Originally Posted By: SR5
The 7.62mm FN FAL aka L1A1 aka SLR aka C1A1 was the standard issue battle rifle for British Commonweal countries from the mid 50's to the late 90's. It was carried by soldiers from the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Rhodesia and other countries.
It has seen combat in The Troubles in Northern Island, the jungles of Vietnam (carried by ANZAC troops), the Falklands War (on both sides), the Malayan Emergency, the Rhodesian Bush War and many other conflicts. Four decades and four continents of true military service.
To this day, every Australian Soldier needs to qualify on the 5.56mm FN Minimi light machine gun (except Doctors etc.) called the F89 in Australia and I believe the M249 SAW in the USA. I believe this belt fed machine is actively carried by something like 45 countries around the world. There is also a heavier 7.64mm version. Certainly the Minimi carried by the Australia Army are very reliable and well liked. That chrome lined bore is easy to clean, the rest less so, but it always went bang when asked, clean or dirty. Some of the older Australian soldiers (Diggers) I served with carried the FN SLR Rifle when it was standard issue and they all liked it a lot. We carry the 5.56mm Steyr now.
Edit: I see a few others were a bit quicker than me.
The FN FAL was nearly adopted by the US military, but they decided to go with a costly upgrade of the M-1 resulting in the M-14...