Belgian FN C1

That doesn't matter. What matters is whether you think it is realistic to expect a scenario in which you are raising an army to use them. It was not thought realistic at that time. It still isn't.

how about building a dedicated marksman platform out of then for use in afganistan? the americans are pulling it off with the old m-14s. I hear the rangers need new rifles, the old stock of FNs would have done nicely me thinks
 
it gets tooo cold for them up in the high north that was about the only place it failed when they were putting them through the paces before they were adopted
 
how about building a dedicated marksman platform out of then for use in afganistan? the americans are pulling it off with the old m-14s. I hear the rangers need new rifles, the old stock of FNs would have done nicely me thinks

The Rangers keep there rifles at home so it would be a big no, thanks to the FA and the FN being prohib.
 
my buddy has in his collection one of those belgian ex models ..they were put through hell ...he also has an american H+R T48 ...U.S. version of the fn...the U.S. had several ppl working with the canadian design team to help put together our version of the FN....in fact H+R had sporting firearms made at long branch C.A.L. to help keep the arsenals workforce busy well the development on the fn progressed they werent building many enfiels from 1952 to 56 when the first C1 came off the line ....i have 2 firearms made there from H+R a littel .22 repeater and a ss shotgun ...remingtion also had work done there ..the nylon 66 were built there ..if your nylon 66 says made in canada it was built at CAL
 
Actually, I saw a picture of the first Canadian units in Germany (PPCLI if I remember correctly) being issued the Belgian FN's (no flash hiders) well the production of the Canadian C1's were being manufactured. It was a personal picture of a gentlemen being issued his rifle on the parade square (he showed it to me) and he said that they were given metric FN's to train with well they waited for the Canadian ones. Very interesting picture.
When I took my Basic Para Course at CFB Edmonton in 1986, we had these same no flash-hider Belgian FNs for training. They were pretty beat up, but fulfilled the role well enough so a parachutist could rig his gear for an equipment drop. They were certainly not in any kind of firing condition, no mag, no bolt, no trigger guard. But like I said, they were for jump training only.
 
>>> they were serial #s EX00001 and EX00002 >>>

Criminal. Absolutely criminal.

WhoThFk could POSSIBLY have allowed that to happen? No triage before the smelter run??? Nothing???

I worry about Canada, sometimes. It's not the same country I was born and brought up in.

As you were.
 
Here is my EX-1 (deactivated) I bought from Bud Haynes auction a few years back. The rifle is ex-Dave Thomlison (NFA prez).

2008_0321enfield0001.jpg


The Cdn inspection mark:
2008_0321enfield0011.jpg


The receiver markings. Note the guns were originally selective fire. A later Canadian modification was to pin the receiver so the selector would not go to Auto.
2008_0321enfield0013.jpg
 
i read it was only 300 .

That was the number I was given by the LCMM when I spoke with him a few years back. Three hundred of each type (C1, C2, SMG) were kept from the smelter. They were retained for research and museum purposes. I have a scrap of paper somewhere on my desk with the total numbers still held in the depots as of last year, and they were all below that range.
 
Another of my Cdn dewats: A C1A1 I picked up off the EE a few years back:
2007_1015C1A1FN0001.jpg

The serial number rang a bell:
2007_1015C1A1FN0005.jpg

and sure enough, it was on an invoice in Blake Steven's book on the FN as one of the last civilian purchases of FNs from CAL. I think I read somewhere that the final production FN was just a few numbers from these, at 8L5015.
IMGinvoice.jpg
 
And last, but not least the C2A1 (also dewat) bought off the EE about 8 years or so back. It was a live gun, and actually lasted the week on the EE. At first I didn't have the heart to buy it for deactivation, but when it went BTT, I grabbed it. Hurt like hell drilling through the chamber, but she rests in peace now.
C2A1FN.jpg

Another C1 (Ex-OPP) which I bought from Collectors source years back next to the C2.
C1A1C2.jpg

C1C2.jpg
 
With regard to using some C1's as marksman rifles; In 2006 at our platoon house in Gumbad Afghanistan I saw 2 C1's in the hands of a couple JTF guys that came in on a helicopter before the Brigade Commander's bird landed. The rifles had flash eliminators removed, body cover replaced with a railed cover, and what I think were night force 10 x scopes. Both retained original wood fore stocks and butt stocks and had been hand painted tan camo. They told me they had 14 serviceable C1's but were soon (sic) to be replaced with AR10T which have since also been replaced I think.
 
I saw an AR10 in the weapons shop in KAF during my 2010 contract. I was told they were still part of the snipers teams. I can't recall what the optics were, but it was coupled with a NV.

I had heard years ago that a very limited number of C1s had made it to theater, but never heard what they were used for.
 
and of coarse the govt would never let us normal shooters buy them so they could make some money ...nooooo

Remember they were built under license from FN. Such licenses always include controls on reselling when the equipment is taken out of service. Permission to sell them costs more. I don't know if Canada paid the extra. My guess is we didn't.

Additionally, there is the potential political fallout if the government sells guns that are then misused by the buyers - private citizens here or abroad or foreign governments. In the context of the federal budget, for what those guns would have returned to the treasury, politicians and bureaucrats tend to not care for that risk when they can just go to the taxpayer and take more money for whatever they want.
 
I don't believe the licensing agreement with FN had anything to do with it, since Canadian Arsenals did sell them to DCRA shooters back in the day. The rifles are/were non-grandfathered prohibs, so even if the DND did sell it's surplus firearms to the public (which they have not done for many decades now), the guns still could not go into the registry.

When I was talking with the LCMM, he had tried to sell off the FN parts onto the market, with the idea that Numrich or Sarco would buy them, but the DND refused to authorise any sale. Even the Unertl scopes from the C3A1 rifles had to be destroyed.
 
ironically, they sand cuts on british bolt carriers made winter functioning more reliable, but the canadian uncut carrier suppoesedly worked better in the sand

That is surprising. The British Army had those cuts added after their tests showed they worked better that way in sandy environments than the uncut ones. Perhaps it was the top cover on the Canadian version being more open?
 
they paid good money to refurb them before the smelter

All dressed up and nowhere to go...

So many great pieces of history that we can't have. Pretty soon there's going to be very few people who actually remember stuff like this as anything other than displays and deactivated models.

But at least we have our cheap Chinese knockoff shotguns, eh? Just got mine in the mail today. Thanks, CanAm, but I still have a C1 shaped hole in my heart.
 
That is surprising. The British Army had those cuts added after their tests showed they worked better that way in sandy environments than the uncut ones. Perhaps it was the top cover on the Canadian version being more open?

its taken from R.Blake Stevens book series, i suspect that ice melts in a warm rfle and needs a place to go (the cuts) where as sand is solid and fewer spaces for it to get in was better. ill see if i can find the bit again
 
Back
Top Bottom