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After World War Two, the new NATO defense alliance held a series of trials to adopt a standard cartridge and infantry rifle. This would eventually devolve and the goal of a standardized rifle would be abandoned, but during the early trials there were three main contenders: the British EM-2, the American T-25, and the Belgian FAL. The Fusil Automatique Leger was designed by Dieudonne Saive and originally presented to the British government in 8mm Kurz, before being scaled up to accommodate the British request to use the .280 cartridge. A small number of these prototype FAL rifles in .280 were delivered by FN, and used in the 1950 NATO rifle trials.
Many thanks to the Royal Armouries for allowing me to film and disassemble this very scarce trials rifle! The NFC collection there – perhaps the best military small arms collection in Western Europe – is available by appointment to researchers:
https://royalarmouries.org/research/national-firearms-centre/
You can browse the various Armouries collections online here:
https://royalarmouries.org/collection/
Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
6281 N. Oracle #36270
Tucson, AZ 85740
At Forgotten Weapons I think the most interesting guns out there are the most obscure ones. I try to search out experimental and prototype weapons and show you how they work, in addition to more conventional guns that you may not have heard of before. You’re much more likely to find a video on the Cei Rigotti or Webley-Fosbery here than an AR or Glock. So, do you want to learn about something new today? Then stick around!
Items you may have missed...
Foreign Rifles of the Spanish Republic, 1936-1939
Maxim “Prototype”: The First Practical Machine Gun
The History of C.M. Spencer, Syl H. Roper, and Their Pump Shotgun Designs: Part 1 of 3 (1833-1889)
HK-32 Prototype in 7.62x39mm
The EM2 in NATO Trials, with Jonathan Ferguson
The FAL for British Troop Trials in 1954: X8E1 & X8E2