During the Cold War the FAL was adopted by many countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), with the notable exception of the United States.

It was designed to fire the intermediate 7.92×33mm Kurz cartridge developed and used by the forces of Germany during World War II with the Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle.

To lock, it drops down into a solid shoulder of metal in the heavy receiver much like the bolts of the Soviet SKS carbine and French MAS-49 series of semi-automatic rifles.

During opening the rifle rotates around a two-piece pivot lock and pin assembly located between the trigger guard and magazine well to give access to the action and piston system.

The L2A1 or 'heavy barrel' FAL was used by several Commonwealth nations and was found to frequently experience a failure to feed after firing two rounds from a full magazine when in automatic mode.

It is essentially a user-customized version of the FAL and is still in use, mainly as a drill weapon, or for ceremonial purposes in the Gardebataillon (Guard Battalion) of the Austrian forces.

[15] Further more, these muzzle brakes added additional length to barrels to achieve the 16.5 inches that would otherwise have been considered short-barreled rifles under the National Firearms Act.

[17] A distinct sub-family was the Commonwealth inch-dimensioned versions that were manufactured in the United Kingdom and Australia (as the L1A1 Self Loading Rifle or SLR), and in Canada as the C1.

[21] Along with the IA2, MD-2 and MD-3 assault rifles, Brazil produces the M964A1/Pelopes (Special Operations Platoon), with a 16.5" barrel, 3-point sling and a Picatinny rail with a tactical flashlight and sight.

[28] Based on political and economical considerations, but also national pride,[29] the Germans aimed at a weapon they could produce domestically and turned their sights to the Spanish CETME Modelo 58 rifle.

[30] Working with the Germans, the Spanish adopted the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge, and a slightly modified version of the CETME went on to be manufactured in West Germany by Heckler & Koch (H&K) as the G3 rifle, beginning production in 1959.

58, as well as the Dutch and Greek FALs, this being slightly slimmer than the standard wood or plastic handguards, and featuring horizontal lines running almost their entire length.

The German FAL had access to high quality Hensoldt Optische Werk F-series scopes with Zeiss-equivalent optics; having 4x magnification, with a 24 mm (0.94 in) objective lens.

[29][32][33] After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had to overcome several logistics problems which were a result of the wide variety of old firearms that were in service, such as the German Mauser Kar 98k and some British Lee–Enfield rifles.

The FAL version ordered by the IDF came in two basic variants, both regular and heavy-barrel (squad automatic rifle/ light machine gun), and were chambered in 7.62mm NATO.

Israeli-made magazines were made in the same FN standard of steel, finished with durable black enamel paint, and bearing two Hebrew characters stamped into the metal on one side.

During the Yom Kippur War of October 1973, the FAL was still in front-line service as the standard Israeli rifle, though increasing criticism eventually led to the phasing-out of the weapon.

Israeli forces were primarily mechanized in nature; the long, heavy FAL slowed deployment drills, and proved exceedingly difficult to maneuver within the confines of a vehicle.

[42][43] Additionally, Israeli forces experienced occasional jamming of the FAL due to heavy sand and dust ingress endemic to Middle Eastern desert warfare.

[44][43] Though the IDF evaluated a few modified FAL rifles with 'sand clearance' slots in the bolt carrier and receiver (which were already part of the Commonwealth L1A1/C1A1 design), malfunction rates did not significantly improve.

[47] As a result of its participation in those conflicts, the Rhodesian Security Forces inherited the British emphasis on long-range marksmanship and the use of riflemen in small units as the primary cornerstone of major counter-insurgency campaigns.

[46] Rhodesia subsequently became subject to a British arms embargo and the SLRs were largely relegated to reserve army and police units.

[32] Rhodesia also acquired FAL variants illicitly on the international black market, including original FN rifles from Belgium[51] and G1s from West Germany.

[32] Many of the FAL derivatives in Rhodesian service were fitted with custom muzzle brakes to reduce recoil on fully automatic fire.

[50] The heavy Rhodesian emphasis on individual marksmanship and the ballistic qualities of the 7.62×51mm round often allowed outnumbered Rhodesian patrols to fight their way through larger groups of insurgents from the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) or Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), both of which were equipped primarily with Kalashnikov-pattern automatic rifles such as the AK-47 and AKM.

[52] Following general elections in 1980 which brought the former insurgent leadership to power, the country finally achieved internationally recognised independence as Zimbabwe, and the Rhodesian Security Forces were amalgamated with ZANLA and ZIPRA.

[53] As the Zimbabwean government had inherited vast stockpiles of 7.62×51mm ammunition from the Rhodesian era, it initially ordered the insurgents' small arms to be placed into reserve storage and confirmed the FAL as the standard service rifle of the new Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF).

[53] However, a successful sabotage action carried out against the preexisting stockpiles of 7.62×51mm ammunition, possibly by disgruntled Rhodesian service members or South African special forces, negated this factor.

[citation needed] During the late 1980s and 1990s, many countries decommissioned the FAL from their armories and sold them en masse to United States importers as surplus.

Century Arms created a semi-automatic version L1A1 with an IMBEL upper receiver and surplus British Enfield inch-pattern parts, while DSArms used Steyr-style metric-pattern FAL designs.