Tell me about the FN Model 49

[BHPshooter]

I saw some of these for sale in the last Shotgun News, and haven't heard much about them other than their name. They look like a M14/M1A...

Anybody have the lowdown on these?

Wes

 

[Billy Sparks]

The FN49 is the grandpa of the FAL. If the one you looked at looked a lot like a M1A or M14 it is probably a Argentine Navy one. Below is link for article about them from a defunk C&R website.

Cruffler.com article about FN49

I have one a Egyptain in 8mm and altough I haven't shoot it, yet, I really like it.

 

[MrMurphy]

What he said.

You can find them in 8mm or .30-06 usually. But at the time it came out, it was new and expensive (and a bit heavy) at a time when the market was flooded with post-war surplus weapons, and everyone who didn't have those had M1s.

It's a bit heavy, and apparently not quite as reliable as the FAL, but a decent shooter if you can find parts/magazines. I know a guy with an Egyptian 8mm model that's quite accurate.

 

[Combat-wombat]

I own one from Luxembourg, in 30.06. It is fairly front-heavy, but overall it's a nice gun. It's quite accurate, but I've only put about 20 rounds through it so I can't comment on reliability.

 

[Murphster]

FWIW: I had one of the Egyptian 8mm models that were imported by CAI? Beautiful gun and enjoyable to shoot. Caught people's attention at the range. Loved the gun. But. If you get one in 8mm and shoot surplus ammo, you get to deal with cleaning the gas system each time to get out the corrosive salts left by the old ammo. Not a big problem, just takes a few more minutes. Mine, however, (and mine might have been the only one that was like this) would jam about once every fifty rounds. Might be the first of fifty rounds or the last of fifty rounds but every trip to the range resulted in the same problem. Worst jam of any rifle I've ever seen. Every time, the partially ejected casing would be crosswise on top of the partially chambered live round and on top of those two, the piston rod would be wedged. Result was three items immovably fused together by pressure like they were welded. Required major cussing, straining, and disassembly of the gun to fix. Tried every setting on the gas adjustment to remedy the problem to no avail. Worked perfectly 98% of the time. I presume that bug (unless it was just my rifle) got worked out when it evolved into the FAL. Might have been a problem a smith could have fixed, but I didn't want to put any more money into the gun. Reliability is a big deal to me. Sold mine.

 

[jojo]

I'v egot one in 8mm, and love it. Its a good shooter, accurate, and well made.

jojo