Dieudonné Saive

Dieudonné Joseph Saive (1889–1973) was a Belgian small arms designer who designed the FN Model 1949 and the FN FAL. He became the head firearms developer of Fabrique Nationale after the death of John Browning. After John Browning's death, Saive continued with several projects for modernizing and improving firearms originally designed by Browning. Saive finished Browning's original concept for the GP-35 self-loading pistol, becoming the Browning Grand Puissance, or Browning Hi-Power. It was the first 9 mm handgun to utilize a true staggered-column magazine. The large magazine enabled the weapon to carry a total of fourteen cartridges without an excessively oversized or protruding handgrip. The Hi-Power was a sales success, and was extensively used in World War II by German and British Commonwealth forces. After the war, the Browning Hi-Power was adopted as the standard military service sidearm of many Western countries, including the United Kingdom and Belgium. Modern versions remain in production today, three-quarters of a century later.

In 1932, Saive improved the operating mechanism of the .30 M2 Browning AN aircraft machine gun, increasing its rate of fire to 1,200 rpm. In 1938, he made additional improvements to the M2 increasing the rate of fire further, to 1,500 rpm.

Saive is most famous for his series of gas-operated self-loading rifle designs, which used a tipping bolt to lock the action. His FN-49 rifle went into production, and was later developed into the widely successful FN FAL selective-fire battle rifle.

References

• Johnson, Wayne, and Anthony Vanderlinden (December 2005). "The Last of its Kind: FN's Model 1949 Self-Loading Rifle", American Rifleman: 60–63, 94.

Further reading

• Johnson, Wayne.The FN-49 The Last Elegant Old-World Military Rifle. Greensboro, NC: Wet Dog Publications, ?. ISBN 0970799721. The second chapter is (apparently) a biography of Dieudonne Saive.