i just watched a blog film of a couple guys shooting an actual fn manufactured fn fal rifle, in .308 win/7.62x51mm nato.
the usual.-- nice gun. shoots pretty well on semi-auto, where it's aimed. a "beast" on full auto, wants to rise up and to the right. well, o.k. but, has anyone ever had the brilliant idea of hand loading this thing "down," so as to reduce the impact of the full horse .308 ammo.
now, i had an m-1a1 and loaded 168 grain sierra bullets w/ h/4895 or imr/4895 to about 2500 fps, and it was a mild load to shoot, and very fun. i have no idea how it would be to shoot the same load through an m-1a1, or an fn fal in .308, on full auto.
who knows?
but, if you want a rifle that you can shoot on auto, and hold onto a discrete target, why not adopt the simple expedient of reducing both the weight of the bullet/projectile, and the charge weight of the powder, to get ballistics somewhat analogous to the soviet 7.62x39mm (model 43).*** everybody on earth seems to agree that the soviet round is pleasant to shoot, and to hold on target, even on full auto. (i am not so sure about this, as from what i have seen of them on full auto, on film, i have never been shot at, they also tend to jump around a little bit. but, who cares about fact, let us just accept the popular wisdom.)
so, why not shoot reduced load .308's through an fn fal, or an m1-a1, or the g-93 heckler & koch, and see how they perform. shoot 'em single shot, shoot 'em burst fire (3 rounds at a time, should be manageable), and on full auto, just to waste ammo and show how controllable they are to fire.
i cannot think of any reason whatsoever why this wouldn't work famously. or, at least as well as an ak-47 shooting on full auto. (see above.)
test them with real troops. keep the god damned experts away. ask the troops what they think about the round and the rifles, what they like, what they don't like, how the whole thing can be tinkered with a bit in order to reach perfection. do not let anyone about the rank of sgt. major have anything to do with the whole process, and for god's sake, don't let too many engineers dink with the whole process. keep it simple.
now, those people who worry about logistics and such will scream bloody murder. as well they should. but, this is just a proof of concept sort of thing. everybody has got it in their little pea heads that a battle rifle cannot be made that will shoot well on full auto, yet be sturdy enough and light enough to be carried around by an individual soldier. to which i say, nonsense. i have made a "mild cat wild cat" similar in concept and ballistics to the 7.62x39mm (model 43 russian), and it is an absolute pleasure to shoot. i haven't tried full auto, but, i think that it would be quite manageable ..... at least equal to the ak-47 in that regard.++++++
john jay @ 10.06.2021
*** sierra, hornady, ... , any number of people make .308" caliber bullets, about 130 to 135 grains in weight, some flat based (entirely satisfactory to my view of things), some boat tailed (easier to reload, and theoretically more accurate at long distances, but we are talking auto fired from conscripted troops, so who gives a shit about accuracy?) and, perhaps ideally, speer makes a flat based 125 grain tnt bullet, that would be just about ideal. load the cartridge to approximately 2400 to 2450 fps with (either) 4895, which is very amenable to giving uniform velocity and pressure in reduced loadings, with no tendency for pressure spikes and erratic velocity. and, shoot the damned things on full auto in the "beast" rifles, to see if they are more controllable. (yes, yes, yes, i know that the gas systems and spring rates would have to be tinkered with a bit to get reliable functioning in the rifles, .... , but, no obstacle to someone with a bit of the old experimenter "blood." no trouble what-so-never.)
you will notice that the performance level i have set out is a teensy bit "hotter" than the 7.62x39mm, but not so much as to impact the rifles' performance. and, i suspect that they (the rifles) should be transformed into pussy cats, easily controlled, easy to shoot accurately on full auto (this is a relative concept in full auto guns, btw), and most importantly, not to damaging to the bodies and psyches of delicate little troops, not used to being kicked around a little bit.
if that works, make a new cartridge in .308" w/ a bit smaller case, upsize the ar-15 a teensy weensy, and start turning them out like hotcakes. easy smeasy.
++++++and, this would be a hell of a lot easier to do than to develop a new air superiority fight air craft. but, everybody wants to work on weapons systems .... new planes, new tanks, new missiles.
and, nobody pains any damned attention at all, to making killing foot soldiers more efficient to kill, and to hit with lethal shots. and, to me, this is where you win wars. slogging it out, killing the other guy's soldiers. in the long run, the rifle remains the king and queen of battle in my estimation. you can win a war with the sherman tank against king tigers and the lesser panzers, you can destroy towns and cities, but you cannot win without being able to kill the other guy's soldiers.
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