FN-49 Owners Please Chime In

[Bobby Ricigliano]

Hello all,

I am in the market for an FN-49, and would sincerely appreciate any feedback or tips from current owners or those who have experience with this platfrom. Looking around online I was not able to acquire too much info elsewhere.I am only looking for 8mm variants since I have plenty of ammo in that caliber.

I guess a few questiins I have are:

Are they pretty reliable?
Fragile, or durable?
How well do they shoot accuracy wise with milsurp ammo?

Which ammo works the best with this platform? I have read that the Turkish ammo is too hot, but Romanian spam can works well. How about Yugo ammo or anything with tough primers?

Finally, how complex is the takedown and cleaning , especially since I will certainly be shooting corrosive ammo through it.

Thank you for reading, and I look forward to your feedback.

BR

[justin4fun]

I have an Egyptian imported by Century, it is a early import not one of their piece together guns. I have heard bad things about some of the piece meal century imports.

I have only put 500 rounds or so through mine but without failure. Have used Romy, Yugo and even some Egyptian ammo without issue. No issues with hard primers either.

Accuracy is on par with the svt or other similar rifles. Not a tack driver but easy to keep it on paper.

It seems durable much like the other battle rifles but haven't tested it with abuse. Cleaning sucks just like the rest of the semi autos. I would say not as bad as a svt (My least favorite to clean) but takes time to do a good job. Not hard to get apart or complex. It all becomes a blur with the hakims, Rasheed, Ljungman, Garand and any other same era semi's.

I like the rifle but it doesn't get out enough. If I could find one at a good price I would like to pick one up in 06. Good luck and happy hunting.

[smle-man]

I've owned two .30, three 8mm, and one 7.62 so I've been around the block with these rifles. Accuracy is about the same as and service grade M1. The sights are windage and elevation adjustable, just not as easily (windage) as the M1. Keep in mind that spares for these rifles are drying up fast so if something critical breaks there is a chance that you will have a non shooting display model.

Regarding the 8mm version, my experience with the Century build up version was that the aftermarket stock was made of some incredibly soft wood which cracked at the king screw after I put a couple of hundred rounds through it. The crack kept growing. Find one with an original stock on it. The Egyptian NCOs apparently inspected bores, chambers, and bolt faces after the troops went to the range but ignored the gas cylinder and piston. I've seen many an 8mm 49 with pitted components in the gas system.

Paragon sold new condition 8mm 49s back in the 80s. Sometimes they show up on GB. If you bid on one make sure it isn't a Century parts gun that looks new. If you get the Century parts gun you have a good chance of getting a nice rifle since they used many unissued parts for their builds, the stock is the weak part of their build.

Best of luck!

[Bobby Ricigliano]

Justin and SMLE Man thank you both for your feedback. I am definitely going to aim for an original build instead of a rebuild. It seems like the best way to tell is that original stocks have the stock disc and neat brass buttplate. Since 8mm surplus ammo is also going the way of the Dodo bird (like spare parts as SMLE mentioned), it will be shot sparingly and kept mostly for posterity's sake.

[Jarhead]

If you can find a clean 7mm Mauser VZ scoop it up

[smle-man]

Justin and SMLE Man thank you both for your feedback. I am definitely going to aim for an original build instead of a rebuild. It seems like the best way to tell is that original stocks have the stock disc and neat brass buttplate. Since 8mm surplus ammo is also going the way of the Dodo bird (like spare parts as SMLE mentioned), it will be shot sparingly and kept mostly for posterity's sake.

Bobby,

That Yugo ball you got from me awhile ago will work just fine in a 49. You need some 2 bump clips for an Egyptian 49. Regular mauser type clips work but aren't correct for this rifle. See below for the reason. I've got some left from my 49 if you want them.



This is what happens when you use the usual 3 bump mauser clips in an Egyptian issue FN 49. The clip doesn't sit in the slot low enough to properly strip the rounds into the magazine.



This is with the 2 bump clips. The clip is inserted as shown and swung down to sit at the right depth to strip the rounds into the magazine. Then the clip flips up and out with either the flick of your finger or when the bolt runs forward. The same method is used with the Hakim.

[joefrank64k]

BR, I've got one that I'd sell to you. It's an Egyptiian, all #'s match, brass disc and butt plate, crown-marked receiver, small CAI import mark, original stock, internals (including gas system) are spotless. Arabic marked rear sight.

I'm not sure what it's worth, come by one of these days and have look. I'll send you some pics once I dig it out of the safe.

[joefrank64k]

FN-49 Owners Please Chime In

BR, some pics. No problem if this wasn't what you were looking for.

[Bobby Ricigliano]

JF Sent you a PM Sir, thanks.

[Bobby Ricigliano]

SMLE I had no idea that the FN uses different stripper clips, thanks for that. With the exception of ammo that is already on the clips, I tend to prefer loading the rounds manually. Slows down the consumption of the ammo a bit.

By the way I am ever appreciative of that ammo and Mauser you sold me. What I have shot was great stuff and that 24/47 is a slick rifle, a favorite.

[smle-man]

SMLE I had no idea that the FN uses different stripper clips, thanks for that. With the exception of ammo that is already on the clips, I tend to prefer loading the rounds manually. Slows down the consumption of the ammo a bit.

By the way I am ever appreciative of that ammo and Mauser you sold me. What I have shot was great stuff and that 24/47 is a slick rifle, a favorite.

Bobby,

It is interesting that several of the FN49s uses a different style of clip. The 8mm uses the clip that I showed in the pictures. The .30 and 7mm uses a clip that resembles an 03 clip (thicker cross section). Glad you like the 24/47!

[Saigon1965]

I really enjoyed my Lux model - Only shoot factory ammo so no worries on cleaning -

That's a nice example JF has -

They are beautiful battle rifles -

[V8MERC124]

Here are some videos I've made for the FN49 8mm. This includes a show and tell, field strip, and some range time. First two are older videos of mine.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IWIQjRNKjyo

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vhnMaA86_Mk

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ppSxi9MIcjk

[Cessnapilot89]

I have the 7mm Venezuelan model. It is a dream to shoot. Low recoil, accurate and durable. The rifle shares some characteristics with an SVT and the FAL. The adjustable gas system is quite nice and this one has nice trigger pull. If you are in Norcal, you are more than welcome to try mine out.

[Jarhead]

I have the 7mm Venezuelan model. It is a dream to shoot. Low recoil, accurate and durable. The rifle shares some characteristics with an SVT and the FAL. The adjustable gas system is quite nice and this one has nice trigger pull. If you are in Norcal, you are more than welcome to try mine out.

I would say the FN49 is an upgrade to the SVT but second to the FAL, maybe even behind the French MAS49