Here is my description of the steps, as I imagine ~33 years after last doings so. As a test of my memory. While 75% stoned.
This could be evidence of
a) how good my memory is
b) how deeply military training can put something in your brain.
TO-DO: do same for Carl Gustav Anti-Tank rifle.
TO-DO: do same for SMG?
TO-DO: how to get someone to verify???
Field stripping an FN-C1-A1, from memory.
- Check weapon’s BANG/NOBANG selector is on NOBANG
- Remove magazine, if attached;
- check for roiubds in magazine
- magzine to table on left side (each part goes to right in order)
- cock weapon; direct (possibly) ejected round towards ground (one left-eye shooter advantage: very easy to do since right-side cocking lever/nub (99% sure is flip-out tab with auto-return to folded position by sping mechnism, not fixed round knobby thing) is pointing down when ejector slot is pointing down; move right hand from forestock to cocking nub, cock, round goes down. ‘Course, the same might work well for the right-eye shooter, taking the right hand from the but easier and more proper, safety wise, to take hand of pistol grip with right hand. One significant disadvantage for the left-eye shooter is you’re forever getting hot emty casing to the chest, right shoulder, right forearm; helmet; PRO-TIP turn up the gas pressure to eject the rounds harder, at the cost of shoulder pain; TO-DO: I wonder if FN made a left-eye shooter version???
- if a round/casing is ejected, retrieve. If round, put in magazine.
- with ejection hole still open (still holding ejection nub back; I forget if there was a latch to hold it back… 90% sure not such feature. inspect seat of barrel end ( must be a better way to say that ) for a round in the chamber; 75% sure we always stuck a pinky in to check too)
- Note gas setting #
- Remove gas plug; set to right of magazine, or far left if no magazine (where’s your magazine, soldier????)
- Remove return rod and return spring by pinching spring just below the return rod’s “piston” shaped end (failure to do both might let the spring drop back into the gas cylinder or worse, into the mud).
- remove gas rutrn spring from gas return rod; lay the down in a specifc order to the right of the gas plug; I forget if it was sping then rod, or vice versa. there was a correct way. might have varied at the battalion level; as far as I know my battalion did it the same way… that I forget…
- inspect inside top end of gas cylinder; this will always need cleaning
- inspect the 2 small (or was it 1 only? As I type this I am doubting 1 or 2.) gas orifices just below the gas pressure dial; these will need cleaning; as they clog up, the weapon kicks more as gas is not (now that I’m typing this, I think the orifice(s) are under the gas adjustment dial (a full-diameter shrt tube of slightly larger ID) with a beleled releif cut into the lower (towards the butt) thar progressively closed off the orifice, thus keeping more gas in the cyclinder, makeing more force to drive the breach block carrier back; as the weapon got dirtier, you turn the dial to restric more, pretty sure 1, 2, 3.. 9, to foce more. At the cost of increased kick and shulder pain. But this was a very important feature of the rifle (perhaps many rifles??), as it allowed it to work in worse conditions than without. Ideally, fully open hole should be obtainable with a clean & lubed weapon; if it’s not cocking, it should be cleaned.
- break open the weapon by pushing back on the almost flush sliding metal… tab… with the right thumb; the butt & stock & lower body with trigger, hammer, pistol grip safety switch will pivot down from stright down-the-baerrl line , approx 35 degrees down; def not 45 degrees! the pivot is a ~3/8″ full-lenght should bolt (not exact sure of the size and exact design; but it was a skookum, well-machined, tight fitting shoulder-bolt type); avoid taking this pivot apart, as accuracy would be smallishly. Pretty sure a large coin slot on the left side of this pivot bolt was used to undo. Thumb used on other side?
- Remove the breach block carrier with breach block inside it, by pulling on the rattail of the breach block carrier. This rat-tail was a ~1/8″ dia perhaps 5″ long, spring-loaded to point downwards so that it pointed towards the hole in the stock that had the breach block return spring & cap; this ensured the ratail lined up with the spring hole when the weapon was returned to unbroken state
- Remove the breach block from the breach block carrier; hold breach block carrier in right hand, breach block facing upwards; left hand index finger to front of breach block, left thumb to firing pin punger protrucding from rear hole of breach block carrier; squeeze thumb towards index finger, pushing plunger and firing forward in breach block, thus shortening the entrie breach block, allowing it to be slid backwards in the carrier and the rotated out of the carrier by lifting now-freed front end of the breach block (it was limited to sliding back & forth in the carrier by simple slides milled into the two peices. All this motion is no more than 1/2″
- put breach block and breach block carrier down; like with gas rod & spring, I forget the order, but assure you there is one.
- remove the sheet metal breach block cover by hooking finger in the clip-loading slot at the front top of the cover and pulling backwards; should not require a lot of force, but shoulnd’t be loose either; put down
- Release the hammer gently by left fingers holding cocked hammer, right hand safety off, squeeze trigger, allow hammer to move fulling forward (just beyond vertical), release trigger, safety on.
