FN49 not cycling

[lawhite92]

Hey guys,

I thought I would see what you guys think before I start messing with the gas of the rifle.

My luxembourg FN49 in 30-06 is not cycling... It would fire the round and when I go to manually cycle the bolt it won't move.

After dropping the magazines and really getting some leverage and forcing the bolt open, the spent casing would eject and the bolt would move forward and backwards smoothly again without issue.

I only got through about 3 rounds that day because it would get stuck and not cycle after each round and was a HUGE pain to unjam.

My question would be, is this due to the gas adjustment valve needing to be tweaked or is something else at play here?

Thanks for any help

Would love to get this rifle perfectly running, this rifle is too beautiful not to be shot

[Not that bright]

Check to make sure that the gas valve foreward of the front sight is set for semi auto and not single shot. It may be as simple as turning it 180 degrees. I am assuming that the rifle is cleaned and properly lubed.

[I Swan]

Using good ammo too?

[lawhite92]

I was shooting hxp Greek surplus i got from CMP. Shoots great from my garand.

Yes, the rifle was cleaned and lubed.

[FLIGHT762]

Check to make sure that the gas valve foreward of the front sight is set for semi auto and not single shot. It may be as simple as turning it 180 degrees. I am assuming that the rifle is cleaned and properly lubed.

O/P, you didn't didn't answer if you checked this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^.

The gas valve on the front should be checked to see if it is set properly (in the auto position, not the grenade position).

[Paulie Lugnuts]

The part about the bolt being hard to move after firing a round makes me think the spent casing is getting stuck.

[lawhite92]

O/P, you didn't didn't answer if you checked this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^.

The gas valve on the front should be checked to see if it is set properly (in the auto position, not the grenade position).

I will check when I get home, I hope it is that simple.
Is there a marking on letter that shows if it is in auto position?

[lawhite92]

The part about the bolt being hard to move after firing a round makes me think the spent casing is getting stuck.

Yeah, do you know what could cause that?

Is it just a symptom on the heat causing the case to expand and since it isn't cycling, it sticks?

[CALI-gula]

O/P, you didn't didn't answer if you checked this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^.

The gas valve on the front should be checked to see if it is set properly (in the auto position, not the grenade position).

Some 90% of the time that's the problem on these. I've rarely seen an F49 fail to cycle otherwise.

.

[Not that bright]

I will check when I get home, I hope it is that simple.
Is there a marking on letter that shows if it is in auto position?

One side of the plug has an "A", the other side has an "R". The "A" should be facing up.

[lawhite92]

Upon getting home and looking at the rifle. The gas plug was in the "R" position. I flipped that around, so hopefully the next time at the range it will function normally.

Do you guys think the action getting stuck after firing is also solved by this or is it something else going on?

[penguin0123]

Upon getting home and looking at the rifle. The gas plug was in the "R" position. I flipped that around, so hopefully the next time at the range it will function normally.

Do you guys think the action getting stuck after firing is also solved by this or is it something else going on?

R for rifle grenade (e.g. gas cutoff), A for automatic.

When I tried HXP with my Columbian, I found HXP ammo to have too long an OAL to fit in the magazine. Between it and the Garand, I found the FN to have quite a bit less freebore. One possibility is that the HXP was already engaging the lands, causing an overpressure situation that caused the brass to be stuck pretty good. Try dropping a round of HXP into the chamber, then tilt the gun back and see it slides out easily; if not, smoke up the bullet then drop it back into the chamber and see if you can observe rifling marks on it. If yes, don't shoot HXP out of it.

I would also suggest you open the gas vent hole all the way open, then progressively close it until it cycles. If your gas is set too aggressively, the bolt may hit the back of the receiver.

What the OEM gas wrench looks like:

[Discogodfather]

It's most likely just the gas system, it's easy to adjust. Just think FAL, the wrench helps a lot. Once you get it to cycle you might notice the brass being mangled, that's a sign of over gassing. You generally want the gas system to be set at the lowest level it needs to cycle properly, this keeps things low friction and low impact. This is a good how to:

[smle-man]

Upon getting home and looking at the rifle. The gas plug was in the "R" position. I flipped that around, so hopefully the next time at the range it will function normally.

Do you guys think the action getting stuck after firing is also solved by this or is it something else going on?

The action will be fine with the proper gas port setting. The initial extraction is funky on FN rifles and there is little leverage available in extracting the fired case, at least for the initial travel of the carrier and bolt. I've resorted to using the shooting table edge on the bolt carrier handle to get a 49 action open in a similar situation. I sure wouldn't want a 49 as a straight pull rifle!

[knucklehead0202]

With the proper setting it should work fine with that ammo. I shot Syntax's Luxy fn49 and it was one of the sweetest-shooting rifles I've ever experienced. I'd do bad things in a parking lot to get one of these things...sure to hell can't afford one.