Which was the better battle rifle
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FN 49 all the way imo
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Hands down it's the FN49.
I have the Argentinian Naval contract piece and it's the sniper variant.
It's in the original 7.65 Argentine / Belgian clambering (approx. 5000 were made - maybe 2200 were imported to the US in 2 batches - the second batch contained some rather trashed pieces)
Mine has a two digit serial number - and these early production pieces not only appear to be pristine - they also appear to have escaped the later modifications when they were altered to 7.62 NATO.
Maybe 1000 of these were converted to .30-06 for Columbia - to supplement the possibly last Mauser rifle combat use primary arm production run and occurred post war...
+1000 if you know about the Colombian rifle in question and can school the members who don't know the story...
Mine is ridiculously nice - I used to get quite a bit of offers to buy it or trade for it - including a notable author and a nice guy and who has a prominent YouTube audience (both gents managed to find examples in perfect shape - both single or double digit examples)
FN Herstal made these guns and quality was high...
The designer of the FN49, was a Belgian named Dieudonne Saive. After the death of John Moses Browning, Saive finished the design for the 9mm Hi Power pistol. He also later designed the famous FN FAL rifle, which would equip many Western nations during the Cold War. Saive began working on semi automatic rifles in the early 1930’s. His earliest design self loading rifles were recoil operated, but he designed an early gas operated rifle in 1936.
Saive managed to escape from Belgium to England in the summer of 1941. In England, he further developed his design for a semi automatic rifle. Saive later went to Canada in 1943 to help with production of the Hi Power pistol at the John Inglis company. The rifle design that Saive worked on in England served as the basis for the post war FN49 semi automatic rifle, that was adopted by Belgium in 1949.
No lion / samba Congo crest sadly...
My gun does however have the rather Scarce Fabrique Nationale Luxembourg Contract FN49 Semi-Automatic Rifle with Custom Made Assembly Scope.
The Venezuelan contract guns were also nice of you could have found one - the sported the also scarce Venezuelan Contract FN Model 49 Semi-Automatic Sniper Rifle Fitted with Belgium Pattern Scope and Base - the total contract run (all variants) totaled approx. 7000
Sniper rifles from Belgium and Luxembourg both featured Echo mounts and 4x power OIP scopes. Egypt used a larger number of FN49 sniper rifles, and these guns differed from their European counterparts. They were fitted with Czech optics.
The vz. 52 rifle is a self-loading rifle developed shortly after the Second World War in Czechoslovakia. Its full name is 7,62mm samonabíjecí puška vzor 52. Vz. 52 is an abbreviation for vzor 52, meaning "model 52". It fires the unique 7.62×45mm cartridge. It is considered both reliable and accurate...
I have one that retains its it's factory chambering - which I would consider an intermediate power cartridge - and the nomenclature I apply to it would be carbine - maybe short light rife if I am being generous...
But it is a CZ and the Czechs tend to make solid innovative guns - it's a semiautomatic rifle with higher round count ability and the bayonet is a cool little side folder...
I like the Czech gun - it's light in weight and in recoil - will group the Mag load out into a sub 3" groups at 100 - 200 yes for most shooters...
But the FN wins no doubt.
Mike
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You are a font of information Mike. Always educational. Appreciate your reads. Always wanted an FN 49.
One firearm I passed on way back, when I discovered GB around 2006, was a Steyr bolt action 5.45 with a nice numbers matching scope. Purportedly used by East German wall/border guards as a Sniper rifle. It was pristine. I will always kick myself for not adding it to my collection.
Expound on that one if you will Mike.
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I considered a FN-49 for a while. A buddy bought one with a really dark bore. The receiver crack trying to get the barrel off so he could put on a brand new one. "Don't fix it if it isn't broke" Later a different friend had a Hakim in 8mm that was interesting. Personally I'll keep my S 1936 bring back from an uncle. 0 -
FN 49 in 8x57 or 30-06. 0 -
Hypothesize all you like, it's harmless.
But the absolute truth is that THE best battle rifle is the one you're holding when the battle starts.
Mine was a CAR-15.
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Not familiar with these. However, for old times the M1 Garand would get my shoulder for any fight... 0 -
Ken,
I have already had a post reply go 🇵🇴🇴🇫 this weekend so I must tread lightly...(_2#;,
The answer to your inquiry is of course Scharfschutzengewehr 69 or SSG 69 in shorthand - made by Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG Steyr (though I do not recall it being chambered as you stated)
If this is the rifle please let me LMK - I will endeavor to write up a review post haste"...
I of course prefer the later belted magnum bolt action bullpup rifle variant - one that a prominent popular moderator / expert and esteemed peer and friend and colleague would prefer not be considered in the same breath as the rifle you must mentioned.
Mike
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Yep. The one I was looking at was a 5.45. Caught my interest. Should have bought it. Very unusual.
Around $1200 if memory serves me. Excellent condition.
