Fn 49?

Greenhorse,

MagAssembly.jpg


Notice how the Spring and fallower just are poped out ?? Well that is because there is no feed lips on the magazine to hold it down as shown in the next picture:

MagCloseup.jpg


Thouse 4 (2 on each side) match up to the inside of the magwell of the reciver to "Aling" the magazine for proper feeding would be my best guess. :)

Dimitri
 
Yes it was odd they tried it. Probably ran into the same problems like the M14 though (uncontrollable). :)

Myself I wouldnt even consider the FN49 magazine a magazine, more like a detachable floor plate for a rifle. Sort of like the Remington 700 Mag-Xtender floorplate replacement that turns a M700 from a 4 round rifle to a 7 round rifle. ;)

Dimitri
 
a few years ago I converted a bunch of 20 round BAR .30-06 mags for the 8mm FN49. They were still semi fixed without feedlips but the added 10 rounds were nice.
 
I had one many years ago. An Egyptian model that was stolen in a breakin. I bought a Bubba'd example in Saskatchewan, but sold it when I sobered up.

One of the nicest little gadgets on the FN49 is the hammer plunger sticks out the bottom of the trigger guard when the hammer is cocked. The safety is a big lever that masks the trigger too. All the essential indicators are right at your fingertips!

One model or another has firing pin problems. The tip breaks and jams the face of the breech block. As I recall the solution was to get the two piece firing pin and the little return spring for inside the bolt.

The gas is adjustable, but I think it is hard to do without a tool or removing the handguard. But it is a forward design step towards the excellent system on the FN/FAL.

The last thing I remember is the back sight is a big well made thing. Better than any Mauser, almost as good as an M1, close to the French MAS44 and MAS49, but better than the No.4 Enfield. Shame the FN/FAL series forgot the whole idea of good sights. My mind remembers it as a notch and not an aperature. Someone will pick me up on that, I know.
 
maple_leaf_eh,

Earlier contract rifles were 1pc firing pin, which was changed to 2pc because of it breaking and causing a slam fires, Egpyt was the first contract (if memory serves) and my later Egpytian (one of the last 3000 made for Egypt) had a 2pc firing pin. :)

One thing you got to remember when comparing the FN49 to the FAL is that the FAL was designed to make it CHEAP to produce the FN49. :)

The FN49 was designed in a world where a good reliable battle rifle that would outlive its users in the Military was more important then cost. The FAL on the other hand was how FN desided to make a gun cheap enough that they could sell it to anybody in large numbers. :)

To make the FN49 in todays dollars it would cost I'd guess a good 5,000$ or more as its really machining intensive. :eek:

Dimitri
 
Greenhorse,

Not saying the FN FAL isn't a good rifle not at all. Perhaps the word cheap isn't such a good one to use as people assume cheap = bad. I ment cheap as in cheap to manufature. :)

Dieudonne Saive was a smart firearms designer and I'm sure when they cut costs from the FN49 one of the things he wanted the most was to keep the quality the same. :)

Dimitri
 
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