Dieudonné Saive

Dieudonné Joseph Saive (French: [djødɔne ʒozɛf sɛːv]; 23 May 1888 – 12 October 1970) was a Belgian small arms designer who designed several well-known firearms for Belgian armsmaker Fabrique Nationale, including the Model 1949[1] and the FAL (Fusil Automatique Leger or Light Automatic Rifle) rifles.

John Browning, who was FN's chief weapons designer, initially declined to respond to the French request because he felt standard single-row magazines holding seven or eight rounds (such as was used in his Colt's Model 1911) were sufficient.

Saive, who was then Browning's assistant at FN, set to work designing a high-capacity, double-row magazine similar to those used in LMGs and SMGs of the time.

[6] In April 1943, China requested 180,000 Hi-Powers with hollow wooden shoulder stocks that also served as holsters through a Mutual Aid Plan with Canada.

After the war, the Browning Hi-Power was adopted as the standard military service sidearm of many Western countries, including the United Kingdom and Australia.

FFV-Carl Gustaf tried to design a derivative, but their belt feeding mechanism (placed below the action, like on the BAR) did not pass military trials.

[7] Therefore FN Herstal was approached, and Belgian designers came up with the idea to flip the BAR action upside down and mate it with the proven MG 42 belt-feeding mechanism.

[8] The work was started in the late 1940s by Dieudonné Saive, who previously designed the FN Mle D BAR variant, and finished by Ernest Vervier in 1953, with Swedish trials beginning in 1955.