Original Item: Good to very good condition.
The SAFN-49 rifle (Semi-Automatic, FN, model of 1949) was developed by the famous Belgian company Fabrique Nationale Herstal and initially adopted by the Belgian army in 1949. Also known as the FN-49, this rifle also was bought by various countries and in various calibers. It was used by the Egypt, Indonesia, Brazil, Venezuela, Luxembourg, Argentine, Congo, Colombia and probably some other countries. It was also tested in the USA and Great Britain. The development of the new semiautomatic rifle began at the FN in the late 1930s under the leadership of the famous firearms designer Dieudonne Saive. The work at FN was suspended during the German occupation of the Belgium, but Saive and his team managed to escape to UK and continued to work there during the German occupation of Belgium. Assoon as Belgium was liberated, Saive returned home and resumed work on the new rifle. As noted before, new rifle was ready in the late 1940s and was quickly adopted by the numerous armed forces. It was a fine design, made from high quality materials and with great skill, but somewhat too expensive and it soon became obsolete, especially with the appearance of its direct descendant, the famous FN FAL rifle.