FAL

The FAL is a semi-automatic rifle featured in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It is the strongest assault rifle statistically, though its semi-automatic fire limits its effectiveness at close range.

Campaign
The FAL is most commonly used by the Brazilian Militia in Takedown. The FAL is used by Russians in the early stages of the invasion, but the AK-47 is more commonplace later in the conflict. It is mostly seen with a Red Dot Sight, ACOG Scope, or Shotgun.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, the FAL is unlocked at Level 28. While this rifle's semi-automatic nature reduces its effectiveness at close range, an experienced player with a fast trigger finger can easily double tap an enemy in close range without aiming down the sights. This same semi-automatic firing allows the player to control how much ammo is used and increases the FAL's effectiveness at long range, even though the shooter must pause briefly between shots to let the recoil settle. Because of this long-range prowess, the FAL closes the gap between assault rifles and sniper rifles.

The FAL is the strongest assault rifle with a damage range of 55-35, as such, Stopping Power has a minimal effect. Shots will always kill in two hits at close and medium range, but three are required for a long range kill, regardless of the use of Stopping Power. However, with Stopping Power, the FAL is able to achieve one hit kills with a headshot. Moreover, like the UMP45, the FAL is one of the few non-sniper weapons in Modern Warfare 2 that can kill in a maximum of three shots regardless of range, perks, or attachments.

The FAL's rear sight sways unless equipped with the Shotgun attachment, which doesn't affect the accuracy of the sights unless an ACOG scope is equipped.

The Red Dot Sight is not properly aligned on the FAL, as shots land below and to the right of the dot at medium and long range.

Equipping a Holographic Sight is recommended, as it increases the FAL's minimum damage to 40. With Stopping Power equipped, this means that the FAL can kill in two shots at any range. This works even with Bling.

Utilizing the Shotgun attachment, carrying a close quarters secondary weapon, or using Commando is recommended.

The FAL is considered an intermediary between the G3 and M14 from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, as its damage and recoil fall between the two.

Due to the FAL's high damage and lack of sway it is very effective in Hardcore games where it can be used for a sniper rifle substitute.

One advantage the FAL has over other assault rifles is its quick reload time. This is due to the reloading method that the first-person character uses of using the new magazine to remove the old. It is unclear as to why this is the only gun that reloads with that method, as many guns (such as the AK-47) feature the same type of magazine release. If one looks closely, when the new magazine is about to hit the release, it actually goes through the trigger and trigger guard. This reload tactic is actually aplicable in real fire-arms with the same magazine release, although the new magazine is usually held horizontal, as it is impossible to actually go through the trigger and trigger guard, as the vertical approach apperantly does.

The FAL is a very potent mid-long range weapon, especially with optics as the iron sights are clunky, but can be used in a pinch. The FAL's only major disadvantage would be it's semi-automatic nature. But this also provides an advantage which is overlooked by many players; this means that the user can ultimately select the fire rate of their rifle. Which would be useful in multiple situations like if the player was engaged in sniper/long range combat, the player could just go single shot by default, but if they were in close quarters, they could use a fast trigger finger (if they have one) to use as an automatic rifle. The semi-automatic fire rate is also very helpful for saving ammo, therefore, Bling and Sleight of Hand are very common.

Weapon Attachments

 * M203 Grenade Launcher
 * Shotgun
 * Red Dot Sight
 * Holographic Sight
 * Silencer
 * Heartbeat Sensor
 * ACOG Scope
 * Thermal Scope
 * FMJ
 * Extended Mags

Trivia

 * Militia and Russian soldiers in campaign can fire the FAL fully automatically from around corners or behind doors (while blindfiring), but the player cannot.
 * The FAL with a Grenade Launcher is misspelled FAL w/ Grenade Laucher (without an N) in the pick-up text.
 * The FAL in Multiplayer holds only 20 rounds, despite using a model for a 30 round magazine.
 * The FAL has similar iron sights as the M1A1 Carbine from Call of Duty: World at War.
 * When a Heartbeat Sensor is attached, on widescreen monitors/TVs, the entire sensor can still be plainly seen while aiming down the FAL's sights, even if another sight attachment is equiped.