FN Model 49 Luxembourg Contract 30-06 Springfield Rifle FN49

The Fabrique Nationale Model 1949 (FN‑49 or SAFN; selective‑fire Belgian AFN for military use) is an autoloading battle rifle designed by Dieudonné Saive in 1947 and finalized in 1949. It earned praise for build quality and reliability and features an adjustable gas port so it can be tuned to different cartridges. Marketability was limited because it arrived after WWII when many militaries were already switching to selective‑fire battle rifles; about half were made as selective‑fire/automatic rifles but the small 10‑round box magazine reduced practical automatic use. The FN‑49 faced stiff competition from newer designs such as the H&K G3 and FN’s own FAL, which capped its sales. Contracting began in 1948 with Venezuela placing the first order on March 31, 1948 (delivered four months later), and production of complete rifles continued until the last contract for Indonesia on December 19, 1960 (delivered February 19, 1961). FN targeted non‑aligned and export markets because Western nations had large WWII stocks and Soviet bloc customers were restricted to Soviet designLuxembourg was the 4th country to order the FN Model 49 for contract. The army of Luxembourg would be issued the 49 in 1951 only one year after their first purchase order for the rifles. FN delivered 1,500 rifles in the first batch and the Luxembourg Army would ultimately only order 6,306 rifles in total. Of that total this would include special variants such as the rare sniper variant, cutaway models and the standard models. All rifles would be chambered in the .30-06 Springfield cartridge for the Luxembourg contract. Luxembourg has a small population and does not have a history of war fighting. Due to this the Luxembourg contract rifles are usually in pristine condition compared to contract rifles offered to other nations.

The rifle pictured is the rifle for sale. This FN49 is in excellent condition. The black enamel paint is intact nearly 97%+ throughout the rifle. The magazine is blued and has some surface patina and wear but is in overall good shape. The stock looks great and does not have any major sign of damage. For a rifle over 75 years old this rifle has survived the test of time. The stock number does not match the receiver S/N this was likely by design at FN or it is a replacement. We cannot know for sure.  The bore looks great, we noted a nice shiny bore with good crisp rifling throughout the barrel, the crown looks great the the chamber also looks good and clean. We note the breach face also looks good and the action and spring feel both very smooth and quite strong like the gun was never fired much. This rifle will include an original sling which is also in excellent condition. This model 49 would be a must have for any avid C&R collector, FN collector, or fan for the model 49.

AL – Receiver Marking – Armée Luxembourg
Star over N
Liege Le Perron Proof Mark
80

4 Digit S/N High 5,000 range – One of the last rifles produced in the contract.