[ How to Swap FAMAS Ejection Side ]
Thanks for tuning in to ForgottenWeapons.com.
I'm Ian McCollum, and this is a FAMAS that I had out shooting
that I set up to be left-handed because I am left-handed.
But the owner insists that I have to give it back to him right-handed,
so we're going to do a quick tutorial on how to switch that.
So we have one pin up here, pull that out, and then you can pull the buttstock off.
So first thing we're going to do is take the ejection cover off.
It just pops up, ... basically it locks into the side of the plastic.
Pop that off, flip it over to the other side, snap it back on.
Now you have the right-hand ejection port open.
Next we need to take the bolt out.
I find it a little simpler to pop this back just a little bit to keep spring tension off the thing.
And then I'm going to use my stock pin to push the bolt retaining pin out.
That is captive, so pull it out all the way,
and it will unlock the bolt carrier from the charging handle tube.
Pull it back over the hammer.
The FAMAS is a filthy rifle to shoot by the way, that's fairly typical of delayed-blowback actions.
But you'll find this thing just full of carbon and crud every time you shoot it.
Now at this point I need to get to the bolt.
So I'm just going to pull this out.
We don't have to mess with the locking piece or the firing pin, those can stay there.
If you look at the face of the FAMAS bolt it has two extractors,
except that only one of them is a real extractor.
So this is our extractor, this one is just a dummy place holder.
What we want to do is swap those extractors.
So to do that we're going to take this pin, and pull it out.
I want to hold the front of the bolt face because these pieces are under spring pressure.
And I'm just going to leverage that pin up, and then I can pull it out.
That comes out, and now
to pull this out I'm going to go ahead and use a cartridge
just under the extractor there to get me some leverage.
There we go.
So that comes out. That is our plunger ejector, right there.
That is our real extractor,
and it sits there, and that's our dummy.
So I'm just going to take the dummy and the real one and swap them, like so.
And then this whole assembly goes back into the bolt face,
which can be maybe a little tricky to get in place.
The firing pin kind of wants to fall out.
So, now that's back in place,
now we have the extractor on this side, and the dummy on that side.
So when it pulls a cartridge out of the chamber, it is going to pull it that way to eject.
Now the trickiest part of this is next up.
We have to depress this back into the bolt face until those holes line up
and we can push that pin back in.
So I'm going to use my cartridge ... here again as a lever,
and ... you know it has to go basically all the way in.
And there we go.
Now our Mickey Mouse there is locked in, the pin's down,
and it will now eject out to the right.
And I told you this was filthy.
Alright, now I'm going to put the firing pin back in, which
doesn't technically have to come out, but kind of wants to.
And then we're going to put our locking cam in, you want it in this orientation.
And then to put the bolt back into the carrier we're going to start rearward,
that drops in, and it just slides in place.
This slides back onto the receiver,
line up the hole,
that pin goes back in place.
Drop the bolt all the way into place.
Buttstock goes on, cross pin.
And now you have a right-handed FAMAS.