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Originally Posted by hounddawg
I was one of the first intakes of the South-African Defence Force to be issued with the R4. It just about broke my heart to exchange the R1 for a weapon that I considered to be "superior" only in that it was considerably lighter (good for carrying - not so good for hitting a man about the head and shoulders with) and that it had a bolt-cutter on the bipod. The bolt-cutter came in very handily for cutting chains to steal laundry.
The FAL (7.62 X 51) cartridge I personally preferred for bush warfare because of the heavier bullet being less likely to be pushed astray by light brush. It is (IMHO) more stable than the 5.56mm at long range and it packed considerably more punch (We perforated figure 11 targets at 600 meters and more practicing supressive fire during "fire-and-movement" excercises. We used also the Bren as a light machinegun, and the FAL mags were identical, so in my mind a few less logistical hang-ups in the field.
If it ever came to a choice over the two combat rifles that I'm intimately familiar with I would choose the R1 (FAL) over the R4 (Galil) in a heartbeat.
I recently fired one belonging to a friend, and I swear to all that's holy that my mind said "OK, give the man back his rifle", but my hands said "HOLD ON!"
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Hounddawg,
I know the feeling. I grew up on a farm and got to shoot my dad and uncle's Ri'1 (Issued by the local kommandoe) quite a bit. I actually saw my cousin take leopard and kudu with it once. What a great rifle. Good balance, great accuracy!
If I could build a genuine R1 now and hand it to my dad, he would burst out in tears! In bush war, especially with a lot of veld like in Suid Wes, you needed something with a bit longer reach. The R1 was perfect for that. The R4's and R5's are great rifles, but for open plains like in most of SA, the R1 will always rule!