Venezuelan FN49: The First FN49 Contract 

Hello, I’m a Venezuelan. The trajectory of this rifle in my country was like this: first it was adopted by the army, but wen we adopted the FAL this rifles went to the national guard (in Venezuela is basically a gendarmerie) who used them along side Belgium made mausers (still a perfectly good rifle for some roles in the 50s) and then we sold them to the USA. One last thing, the pictures of civil unrest that Ian is talking about are from 1958, during the civilian an military uprising against the last military dictatorship of Venezuela in the 20th century. Saludos desde Venezuela

7mm, muzzle device, semi-only - I think the Venezuelan army procurement actually knew what it was doing unlike many Western countries at that time.

I have one of these, it's my most prized possessions. Serial# 4707, part of the 2nd-production run. I had a time getting the barrel cover back on after adjusting the gas-piston, though. It's a gorgeous rifle that's an absolute dream to shoot. Not only that, I got a 15-inch bayonet for it too. The bayonet was for the previous Mauser rifle but all it took was enlarging the muzzle-ring from 15 mm to 18 mm and it fits perfectly. I got the book for it, btw. FN-49; The Last Elegant Old-World Military Rifle 2nd-Edition. HIGHLY recommend it if you want to collect these.

Once more, Ian does a video on the FN Model 1949. It's Interesting that this now-largely forgotten rifle was surprisingly adopted by quite a number of nations after WW2. A taste of things to come, as its successor - the FAL - would show.

That rifle is in excellent condition, it looks brand new like it was just purchased. Hard to believe its over 60 years old.

As a young man, I bought an FN 49 in 1969 chambered in 7mm. I believe I paid about $50 for one that was in very good condition. Wish I still had it. Kinda heavy, but very soft shooting, even though mine didn't have a muzzle brake.

My FN49 Serial Number 3433 stock and handguard are numbered inside stock and under one-piece handguard. Mine was unissued unfired when I bought it. Fantastic rifle. Quality is, well, FN . A real pleasure to shoot and very accurate.

This is the neatest-looking of the post-war Battle Rifles, IMHO. Good, solid, clean lines. So tidy.

wish fn would bring these back as a retro line. they are so cool.

The example of fn49 being used for this presentation is no doubt the nicest one I’ve seen…amazing

Dieudonné Saive really knew how to make a rifle aesthetically pleasing. I wish modern firearms designers would take more inspiration from him.

I have a Venezuelan one, after watching this I took a closer look, SN 358. Easily one of my favorites rifles and super super soft shooting for a full sized rifle round.

Beautiful, well cared-for rifle. There's just something about milled steel and good wood. Considering the wear on the internals, it looks like it was also enjoyed on the range.

YAY!!!! I've literally been waiting for this one since I saw the first FN49 sniper video Ian did. I even bought an Egyptian contract FN49, looking forward to Ian covering an "infantry" model rifle... ❤

My brother-in-law had one of these back in the 70s, and I got to shoot it a few times. Like almost all of his guns over the years, he lost interest in it and traded it off for something else.

Aqui no Brasil quem utilizou esse tipo de arma foi a Marinha, ainda se pode encontra-lo nas Escolas de Aprendizes de Marinheiro !

I have an FN 49 in 8 m/m Mauser. I bought it back in the late-'80s when there were tons of beat-up old surplus military arms on the market. I think it cost about $100. It is in very rough shape with slivers of wood missing but it is still 100% reliable. Oh, it did come with the firing pin broken, but that was easy to fix and I also bought an unissued barrel for $20 which I have never installed. The original shoots fine. I actually like it better than my M-1 Garand.

I've seen quite a few in museums, glad to be able to see the inner workings

I have one of these. Serial 6xxx in unissued condition. The rifle likes S&B 140 FMJ. I’ve updated the firing pin to the later two piece as there is a known slam fire risk with the early 49s.

An elegant weapon from a more civilized age. Keep in mind if you own one of these Venny contracts...the single piece firing pin is prone to breaking. Surplus two-piece firing pins (such as Egyptian contract pins) may not have the correct geometry to just "drop-in" and be safe (the shoulder radius on the pins seem to stick the firing pin hole). I ended up having to modify the two-piece I bought to ensure safe and proper function. In short, do your homework before buying and shooting, and take to a competent gunsmith versed in old-world military rifles if you cannot tackle this yourself. Several FN-49s have already exploded over the years from what I've read.

Excellent video! I learned a lot from your video on this rifle - now I know how to take my apart, and I got to know some history about the rifle as well! Thank you!

They are very nice shooting rifles. With the weight, the recoil is about on par with an SKS.

