Image credit
- Title
- File:FN CAL close1-noBG.png
- Author
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Evers(attribution required)
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FN_CAL_close1-noBG.png
How Muzzle energy is calculated
E = ½ · m · v²
Inputs
- m4.018 g62.01 grverifiedsource62 gr as published, converted to grams.
- v933.3 m/s3,062 fpsestimatedInterpolated between sourced measurements at 368.3 mm and 508 mm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Muzzle velocity is calculated
linear interpolation between the two nearest sourced barrel lengths
Inputs
- v at 368.3 mm905.3 m/s2,970 fpsverifiedsourceTable 2-1, muzzle velocity for the M4: 2,970 fps.
- v at 508 mm944.9 m/s3,100 fpsverifiedsourceTable 2-1, muzzle velocity for the M16A2: 3,100 fps. The M855 is the manual's service round for that rifle.
Assumptions
- Velocity is assumed to vary linearly between the two measurements. Over a short span that is a reasonable reading of the data; it is not a law.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Loaded mass is calculated
m_loaded = m_empty + m_magazine + n · m_cartridge
Not calculated: m_magazine has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- One magazine, filled to the stated capacity. Spare magazines, optics, slings and lights are the owner’s, not the arm’s.
3 of 4 inputs link to their source.
How Free recoil is calculated
E_recoil = ½ · m_firearm · v_recoil²
Inputs
- m_firearm3 kg6.614 lbverifiedsourceEmpty, as published on Weaponsystems.net.
- v_recoil1.250 m/s4.101 fpsestimated
Assumptions
- Propellant gas momentum is excluded: ARMAG does not record charge weights. This is therefore a lower bound on the real free recoil, consistent between entries but smaller than a figure that includes the gas term.
- Free recoil: the arm is unrestrained. Stock design, muzzle devices, stance and shooter mass are not modelled, because none of them is a property of the arm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Capacity is calculated
as published for the primary chambering
Inputs
- capacity30verifiedsource20- or 30-round detachable box magazine, as published on Weaponsystems.net; Wikipedia's infobox separately mentions a 25-round option.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
Derived figures
Computed from the sourced values above. Open ƒ on any figure for the formula, its inputs, and the assumptions it makes.
How Momentum is calculated
p = m · v
Inputs
- m4.018 g62.01 grverifiedsource62 gr as published, converted to grams.
- v933.3 m/s3,062 fpsestimatedInterpolated between sourced measurements at 368.3 mm and 508 mm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sectional density is calculated
SD = mass(gr) / (7000 · diameter(in)²)
Inputs
- mass4.018 g62.01 grverifiedsource62 gr as published, converted to grams.
- diameter5.7 mm0.2244 inestimatedsourceNo free NATO dimensional standard is published. The C.I.P. datasheet for the .223 Remington, which shares this bullet, gives a cartridge-maximum bullet diameter of 5.70 mm.
Assumptions
- Reported in the conventional lb/in² so it is directly comparable with published figures.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Power factor is calculated
PF = mass(gr) · velocity(fps) / 1000
Inputs
- mass4.018 g62.01 grverifiedsource62 gr as published, converted to grams.
- velocity933.3 m/s3,062 fpsestimatedInterpolated between sourced measurements at 368.3 mm and 508 mm.
Assumptions
- A competition classification defined by the IPSC and USPSA rulebooks, stated in their units. It describes a scoring category, not an effect.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Magazine dump is calculated
t = (n − 1) / (rpm / 60)
Inputs
- n30verifiedsource20- or 30-round detachable box magazine, as published on Weaponsystems.net; Wikipedia's infobox separately mentions a 25-round option.
- rpm850 rpmverifiedsourceAs published on Weaponsystems.net.
Assumptions
- Cyclic rate held for the whole magazine, no stoppages, trigger held down. A theoretical figure for comparing mechanisms, not a measured one.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sight error at 1 mm is calculated
θ = atan(misalignment / sight radius)
Not calculated: sight radius has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Shows what a stated aiming error costs. The misalignment is the reader’s figure; the site does not claim how well anyone aims.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
Specifications
Every row here is generated from the schema, so a figure recorded on this entry cannot be missing from the table, and the same rows, read the same way, are what the comparison shows.
Identity
- Type
- Rifle
- Action
- Self-loading
- Fire modes
- Semi-automatic
- Burst
- Fully automatic
- Operating system
- Gas, long-stroke piston
- Designed in
- Belgium
- Produced in
- Introduced
- 1966
- Production
- 1966–1975
Dimensions and mass
- Mass, empty
- 3 kg6.614 lbsource
Empty, as published on Weaponsystems.net.
- Magazine, empty
- not recorded
- Length
- 926 mm36.46 insource
As published on Weaponsystems.net; Wikipedia's infobox separately gives 980 mm, uncited there.
- Length, folded
- not recorded
- Width
- not recorded
- Height
- not recorded
- Barrel length
- 467 mm18.39 insource
As published on Weaponsystems.net, matching the same figure cited to it in Wikipedia's infobox.
Sights and rifling
- Sight radius
- not recorded
- Sight height over bore
- not recorded
- Rifling twist
- not recorded
- Twist direction
- not recorded
- Grooves
- not recorded
- Sight graduation
- not recorded
Operation
- Cyclic rate
- 850 rpmsource
As published on Weaponsystems.net.
- Trigger pull
- not recorded
- Effective range
- not recorded
- Units produced
- not recorded
- Launch price
- not recorded
Chamberings
- 5.56x45mm NATOprimary30 rounds
Scale
A to-scale outline against family siblings. The dimensions are sourced; the shape is a representative outline for the type, and says so.
- FN CAL926 mm36.46 inheight not recorded
Representative outline: the dimensions are sourced, the shape is not. Overall length, and barrel length where recorded, are drawn from this entry's own figures; the profile is a generic one for the firearm type and says nothing about this arm's actual contours. FN CAL records no height, so its outline is drawn at the type's proportion. That height is part of the shape, not a measurement.
Gallery
Image credit
- Title
- File:Harold Johnson holds FN CAL.jpg
- Author
- U.S. Army Foreign Science and Technology Center
- Licence
- Public domain
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harold_Johnson_holds_FN_CAL.jpg
Detail
The FN CAL, short for Carabine Automatique Légère (“Light Automatic Carbine”), is a gas-operated, select-fire rifle FN Herstal designer Ernest Vervier designed between 1963 and 1966, chambered in 5.56×45mm. FN developed it after noting the growing commercial success of the cheaper, simpler Heckler & Koch G3, and concluded that any future rifle of its own would need fewer expensive, precision-machined parts to compete; the CAL’s design accordingly replaced some machined parts with less expensive castings and stampings, using a rotating bolt with an interrupted-thread locking arrangement.
Despite that cost-reduction effort, the CAL remained relatively expensive and mechanically complex to produce, and it met little sustained commercial success: roughly 30,000 were built between 1966 and 1975 before FN dropped it in favour of the simpler, cheaper FN FNC. It found buyers in Belgium, Colombia, Gabon, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua and Thailand, among others, and was demonstrated to and evaluated by several other militaries, including France and Iran, without being adopted by either. A small number were also sold on the American civilian market.
Mass, length, barrel length and cyclic rate on this page come from Weaponsystems.net and are recorded as verified; Wikipedia’s own infobox gives a slightly different, uncited overall length figure for what may be a different stock configuration. No manufacturer specification sheet from FN itself was reachable for a design this old, and no published twist rate was found for this entry.
References
This entry's own bibliography. Every citation key on this page resolves into this list.