Belgian FN49, Venezuelan Contract: Venezuelan Model 1949 FN (aka FN49) Semiautomatic Military Rifle. Designed by Dieudonne Saive of Fabrique Nationale prior to WWII. Initial patents were filed in 1936. The FN 49 was not produced until after WWII. First adopted by the Belgian Army in 1951 in 30.06 caliber.

I am looking for a buttplate with screws and complete rear sling swivel with screws for a Peruvian Mauser rifle. The rifle is marked 'Modelo 1935 on the right front of the receiver. The top front of the receiver has the Peruvian crest and 'Republica Peruana' on the receiver. The top rear of the receiver, just to the rear of the stripper clip slot is marked '.30'.

Web console version 0.1b. The left side of the receiver is marked 'FAB NAT. D'ARMES DE GUERRE', 'HERSTAL BELGINUE'. The barrel, receiver, bolt and the left side of the stock about 1 1/2' above the butt are marked with serial number 10771. It does appear the stock was refurbished from another rifle as there are faint markings of another number just to the rear of the matching number. It appears the barrel originally was 7.65 Belgian as a slug of the bore indicates it to have a groove diameter of.310. The metal of the rifle has been painted black similar to paint on FN49 rifles.

My internet research indicates that sometime during the early 1950's the rifle may have been returned to the FN factory in Belgium for reworking and rechambering to 30-06. I have seen some reference to this as being a 'FN Contract Mauser'. Is it possible that the early FN 49 buttplates part number 723490 would fit my rifle?

I found some internet photos of a Model 1935 buttplate on a rifle simuliar to mine that looks to be identical to your above noted FN49 buttplate. If these rifle were sent to Belgium in the early 50's for reworking it would make sense for them to have buttplates used on their reworked Modelo 1935 rifles. Would you be able to confirm that a FN49 buttplate would fit a Peruvian Modelo reworked in the 50's?

Your assistance is greatly appreciated. The M1935 Peruvian Mauser aka FN mauser in its military configuration is basically your standard Model 98 Mauser. Some were arsenal converted to the 30-06 cartridge If it were all original in either the original chambering of 7.65 or the converted to 30-06 the collector values would be: M1935 Short rifle(converted to 30-06) Exc=$225 VG=$225 Gd=$175 Fr=$125 pr=$90 The original M1935 Short Rifle Exc=$425 VG=$350 Gd=$275 Fr=$125 pr=$100 For the most part original parts would be stamped with the last 2 digits of the serial number. Small parts like buttplates,barrel bands.swivels.sights even on the same run can vary quite a bit. Our host shows parts under the header of: Mauser Model 98 and shows the rear swivel as item #41 and a shelf stock # of 42300. With a WWi variation of #272960 The screws are #7350C Buttplates: Two shown. One is a cup design and the other is called a 'flat' design but it does have a leg that extendes up and over the top of the stock The Cup is #10405540 and the Flat is #1040750 Only one set of screws are shown to service both units #7350A and a non serial # screw is #1040730.

The normal way to order these is to list the part numbers along with your gun data and make a tracing of the inletted swivel base and screw spacing and do the same for the buttplate discribe the style and a tracing of the face of the buttstock As for ammunition. It was typical to take mil-surp firearms and rechamber them to a more readily available ammo. The Japanese Arisaka had no ammo available so the gunsmith fix was to rechamber the 6.5 to 257 Roberts and the 7.7 to 30-06. Many of the Argentine Mausers in the 7.65 had the barrels pulled and set back then rechambered for the.308 Win. The Peruvian went to the 30-06 which could be done without pulling the barrels. The problem is this standard 30-06 ammo with the 308 dia bullet will not be as accurate because of the loose bore.it will be good enough for most Deer hunting at short range.

The good news is it will have less recoil that if a full sized bullet is used. However, you can order a set of 30-06 dies from most any of the manufacturers with a sizing button of the dia matching your bore. There are also bullets for the original chambering with the larger diameter. You can reload these using standard 30-06 data for that bullet weight.

Hornady makes a.311 dia 123 gr bullet for the 7.62 x39 cartridge.That bullet can be loaded in a 30-06 using data for a 125 gr jacketed bullet. They also make a bullet for use in the.303 British cartridge and for the 7.7 Jap that is a 312 dia and weighs in at 150 grs and a second bullet that weighs in at 174 grs. You can also load these in a 30-06 case for your rifle using data for a 150 gr bullet or the 170 gr bullet.

Sierra bullets offers a.311 dia bullet in 125 grs.150 grs.174 grs and 180 grs all of which can be loaded into your 30-06 cases with the expanded neck and 30-06 data for the matching(closely) bullet weight. FWIW My son shoots an Argentine Mauser that has had the barrel set back and rechambered to.308(Gunsmith school project)I have gotten a set of dies from Lee Precision(www.leeprecision.com) and load the 150 gr Sierra bullets into the modified 308 case. This rifle and ammo have put a lot of venison on the table.