The small arms market post-WW II was difficult. Saive went back to Liège and finalized the design in 1947. The Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield, ordered prototypes and troop trials, but gas pressure and the impending end of WW II ended the contract. Its development was interrupted by the German invasion, but Saive escaped to the UK. Dieudonné Saive at Fabrique Nationale experimented with recoil-operated rifles in the 1930s and eventually patented a gas-operated design in 1936.
The FN-49 had a more difficult gestation period. John Garand, working for Springfield Armory, developed the M1 rifle, which was adopted as the first standard-issue semi-automatic rifle in 1936. The story of the M1 is well known to the American shooting public.
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While the M1 achieved lasting fame in the crucible of militarism, the FN-49 was a rifle hampered by unfortunate circumstances and is only remembered as the father to the “Right arm of the free world.” This article aims to highlight the difference between the Belgian and American perspectives on a semi-automatic battle rifle. Their descendants, the M-14 and FAL, respectively, served as the battle rifles of the Cold War. The well-known M1 Garand and the lesser known FN-49 are both first-generation semi-automatic battle rifles designed prior to WW II. This article illustrates the differences between this Belgian rifle and its more famous peer: the M1 Garand. The FN-49 is the Belgian rendition of a first-generation semi-automatic battle rifle, and its genes are seen in the FAL. Father to the Right Arm of the Free World