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It's like clip vs magazine all over again.

When you open the gas port on an FAL have you increased or decreased the amount of gas getting to the piston?

Turns out it's a trick question!

The FAL has two places where you can affect the amount of gas getting to the piston.

The first is the gas plug on the front of the piston tube.  It has two settings, on and off.

It is often accompanied with a flip up sight for aiming rifle grenades.

The second is the gas regulator and that's what most people are talking about when they say opening or closing the gas port.

If the gas plug is in the ON position, it's on.  The gas port is open.

What the gas regulator does is control the amount of gas that's vented from the gas tube before it hits the head of the piston.

More open means more venting which means less pressure on the piston which means less energy is converted to motion.  Depending on the ammo and gun, you can set it so it won't even eject the empty case.

More closed means less venting which means more pressure on the piston which means more energy is converted to motion.  You really can't hurt the gun closing the regulator all the way; there are also vents you cannot adjust.

The service manual from FN says to check the springs periodically and replace as needed.  Helpful, no?

Logic would say that if you're running at max pressure, then you'd need to change your springs more often.

There are rare cases when max gas and weakening springs have caused damage to the lower receiver, especially with aluminum lowers.  Most especially with folding stocks, it seems that the springs for the folding stock are weaker than the fixed stock to begin with.