WAS gonna get one of the next batch of Entreprise LiAi INCH 01 Receivers for $375 they are making as we speak but now after what I read here I am skeptical about my local Entreprise FAL connection?!?!?

Thanks for a great board!

Doug

[FWRA]

Dougworm,
Don't fret it man. If you are buying an Entreprise rifle you can't go wrong and they'll build you a good one. Who cares what the locking shoulder size is they will headspace it and test fire it for you and it will work as designed.

Nothin' wrong with an Entreprise rifle.

FWRA

[sportsnut]

Way to much made about locking shoulder size. I have seen a gear logo Imbel with a brand new Badger barrel from DSA need a 271 L/S. My last build was an Argentine Para kit ithat i purchased from fellow board member and dealer FWRA {thanks Mark}. I used a brand new Argintine barrel from DSA, and a new gear logo Imbel from Dealer Warehouse. This build used a 250 locking shoulder.
Dougworm good luck with your new toy. Let use know how she runs.

[cookie]

You can't go wrong with the Coonan Type I from FAC