Williams Arms FAL Receiver

[netanyaman]

I ordered an aluminum upper receiver from Williams Arms and it took about two months to arrive (at the wrong location). My gunsmith, Ernie Wren of SOCCOM in N Augusta, SC told me about warnings from people that posted pics of Williams' receivers cracking after a nominal amount of rounds. I was concerned and contacted Williams Arms about a letter of reliability or a copy of their liability insurance. A fax finally came and I had Ernie build the rifle with an Imbel parts kit from Interarms (great to deal with). The first day out was horrible. The rifle would not cycle or chamber rounds that well. I was so discouraged. I took rifle back to Ernie and his great staff started on the problems. After explaining how the gas tube/regulator worked ( :eek: ) I got the rifle working!! After a few broken cases and me cursing and friends' laughing, I was able to shoot with Winchester 150 gr SP and NATO ammo with no problems. I was able to put 3 shots into a 1 1/2" group at 100 yards with iron sights. After this ordeal, I will always buy a complete rifle. This one took three trips to a gunsmith that is very familiar with this type to get working and I almost sold it just to get rid of the headache. The Williams receiver showed no problems after 180 rounds of .308. I bought a SAR 1 and sit back now thinking....a Bushmaster would have been a good idea!! :p

[spray & pray]

You should search the comments about the WAC aluminum receiver over at
http://www.falfiles.com/
and at DSA site:
http://www.dsarms.com/safety_warning.cfm

I wouldn't be anywhere near a WAC being shot with full load .308.
It's a bomb, and may not give any advance warning before she blows.

just my $.02

[HatchetJoe]

Hey they are making great lightweight .223 FALs out of these and aluminum PARA lowers. Many feel this is he best use for these. Using these in .308 is just waiting for a KKABOOM, It will start with cracking around the locking shoulder.

[0302]

take a REAL good look at the falfiles info. i almost bought one of the wacs but the pics and info about receiver failure stopped me cold. the fal slide (bolt carrier) is locked in place by the locking shoulder, a pin that is held in place by the reciever. the bolt does not lock into the barrel at all (like an ar or ak but like an sks) the receiver and lock shoulder do it all, which means the aluminum is taking the impact of each shot. it is your head (and face and eyes etc), but at least check out the available info.
there was a post at falfiles that a company bought williams arms and was offering to swap a steel receiver for the alum, i would take it if i had an alum.
take care