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The 7.62x45 is an interesting round. 0 -
FN 0 -
I had a VZ 52 a number of years ago , it worked fine when the ammo would fire. My range at the time was 250 yds & i could easily hit a 12" gong . Problem was ammo, all corrosive & would not always fire , last made was in 1957. 0 -
Quite a few of these sweet carbines were brought back from our incursion into Grenada - where one of their elite units made up of sons and relatives of Noriega supporters and leftist pro Marxist / pro Noriega military officers...
They went to Cuba to train - held joint exercises with the Cubans and some southern African junta technicals and militia...
Cuban troops were in country when we invaded.
The small elite Guardia Imperial or Guardia Real was closely tied to the RMC and it's supporters amongst the political and communist regimes and was said to have connections with the drug cartels.
Code-named Operation Urgent Fury, the invasion was triggered by internal strife within the People's Revolutionary Government, resulting in the house arrest and—six days before the invasion—the execution of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, the nation’s pro-Marxist leader. That led to the formation of a Revolutionary Military Council with Hudson Austin, another Marxist, as its chairman. Protesters clashed with the new government while violence escalated.
The invasion contingents included the U.S. Army's Rapid Deployment Force, composed of the 1st and 2nd Ranger Battalions, and the 82nd Airborne Division; Marines; the Army’s Delta Force; and Navy SEALs. In all, the combined forces constituted the 7,600 troops drawn from the United States and Jamaica. They defeated Grenadian resistance after an airborne assault by the Rangers on Point Salines Airport on the southern end of the island while the Marines staged a helicopter and amphibious landing at the airport on the northern end shortly afterward.
Some 20 U.S. troops were killed and more than 100 wounded; more than 60 Grenadian and Cuban troops were killed.
United States:
7,300
4 tanks
1 aircraft carrier
3 destroyers
2 frigates
1 ammunition ship
27 F-14A Tomcats
CPF:
353
Grenada:
1,200
8 APCs
2 armoured cars
12 AA guns
Cuba:
780[3]:6, 26, 62
Soviet Union:
49
North Korea:
24[1]
East Germany:
16
Bulgaria:
14
Libya:
3-4
WeaponsEdit
- Makarov PM semi-automatic pistol
- Tokarev TT-33 semi-automatic pistol
- Vz. 52 semi-automatic rifle
- Mosin–Nagant M44 carbine[12]
- Uzi sub-machine gun
Crew served weaponsEdit
Armored vehiclesEdit
Anti aircraft guns and artilleryEdit
- 12 ZU-23-2[23]
- 4 Ex-Cuban ZiS-3 76.2mm Field guns (not used during the invasion)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmtDnsjzv_Ehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvvsxTCCs7UMike
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I was never in the service. I've always told people you fight with what you have when the time comes.Rocky Raab said:Hypothesize all you like, it's harmless.
But the absolute truth is that THE best battle rifle is the one you're holding when the battle starts.
Mine was a CAR-15.
Was the CAR 15 issued to you because you were a pilot? IIRC the CAR was shorter than the standard issue M 16.0 -
I had a very nice FN 49 Argentine Navy converted to 7.62 * 51 sweet gun, it was a four digit serial but fantastic condition. I sold it here on GB. I also had a very nice STG 58 FN-FAL that I sold here too. I love the gun but as I age I figured I can only shoot so many and taking care of them and storing them became more of a concern. The only one I kept was my Springfield M1A and a AR-15 I built top and bottom. At one time I had just about all of them except a Johnson 41. The Russian SVT 40 was one of the most unique semi autos I owned never really cared for the VZ 52 but my swedish Lungeman was cool. 0 -
A true contradiction in terms - clash of nomenclatures - the Mauser semiautomatic infantry primary issue main battle rifle...
Of course for most folk for quite a chunk of linear time simply saying "Mauser rifle" was synonymous with saying "bolt action rifle"...
Of course we are all familiar with the Mauser Brothers working for Remington - where their concept for a new magazine fed bolt action rifle with certain now omnipresent and ubiquitous familiar common universal design elements was passed on by Remington as to costly and complicated to move forward with.
Of course I am certain that Remington at some point regretted the success the Mauser bolt action platform and their failure to to capitalize on the groundbreaking design and any possible control over or ownership of the patents and it's usage world wide - especially when upon testing and adopting the '03 Springfield required the US to pay Mauser for use of several of the brothers patents - and to avoid patent infringement civil court judgement being levied against them / the US. We stopped paying the agreed upon scheduled fees because - well a declared war tended to cause diplomatic relations to become adversarial...
We were summarily ruled against and after the cessation of the conflict and ended up paying the fees and late payment penalties and fines and accrued interest and legal fees...
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Isn't the BEST battle rifle ever the FN-FAL? 0 -
Some more grist for the mill - so you can better make an an informed decision on what is wheat and what is chaff...
Guns that were referenced above or acknowledged earlier as points of order in the discussion...
So embrace my diversion and enjoy the excursion...
Cause you know it was either Nazi's with Mauser's versus patriots with garands - or - commies with Kalashnikov's or GI Joe's with colt AR's...
Only that narrow focus view is interesting or truthful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-xKTgV3xYIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naWu27j9HDwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTW1NB5NnCghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGLZ7Mt8kpA0 -
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