FAB-10: The California Compliant AR-15



Photos above provided by
way-out-west 2 of AR15.com forums.
Click Photos
above for a larger image!
The FAB-10 is an AR-15 style
rifle that was created in answer to the
Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994 (AKA Crime Bill) and subsequent additional
laws in California that prohibited the manufacture of Semi-Automatic
rifles with detachable magazines and other characteristics.
<please note, I am no expert
on California Laws and if someone else would care to prepare a summary
of the CA requirements, I will be glad to host your write up here!>
The FAB 10 system addresses
these legal limitations through the use of an AR-15 style lower
receiver that does not have a detachable magazine! In the
FAB-10, the magazine well is milled out from the top such that a
10-round magazine is fixed inside the lower via a rivet, but the magazine well was
not opened through the bottom of the lower receiver. The rivet
that holds the 10
round magazine in place can be seen in the front section of the magazine well (seen in the first
photos above) as well as a #4 allen head
set screw though the left side of the well into the mag (see pics).
This lower receiver is loaded
with a stripper clip via a special stripper clip guide. The
guide uses a round pin that is slid into a round hole in the lower
receiver. You can see the round hole in the photos above.
In the three photos that follow, you can see the special stripper clip
guide then a photo of a loaded stripper clip mounted to the guide, and
finally the way everything would look when loading the FAB-10.

Photos above provided by
way-out-west 2 of AR15.com forums.
Click Photos
above for a larger image!
The FAB-10 lower does not
have any hold drilled for the magazine release or bolt catch.
Given that a user would need to open the lower receiver via the rear
take-down pin when the internal magazine is empty, this is a good
thing!
I wish to thank Chris
(way-out-west 2) from the AR15.com forums for sharing his photos and
helping me with some of the details on this page!