Editing Steve Constable (section)

=== FN-49 rifle ===

The '''FN-49''' was a pump-action paintball rifle developed by Constable around 1986–1987.

It was one of his more extensively produced early designs.

The rifle used .62-calibre paintballs and featured an internal carbon dioxide reservoir.

A brass tubular magazine, mounted alongside the barrel, held approximately 25 paintballs.

The reservoir was machined from a solid brass component.

Constable recalled that a full gas charge could provide approximately 100 to 140 shots, depending on operating conditions.[1]

The FN-49 was developed after his initial wooden M-16 design.

==== Production ====

Constable estimated that approximately '''200 FN-49 rifles''' were produced.

He recalled that most were exported to Australia.[1]

Historical research by Daniel Bacci subsequently connected the FN-49 with '''Gatenby Automatic Engineering''' in New Zealand.

A surviving rifle examined by Bacci carried the serial number 8703266.

Bacci suggested that the number might indicate production in March 1987, although the interpretation remains uncertain.[3]

The precise division of manufacturing work between Constable and external engineering businesses has not been fully established.

==== Surviving American example ====

Constable brought an FN-49 rifle to the United States during 1987.

He gave the marker to '''David Freeman''', an American paintball industry figure associated with Pursuit Marketing Incorporated and Tippmann Pneumatics.

The rifle subsequently remained in Freeman's collection.

In December 2014, Daniel Bacci recorded a demonstration of the surviving FN-49.

The demonstration was published in May 2015 as ''The Constable / Gatenby FN-49 .62 cal Rifle c.1987''.[3]

The research included photographs of its internal gas chamber and markings.

Bacci initially described the rifle as a PSI 1200 in the video, but subsequently corrected the identification to FN-49.