I got one of the .308 FN-49 rifles advertised in Shotgun News recently (3/96) by Aztec International, Ltd., Rt. 3 Box 3414, Clarkesville, GA 30523, phone (706) 754-8282.
The gun is a semi-auto in .308, made by Fabrique Nationale, in Belgium. It was made for the Argentine Navy, and was delivered in 7.65 Argentine. Regular FN-49 rifles have a non-detachable mag, and were only made in 7mm Mauser, 8mm Mauser, and .30-06, to my knowledge. According to Aztec's advertising, only 5500 guns were ordered by Argentina, and all they had in inventory were converted by FN to take detachable mags, and the Navy guns were converted from 7.65 Argentine caliber to .308. Aztec says they bought all of these guns the Navy still had in inventory. Aztec alleges these guns are the only FN-49's FN ever converted to take detachable mags. FN has had a long relationship with Argentina, they make the FAL and High-Power under license, and both are current issue.
I was too cheap to spring for a select rifle ($425), and got one of the $395 ones. I was able to get it on my C&R FFL.
The gun is missing a lot of finish. Maybe 60% remains, although I saw no pitting on any surface. My stock had a healthy split along the underside, near the muzzle end of the gun. The bore didn't look pitted, but was definitely used.
It does have a bayonet lug, and Aztec is selling bayonets also, but I didn't bother with one. It has the muzzle thread protector ring welded in place, at the two holes it normally has for removing it. The welding job is pretty ugly. I presume this was done by the importer to meet some import criteria. Probably to keep the gun from being considered an evil assault weapon. (It is semi auto rifle that takes a detachable mag, and has a bayonet lug. A threaded muzzle would be a second evil feature that would make it an assault rifle, and thus forbidden to mere peons.)
The gun uses a proprietary looking 10 round detachable mag. Aztec sells spares, for $30. It locks in in the manner of an FAL mag, but it is not a FAL mag. The mag appears to have held more than 10 rounds at one time, and had the bottom of the magazine hacked off, and the baseplate held in place by the the sides of the mag, folded into position at a new spot along the mag. The bottom of the mag looks really ugly; the modification job looks very crude, and I couldn't get the baseplate off anymore, although it looks like it came off at one time. I got a spare mag at the same time as the gun; it was unusable. The mag has a spacer in it at the front; this was apparently welded to the front; on this mag it was not properly welded, and kept riding up and jamming the gun. Whoever had tried to weld it had managed to burn through the mag body with the torch though. I suspect that part of the mag had to be re-worked when the mag capacity was reduced to 10 rounds. Aztec promptly replaced that mag when I returned it, no whining.
I also complained to Aztec about getting a rifle with a stock split for $395; they also advertise ones with a split for $295. Without any undue begging on my part, they agreed to credit my credit card $100, the difference in price between the two grades. Although I wish Aztec were clearer about the condition, I cannot find fault with their customer service.
The gun is in nearly all respects an FN-49, except for the detachable mag, so there are few surprises there.
It took me a while to get the gas adjusted so that the gun would cycle reliably. That was hampered because the one mag that did work (sort of) had a bent left feed lip, and rounds being fed from that side (it is a double feed position design, like an FAL mag, M-14 mag or AR-15 mag) would jam. I finally got it so it would work.
I am not much of a shot, but I couldn't get this gun to hit the target at 50 yards. I guess it might be me, I am not yet ready to blame the gun - will try a second time under better conditions.
In short, I don't think the gun is worth $400. I guess it is a collector's item. I am very disappointed at the mutilation to the mags - ATF now allows 10+ mags to be imported, if they were made before the Crime Bill took effect. I hope Aztec didn't modify all the available mags. Maybe if they weren't altered the gun would work better. I also would have preferred, if Aztec had to weld the muzzle nut in place to meet the import restrictions imposed by the assault weapons law, that they would have had some rifles where they left the threads, and mutilated off the bayonet lug instead. I think it is possible the weld on the end of the barrel is causing some of my accuracy difficulties. I also think a threaded muzzle is about 1000 times more useful than a bayonet lug, given a choice between the two. A choice would have been nice, at least.