Gathering dust in the back of my airsoft armoury is my very first AEG, my Classic Army replica of the DSA SA58 carbine. This beautiful piece has languished unused in a cupboard because of mechanical issues and the fact that my loadouts have revolved around Russian military gear for over a year and a half now. With the New Year nigh upon us and with hopes that I will be returning to playing again as early as February my mind has turned to new loadouts, resurrecting my DSA and returning it to it's former glory...

ABOUT THE DSA SA58
DSA Arms inc. of Barrington, Illinois was founded in 1987 and has become well know in the USA for it's range of FN FAL based rifles. From civilian sporting and hunting rifles to carbines and marksman weapons aimed at law enforcement agencies DSA has developed quite a reputation for top quality and reliablity. So much so that it has been said that DSA's FALS are even better than the original Belgian FNs!

In recent years there has been something of a resurgence in interest in the 7.62 x 51mm NATO round as many in the military and police have found that the standard 5.56 x 45mm NATO round just does not have the knock down capability when faced with determined foes. There have been several cases where soldiers in Iraq had to pump multiple 5.56mm rounds into an adversary in order to drop them and even police forces have recognized - with the growing availablity of body armour in the USA - that the 'big punch' is something which is handy to have in your firearms 'tool box'.

So DSA Arms Inc. market a range of carbines which combine the power of the large 7.62 calibre with the convinience of length normally associated with the popular Colt M4 weapons. For those who want their targets to stay down when they hit them models like the mean looking SA58 OSW or the sleek SA58 TAC are arms which can be easily transported in patrol vehicles and are a pinch to use the close confines of urban areas.

THE CLASSIC ARMY REPLICA
CA is renowned for it's adherence to authenticity and the quality of it's replicas and it's SA58 is no exception to this. But it is interesting to note that the initial version of the SA58 that Classic Army chose to replicate is a rather unusual hybrid model that does not actually exist in the real DSA SA58 family of rifles. The CA SA58 'Carbine' is a bit of a hotchpotch of two separate DSA variants, the short barrelled OSW version and the fully stocked TAC model.

There is a very good practical reason why Classic Army decided to release this hybrid rather than DSA's most vaunted and sought after configuration of SA58 - the OSW - and that is to do with the practicalities of where to install the battery pack! The OSW version is a folding stocked carbine with RIS fore-end and while Classic Army has subsequently released this very variant they have had to resort to the addition of a mock PEQ laser designator which acts as a battery box.

The initial CA hybrid SA58 carbine version circumvents this contingency by providing the airsofter with a full sized butt-stock which can house a large type battery. Otherwise the replica is at least faithful to the spirit of the DSA SA58 family of rifles.

NOTE on battery housing: A year after my SA58 Carbine came onto the market Classic Army released a 'proper' relica of the DSA OSW, utilizing the addition of a fake PEQ designator to house the AEG's battery on the fore-end RIS (see below). Now while this might seem like a good work-around the problem is that the OSW was primarily marked for US law enforcement agencies and suitably licenced civilians - the PEQ type laser designator is a piece of military equipment. This is why I chose to retain my butt-stocked version of the replica.

THE NEW PARTS ARRIVE
Like Classic Army I had the dilemma of wanting an accurate replica of one of the DSA 'Tactical' rifles while at the same time acknowledging the practicality of a stock housed large capacity battery, and like CA I decided to go for something of a hybrid model. I ordered the parts to add the very distinctive OSW-style front end RIS system as well as the '30 round' (hi-cap) banana mag that is another characteristic of the OSW and 'Elite' models of the SA58 range. But I stopped short of buying a Classic Army OSW folding stock which - quite fortuitously - popped up on the Land Warrior web store just when I was undertaking this project!

Additionally, in keeping with the law-enforcement application of these short (CQB) weapons I also purchased a DYTAC Multipurpose Flashlight Mount and a Surefire G2 torch, to add that SWAT look (and a EOTECH 553 is on the 'wish list'). To finish off the make-over I will also be adding an ITC check-rest and a Madbull licensed replica of the DNTC 308 Compensator.

Upgrade parts list:

• Classic Army SA58 R.I.S.
• Classic Army SA58 1000R hi-cap
• DYTAC Multipurpose Flashlight Mount (BK)
• Magpul 7.62mm Black
• Madbull DNTC 308 Compensator (Black/14mm+) [Coming seperately]

• The ITC Cheek rest and Surefire G2 torch was sourced seperately.

The bulk of my order was fulfilled by those very nice peeps at UNCompany of Hong Kong and after the usual short delay while Her Majesty's Customs pondered over whether I was some sort of terrorist (and decided side-step the issue by just charging me an extortionate import tax duty instead) a nice little parcel arrived on my doorstep. Total cost of these items was $266.07 (including international shipping) and the whole process took 18 days to wing it's way from Honkers (longer than usual due to the DNTC flash hider being temporarily out of stock).

NEXT...

In the next part of this split post I put together the accessories to complete my resurrected SA58.

LINKS:-

About the FN FAL:-
> http://world.guns.ru/assault/as24f-e.htm
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_FAL

About DSA Arms:-
> The DSA SA58 'Tactical' series:- http://www.dsarms.com/SA58-Tactical-Series/products/36/
> Be sure to look at some of the excellent articles on the SA58 series which DSA has in PDF format: Magazine article library

About the Classic Army SA58 replica:-
> CA DSA SA58 series jump page