The 7.62 mm. NATO caliber Fabrique Nationale de Herstal - Fusil Automatique Leger (Light Automatic Rifle), or FN-FAL was produced by FN beginning in 1953. Designed by Dieudonné Saive, the legendary Belgian small arms designer who was the successor to John Browning as chief firearms designer following Browning's death in 1926 (if you ever wondered how FN became the world's most successful firearms manufacturer, it's as simple as Browning and Saive).. Prior to designing the FAL, Saive designed what many view as the last elegant old world military rifle, the rifle which bears his name, the Saive Automatique Fabrique Nationale (SAFN) Modèle 1949 self-loading rifle. The FAL was an attempt to marry the old world craftsmanship of the SAFN 1949, with the groundbreaking German Sturmgewehr (assault rifle) concept introduced during the Second World War. Saive succeeded brilliantly, creating the assault rifle by which all others were measured for decades. The FAL was capable of tremendous accuracy out to very long ranges. The FAL has been used by more than 50 countries and remains in use today, some 50 years after it's introduction. The FAL saw widespread combat service in no less than 14 wars. It became known by FN's clever Cold War advertising slogan as "the free world's right arm."

Many countries manufactured the FAL under license and produced bayonets. This page provides a type-specific approach for identifying FAL bayonets, as an alternative to the country-specific index. This page is by no means exhaustive, but covers some of the more common types encountered today. Most FAL bayonets conform to three basic types: the Type A and Type C, designed by FN in Belgium, and the L1 Series designed by Britain.

Type A

FN's initial bayonet design was a knife bayonet. What we know today as the FAL Type A bayonet, was an innovative design that confronted the adverse effects that a bayonet has on the accuracy of a self-loading rifle with new technology. It's designers introduced the "free-recoil" concept, where a spring hidden in the pommel allowed the bayonet to float during rapid semi-auto and full-automatic fire. This ingenious approach was later adopted by the Dutch firm, Artillerie Inrichtingen, when designing a bayonet for another groundbreaking assault rifle, the Armalite AR-10.

The most distinctive feature of the Type A bayonet are the flash-hider "prongs" integral with the muzzle-ring. These served as an ersatz flash-hider on early FALs that had no muzzle device. The blade profile is a modification of the U.S. M4 design. The grip scales can be wood, plastic, or sheet steel. The steel scabbard is follows the standard FN scabbard design developed in the 1920s. A couple of frog stud variations are found.

A Type B bayonet was made for use with a slender flash-hider. Type B bayonets were not produced in large numbers, making them very scarce today.

The Type A was the standard FAL bayonet used by all, except for Britain and the Commonwealth Nations, until NATO standardized on the 22 mm. rifle grenade in the early 1960s. This necessitated a new bayonet design, due to the much larger diameter flash-hider required to accept and launch the 22 mm. rifle grenade. Despite it's obsolescence, the Type A remained in limited use for many years, seeing combat service with Argentine forces during the Falklands War of 1982.

Type C

In the early 1960s, the NATO countries standardized on a 22 mm. diameter rifle grenade to simplify logistics when troops from different countries operated together. For the FAL, this meant either carrying an attachable NATO-spec grenade launcher or incorporating a larger diameter flash-hider/grenade launcher into the FAL design. Many non-NATO countries chose to conform to NATO standards as well, resulting in the majority of FALs produced after 1965 having the 22 mm. flash-hider/grenade launcher.

The Type A bayonet would not work with the larger flash-hider. Although innovative, it was also a costly and complex design. For its replacement, FN took a back-to-basics approach, returning to the most lasting of bayonet designs—the socket.

The Type C socket bayonet fits over the flash-hider, so the socket was made with a set of slots that lined up with those on the flash-hider. The socket was long, almost as long as the blade. A simple spring catch was placed at the rear of the socket. The bayonet was much lighter than the Type A, mitigating the need for a free-recoil mechanism. The blade had a semicircular profile, being flat on top and rounded below. Although far from elegant (it resembled a kitchen apple-corer), the Type C was an effective design that was easy to manufacture.

Early Type C bayonets had serrations on the spring catch. Later examples used a modified spring catch with "wings" instead of serrations. Most are devoid of markings. The most common finish is black paint. Parkerized examples are also encounterd, as are examples with paint over parkerizing.

Many scabbard variations exist. The scabbard body may be steel or plastic. Some scabbards have frog studs, while others have an integral web belt hanger. Some scabbards have the mouthpiece aligned so the socket faces outward when worn, while others are aligned so the socket faces inward.

The Type C is somewhat of an enigma. It was the most popular FAL bayonet, used by dozens of countries. There are many variations, however, relatively little is known about which countries used what variants. The following illustrates variations that currently reside in my collection.