FN Deluxe

[harley101]

Hi, does anyone own an FN Deluxe; I recently purchased an early 50's one with the stepped barrel and I believe a redfield receiver sight (no rear sight).  I always thought that these were a classic looking rifle with fine checkering; I appreciate hearing from anyone who owns one of these rifles, and your comments.  Thank You, Harley101

[jvs]

FN made rifles under alot of different Brand Names in the 50's and 60's.  One of the most common is the J.C. Higgins Model 50 sold by Sears.  They can be found quite readily on the Gun Auction Websites.  Model 50's can usually be picked up at a fraction of the cost of a new rifle, sometimes with Scopes attached.  And are well worth the price, IMO.

[targshooter]

harley101,
I had a Browning rifle in the 1970s made on the FN. FN rifles were and are prized as a source for some of the best finished 98 type actions on the market. A collector paid me so much for it I sold it several years ago. I also know that Sako used them for a while (a friend has one such rifle he bought in the 60s), as well as H&R, High Standard and Sears (J.C. Higgins as jvs mentioned), as friends owned these very rifles in the 1960s. The stepped barrel surprises me. Perhaps it was rebarreled with a military barrel. The commercial ones I saw all had the usual rear sight installed or they had no iron sights at all. Never saw a stepped barrel on one. No matter, it is the action that is prized. Look at the receiver collar (may need a flashlight), if there is only one cut for the extractor instead of two (only one is needed, the two was a time saving change in the mfg. process), you probably have an early issue. These used to be the most prized action.

[harley101]

Targshooter, thank you for the info.  A couple of days ago I read about the fn rifles in frank haas book "bolt action rifles of the world" he does describe my rifle, without the rear sight and the stepped barrel,as a early 50/s version, a little later they came out with the supreme, one of the differences being a sliding safety instead of a swing safety, which I have.  I like the older rifles, pre-64's, 721-722's, older 760's, they have some history.  I knew fn made rifles/actions for other companies, and were well thought of, so I was pretty happy when I found this one.
     Having recently stumbled onto Graybeards, all I can say is that it's just an awesome sight for information, opinions and advice concerning firearms.
                             Thank You,  Harley101