by David Crane
david@defensereview.com
A terrific gentleman by the name of Giovanni Milano(think he’s Italian?), was at the DSA booth to meet and greet everyone, and explain DSA’s .308 battle rifles. Giovanni is both a production manager and senior technician for the company. DSA Inc. makes what many authorities regard as the best FAL .308 (7.62x51mm) rifles ever made. DSA Inc. calls their version of the FAL, the SA58.
All SA58 rifles are .308/7.62x51mm caliber, and built in the U.S. to the highest…
standards possible. Utilizing the original FN Herstal blueprints, DSA manufactures roughly 85% of their rifles in-house, using Steyr tooling that was used, in the past, to manufacture the Sturmgewehr 58 (Assault Rifle, Type 58). All SA58 components are manufactured to military specification and ISO 9001 standards, using DSA’s original FN technical data package and tooling. The barrels are made by Badger with a right hand twist rate of 1:11 inches. They are double stress-relieved, and then cryogenically treated.
The three most interesting rifles at DSA’s booth were their two shorty .308’s, the SA58 OSWNFA and SA58 OSW subcarbine/SBR (semi-auto), and their SA58 tactical carbine. The SA58 OSWNFA is a select-fire subcarbine/sbr/mini-battle rifle. The SA58 OSWNFA I handled had an 11” barrel, along with a fixed stock. The SA58 OSW semi-auto subcarbine/SBR is identical to the OSWNFA, except it doesn’t have the OSWNFA’s “rock n’ roll” switch/full-auto feature, and flash-suppressing muzzle break. Both rifles utilize a shortened gas system, and, oh yeah, they’re both really sweet. The SA58 OSW semi-auto mini-carbine has a different kind of muzzle brake (one that does not reduce the visual firing signature), so it may suffer a slight disadvantage in combat scenarios, relative to the OSWNFA. However, being semi-auto only does not really add to the disadvantage, especially in 7.62x51mm/.308 Win. caliber, as the author was reminded of on range day(more on that later). The SA58 tactical carbine has a 16.25 barrel, but is still short enough to be very handy. There is also a lightweight version of this rifle, that cuts the weight by about a pound.
Oh, and by the way, all of DSA’s rifles have been tested by H.P. White Laboratories, and found to be able to handle pressures far in excess of SAAMI standards, so one can be sure that his or her rifle will not fail catastrophically, even when using high pressure loads. One last thing–DSA’s subcarbines/mini-battle rifles are just plain great looking in an industrial kind of way. While not important in terms of function and effectiveness in combat, this last aspect certainly doesn’t hurt from a pride of ownership and collecting perspective.
Click here to visit DSA Inc.’s website and learn more about their SA58 battle rifles, carbines, and subcarbines.