FAL Tutorial: Repairing FAL Magazines

In the past, FAL magazines were priced at a level that made it difficult to justify spending any time or money in repairing damaged ones. As the price of magazines increases, it may become cost-effective to repair instead of replace.

I have designed tooling to repair

• laterally compressed body
• dents in the side
• dents in the front
• bent feed lips
• bent floorplate lips
• compressed front catch
• damaged floorplate

I have yet to come up with a repair for a dented spine. Cracks can be filled with solder.

Pictured left to right

• flat anvil
• bucking bar made from bolt
• claw made from bolt
• brace for use with claw
• needle-nose pliers cut to clear floorplate rail
• expanding snap-ring pliers for spreading magazine body

needle-nose pliers to reshape dents at floorplate. Groove is to clear floorplate rail

needle-nose pliers for dents on bottom front.

Claw with brace to reshape feed lips. Without the brace, the lower edge of the claw will dent the body.

Anvil machined to contour of magazine front, and bucking bar made from bolt. Second anvil to support tail of bucking bar (should be approximately the same height).

hammering out dent in magazine front. If your anvil is not cut for the front magazine tab, make sure the tab overhangs the anvil so it is not crushed.

Same procedure for dents in side of magazine. Find the dent by “feeling” with the bolt, or measure and mark a corresponding position on the bolt.

Punch ground from drill rod and anvil with reverse image machined with dovetail cutter.

Front magazine tab reformed with punch.

Paddle machined from scrap oak for testing magazine follower travel.

Magazine follower moves with no binding. Dents successfully repaired.

front repair

bottom side dent. Care must be taken to not cross over the groove with the babbit bar. I used a bolt with a hex head so the flat came right up to the edge of the groove.

Multiple front dents. This is pretty common from contact with the bottom front of the magazine well.