FN Model 1949
- Category
- Battle Rifle
- Barrel
- 590 mm
- Weight, empty
- 4.31 kg
- Introduced
- 1949
About
What it is, and why it matters
The FN Model 1949 is a Belgian gas-operated, tilting-bolt, semi-automatic battle rifle designed by Dieudonné Saive at Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal. Saive escaped Nazi-occupied Belgium in 1940 carrying the rifle's design plans, continued development at Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield as the EXP-1, and finalized the design after returning to liberated Liège in 1944. Chambered in a wide range of full-power cartridges to suit export customers - most prominently .30-06 Springfield, 7×57mm Mauser, 7.65×53mm Argentine, and 7.92×57mm Mauser - it fed from a 10-round internal box magazine loaded via stripper clips. Sold to roughly 26 nations, the FN-49 was the conceptual bridge between WWII-era self-loading rifles and the modern battle rifle: its tilting-bolt action directly informed the development of the FN FAL, which Saive also co-designed.
Saive escaped Nazi-occupied Belgium in 1940 carrying the rifle's plans, reaching England via Portugal in 1941. Development continued at Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield where 50 prototypes were built as 'EXP-1' in 7.92×57mm Mauser before a planned 2,000-rifle troop trial was cancelled. After returning to liberated Liège in September 1944, Saive finalized the FN-49 in 1947 - making the rifle the literal mechanical ancestor of the FN FAL.
Source variance on action type: most cite gas_operated_short_stroke; some sources call it long_stroke. Production end varies 1957/1960/1961 by source. Argentine Navy rifles were converted to 7.62×51mm NATO with detachable 20-round mags by Metalúrgica Centro in late 1960s/early 1970s. Belgian Army contract was largest at ~87,777 rifles.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- FN Herstal
- Category
- Battle Rifle
- Country
- Belgium
- Status
- Out of production
- Produced
- 1949 to 1961
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 590 mm
- Overall length
- 1116 mm
- Weight, empty
- 4.31 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Gas operated long stroke
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Trigger
- Single stage
- Capacity
- 10
- Magazine
- Internal
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 835 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 3380 J
- Effective range
- 600 m
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Tilting bolt lock
Internal box magazine
Stripper clip loading
Iron tangent sights
Optional oip 4x scope
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 107 battle rifles | 4.31 kg | 4.30 kg | Heavier than about 60% |
| Overall lengthAmong 107 battle rifles | 1116 mm | 1025 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 110 battle rifles | 590 mm | 457 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 110 battle rifles | 10 | 20 | Among the smallest capacities |
Answers
Questions about the FN Model 1949
How much does the FN Model 1949 weigh?
The FN Model 1949 weighs 4.31 kg (9.50 lb) empty.
What caliber is the FN Model 1949?
The FN Model 1949 is chambered in .30-06 Springfield.
How many rounds does the FN Model 1949 hold?
The FN Model 1949 holds 10 rounds, fed from an internal magazine.
How long is the FN Model 1949?
The FN Model 1949 is 1116 mm (43.9 in) long overall, with a 590 mm (23.2 in) barrel.
Who makes the FN Model 1949?
The FN Model 1949 is made by FN Herstal (Belgium). It was designed by Dieudonné Saive.
When was the FN Model 1949 introduced?
The FN Model 1949 was introduced in 1949 and discontinued in 1961.
How does the FN Model 1949 operate?
The FN Model 1949 uses a gas operated long stroke action, and its firing mechanism is hammer fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- Belgian Army
- 1949
- Egyptian Army
- 1949
- Venezuelan Army
- 1948
- Luxembourg Army
- Luxembourg
- Argentine Navy
- Argentina
- Indonesian Army
- 1960
- Colombian Army
- Colombia
- Belgian Congo / Force Publique
- Congo - Kinshasa
Provenance
Confidence in this record
92%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/fn-49' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "fn-49", "name": "FN Model 1949", "manufacturer": { "id": "fn-herstal", "name": "FN Herstal", "countryCode": "BE", "foundedYear": 1889, "website": "https://www.fnherstal.com", "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-02-11 23:44:38", "updatedAt": "2026-02-18 03:43:43", "version": "868b12ac455d24b965edddf486bafb1892f606961311b1ab9907556e3a23b075" }, "category": { "id": "battle-rifle", "name": "Battle Rifle", "description": "Selective-fire rifles chambered in full-power cartridges" }, "country_of_origin": "BE", "year_introduced": 1949, "barrel_length_mm": 590, "weight_empty_g": 4310, "action_type": "gas_operated_long_stroke"}