I have a first batch one, it is so fun to shoot! The gas system is a pain to adjust (6 clicks per turn and quite a few turns) but with S&B 140gr FMJ it's crazy smooth now. I've gotten a neat jam a couple times where a case gets wedged sideways under the gas piston while it's still extended. TFB's old run and gun video with the FN49 shows the exact same thing happening and I've seen at least one other YT vid with it too.

Ian, you sir, are the best in the biz!

I recall seeing a picture of this rifle being held by a member of a Venezuelan submarine crew, he was standing on the conning tower while some were swimming; caption said he was on the lookout for the sharks. Dunno how confident I would feel swimming….

I had the pleasure of owning a 8 mm Mauser version of the fn49 which had a Crest above the chamber resembling the crest of the Egyptian military. It was a beautiful gun it was built like a tank it was very sturdy and very well made I only paid $450 for it.

FN looks so clean

I am a FAL-ower. I love my FAL, and i get why it was the arm of the free world. Such a good design. Sure, the AR-15/M-16 is a good rifle as well, and would have to say both have passed the test of time. But the FAL was first.

Thank You Ian looks like a decent FN platform!

Thank you , Ian . 🐺 Loupis Canis .

That is an attractive weapon. I have a Turkish K98 and yes, the 8mm kicks a bit.

Now I know why I love my SKS, much simpler than the FN, but you notice the similarities of the FN gas piston to the cruciform bayonet of the SKS!

Thanks for the video, as I get older I find my wish to own increases, but my opportunity to own diminishes with my more and more worthless paychecks. A dream rifle for me, I would love to have one that I could take to the range and have some fun with. Thanks again, you have made an old mans heart beat a little faster with the excitement of another gun on my wish list.

Pretty cool to see Ian used Venezuela’s pre-Chavez flag. I like to think of myself as Forgotten Weapons’ Venezuelan-American #1 fan

Its crazy how expensive these have become.....well ....crazy how expensive all surplus rifles have become.

Love to see Ian compare the SLEM 2 and FN49 @ the Royal armouries. Cool how different is is to the FAL.

It looks so good

very informative

The last elegant battle rifle.

Fn49 is so cool. I would get one if they modernized it.

That's a very nice looking gun, saludos desde Venezuela

I have 3 of these Honey Rifles, one is a 30.06 and the other two are 8mm's I love these rifles, they are right behind, almost as good as my Egyptian 8mm Hakim Riles, which I think are one of the best semi auto Battle Rifles ever produced, and I own 4 Hakim's as well. The FN-49 is a Robust well made very reliable rifle just like the Hakim Rifles, Ive never seen a 7mm FN-49 but I remember in the late 1980s and all through the 1990s FN-49s were all over the Military Surplus Rifle Markets, Companies like Numrich Arms, Century Arms imported thousands upon thousands of the them, They were all over the place at Gun Shows, I lived in Wyoming all through the 1990s and attended many Gun Shows in Billing's Montana, Rapid City South Dakota, Cheyenne Wyoming, and remember seeing these rifles often, back then Price ? $ 175 to $ 250 for a good FN-49, now I dont even know the prices but I assume its much higher, at one point I had 4 FN's I sold one or traded it off I dont recall but I kept the 3 other rifles, and have had them over 30 years. They all shoot perfectly I have replaced the firing pins in all of them, and put a new barrel on the first one I bought I paid $ 100 Cash for that rifle. All my FNs have Bayonets and slings, I put a nice Scope on one of them, and used it many times to take down Mule Deer, Elk, and Moose its the 30.06 Rifle, I worked at a Pawn Shop, / Sporting Good Store, Gun Store The Boss was smart he bought lots of good Rifles, lots of Mosin Nagants, Carcano's, Enfields, Mausers, and I remember a shipment that came in, it was my job to accept new shipments, inspect them, clean them make sure all guns were in good condition, he bought a lot of 30 FN-49s all 8mm Guns, My job also was to load up all new guns we took in on pawn that were left, and any guns my boss bought, and haul them to the range and test fire all of them. Yep I got paid to shoot ! If you see one of these FNs Grab it ! Buy it !

Nice as usual!

I love your effin trivia!

What a beautiful rifle I really love the these style rifles

One of my wife’s uncles owned a Venezuelan contract FN49. One of my few regrets in the life was not purchasing it from him before he passed away.

Mine was SN 1964, however it was sporterized with a Fajen stock and muzzle brake removed. Use gas cut off for shooting at bench as a straight pull

Beautiful machine.

I had an Egyptian contract FN49 in 8mm but had to sell it when my finances tanked. It’s one of the rifles I most regret letting go.

