A few rounds thru the SAFN

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okdkranch

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Loved my Garands but swapped one off and gave the other to my brother a while back. Had a M1A and it was even better but sold it here awhile back too. Much better gun and I liked it but unfortunately sold it when I thought I was going blind and sold a bunch of my rifles. But my Luxembourgh 30-06 FN49 is for sure a keeper. Love every thing about it and it is accurate and totally reliable. Dent the cases? beats me cause it throws them about 8 feet out and I ususally shoot in the woods or field so never get many emptys. Over all the M1A was the best rifle for me but the FN is great
Oh and I did not go blind, was corrected
 

WessonOil

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Yeah, I didn't have a desire for an FN-49 chambered in anything other than 8mm mauser, since I had many crates of 8mm.

I bought a Hakim chambered in 8mm as well, for the same reason.

What 30-06 I had, was reserved for my Garands.

I don't have any Portuguese ammo, but from what I've read, it's excellent ammo.
Apparently, it's non-corrosive, which is unusual for military surplus stuff.
 

mightymouse

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I took the SAFN out yesterday with the upper hand guard removed so I could adjust the gas system as needed. I had already backed it off when I started shooting and the first few rounds were fine. Ejected cases landed 5-6 feet away and did not have the dent in the case body that is indicative of cases caught by the receiver cover in an over-gassed gun. The recoil seemed somewhat milder than before and the gun showed signs of good accuracy. Everything seemed to be going well, and then it malfunctioned. The bolt assembly would stay forward, with a fired case still in the chamber (failure to extract). I couldn't yank the bolt assembly open--I had to kick it open (remove the magazine box and the unfired rounds, then place the butt of the rifle against the ground and kick the bolt handle with the edge of the shoe). I had to kick it open three times and never did get the gas system adjusted. I'd turn the adjuster one way or the other and it would work for a few rounds and then it wouldn't (I also had a couple of empty cases get caught by the receiver cover upon extraction). I struggled through 33 rounds, kicked the rifle open a final time and called it a day. My supply of 8 mm Mauser ammo is rapidly dwindling and the remaining rounds I'm going to shoot thru my '98 Mauser. I'm done fooling with the FN. It seems like a good design, but it's just not for me.
 

Perplexed

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Hmm... did you strip the bolt to make sure the innards weren't gunked up? I certainly can understand your frustration, though!
 

mightymouse

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Yeah, I've had the bolt apart, cleaned and lubed the entire action, etc. The gun is not mine. It belongs to a friend, he of the collector type that collects guns without really wanting to shoot them, but it has been left in my care and he told me that I should feel free to shoot it. So, I don't have anything invested in the gun except time. I'm just tired of messing with it. As an aside, the rifle in question has a good deal of Arabic writing etched into the stock. The joke among my range buddies is that the etchings state the following: "Damn the Western Imperialists for selling to our beloved country a rifle that does not function correctly!" Seriously, though, I have no idea what the rifle has been put through before it came into my friend's possession some 25-27 years ago. I do know that it was extremely dirty when I got it. Like I said, I think it is a well-designed rifle, but it is not for me.
 

WessonOil

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Yeah, sounds like he a got hold of a poorly maintained rifle.

As I said, mine has had a few thousand rounds through it, and not one misfeed, and that's typical.

Aside from disassembling the trigger grouping, I'd break it all the way down, scrub it down good in kerosene, lube it accordingly, and re-assemble.

The fact it functioned correctly at first has me thinking it's okay.

Did you run steel or brass casing through it?
 

mightymouse

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Ammo was the brass-cased Portuguese-made FNM ball ammo, which is supposed to be good stuff from what I've read. The gun is now apart--I'm taking just the stock to a friend here in town in hopes of getting the etchings on the stock translated--and I'll probably give it a quick clean and lube, but I doubt I'll shoot it again. My friend has left another gun in my care which I would rather shoot than the SAFN--an M1 Garand. It's time to turn my attention to that one!
 

mightymouse

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Post details on that M1 when you get a chance, please.
I'm nowhere near well-informed when it comes to M1 Garands, but here goes: it has a Springfield Armory receiver, bolt, and trigger group, while the barrel is marked "EXEL, Gardner, MA". From what I've read, EXEL was the company that imported the gun back into the States, likely from S. Korea. I don't really know enough about Garands to know what else to say....
 

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