The 1949 FN is the predecessor of the FN FAL. They were only made for a few years and only adopted by a few countries. They are a very well made rifle. I have one in 30-06 and one in 8MM Mauser. There are not that many 8MM semi auto rifles out there. I guess it is a matter of what turns you on, but I like semi auto military rifles much more then commercial bolt actions. 1949 FNs are getting scarce, and going up in price. Do you remember what they were asking for it?