Bought Luxembourg in undergrad. Sold it to finance move to Chicago. When came bought sold AUG, Australian FAL and Venzulan 7mm. To live. Ah, regrets! I've got a few.

Never expected to see something about my country here. Btw, please get me out of Venezuela!!!

Sweet rifle.

The middle version of the progression of SLEM via FN49 to FAL.

Love mine!

Beautiful

Really nice looking rifle

Love the cuts compensator

Great Stuff 💯💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

It's as sexy looking riffle as the day it was made.

I have this same rifle 4217 as well as an egyptian and Luxembourg serial 0014

I have one of these, so beautiful!

FN49 drinking game - take a shot every time Ian says "FN49"

Like a fancy SKS, I love it!

Nice I was waiting for this. I have a first run FN49 SN 3897. Too bad someone cut the barrel. Like new 😔

The rifle is old school cool.

A great very interesting rifle and video Mr.Ian.It was not a bad idea at all to be able to rotate between the repeater and semi automatic fire mode.Was the R mode used for sustained fire or just for the rifle grenades?Was the caliber .308?Have a good one.Btw did these rifle have a bayonet?

You should start covering more medieval weapons

What a beautiful rifle! Obviously very heavily influenced by the MAS-49, but you can also see stylistic cues taken from the Garand, the MAS 36, and even the SMLE.

Superficially, you can see hints at the FAL's lines in it. Not sure how far that carries over into function and technicality, though.

nice, mine is in the 1800 s/n range

Nice looking gun

I'm Venezuelan and didn't know the army had these back in the day, I might ask my grandpa, he was in the army.

The steel butt-plate wouldmakeit a very useful blunt instrument.

Cool. I was aware that the gas plug can be assembled in such a way as to, well, not be a functional gas port, but had no idea that particular feature had a useful application. My Egyptian has Arabic markings rather than those "F" and "R" marks, not surprisingly.

My 2-digit sn Venezuelan is very pleasing. I wonder if it was parkerized in Venezuelan service

Wow, you can see how this became the FAL

Hi Ian, could you made a postcast to talk about The 7,62×25mm Tokarev?

Timely since I just picked up a three digit one. I also found some surplus FN made 7x57 Mauser with a "49" headstamp to try out. It will be curious if they are hotter than the typical loadings to run this gas gun.

Why is the plate corugated? I could see an argument for something like "better friction" ...but it also seems like it'd give you very weird bruises... 🤔

This 7mm FN49 reminds me that a .280" FAL could have happened. A 7x57mm FAL would have been impossible by about a quarter of an inch!

THat is a beautiful rifle.

What's funny is that I at one time had 3 of them. A large part of the total supply.

Would it be possible for you to bring the Venezuelan M24 Mauser as well? It would be amazing

The FN 49 externally looks like the child of a Garand and a Lee Enfield no 4.

I love the Venezuelan 49. I have #118 with bayonet 7204. Unfortunately, it needs some work done, and there is some mismatch too...example the receiver cover has SN of 108. I wonder how many of the 8,000 rifles are still around, I assume 108 became a parts gun or if my cover is a replacement part from FN.

Nice, this video has 49K views (as of December 2, 2023).

I understand Fabrique Nationale’s decision to discontinue the product in 1961 and I don’t think a modern iteration would sell particularly well in the current market, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a reproduction of some sort.

Better made than many rifles out there. I'd love one, but don't think a gas system is needed. Why do so many guns have the gas system when it is obsolete? So many extra parts , more to foul, makes me hostile to the gas designs.

With the Venezuelans adopting the FAL which was in 7.62mm , were there any conversions of “old stock” FN 49’s?” to the same calibre I wonder?…👍

The thing looks very intimidating! Aaaaa! Screws that screw other screws... Bliss, how very Swiss!

Not even gonna lie, we need a book from headstamp about Czechoslovakia, I feel many of their designs have been influential towards many designs and copied by many.

Not sure where else to ask you - but if you could take one pistol and one rifle/PDW in to an apocalypse situation what would you choose and why?

Yay

Haven't watched yet, where can I buy one?

Nice rifle indeed.

This sure operates a whole lot like the SKS...

Always, absolutely iformive and enjoyable. Just watched an ASMR Minute of Mae on C&R. Prally not your style but if you one of your break-downs witha ASMR voice-over , would shit.

Unfortunately, this going out while Venezuela is in the news for all the wrong reasons.

I noticed an "A" on the stock indent for the safety but I didn't hear if you have the meaning of this.

as I just tore apart an SKS Yesterday? Wow is this not Close Looking in the Bolt? or do I see things?