Okay here' s the deal......I have a .30-06 FN that I use as my hunting rifle. It is pretty old, but shoots incredibly well. The story behind the gun is this......an army friend of my grandfather' s sold him the rifle because he needed to buy a car. He told him that it was taken from the king of Belgium' s private collection when the army raided the place. It was supposedly his personal hunting rifle and was custom built.

I would like to learn a little more about it but can' t find any info. I searched the web and all the FN sites seem to talk about military arms, which I guess is all they make these days? I couldn' t find anything about similar guns, probably because there aren' t any I guess.

On the barrel of the gun there are numerous symbols engraved. Mainly I am curious to find out what they are and if there is some meaning behind them. Wish I had a pic, but I don' t. There is an " R" with the symbol of a crown over it, and other symbols that are a bit hard to describe.

I realize this is a shot in the dark, but can anyone tell me if FN manufactured hunting rifles in the past or if my gun is actually the only one like it? Anyone know what the symbols might stand for? And also can anyone point me to a site that would have some of the info I am looking for?

I forgot to add that this gun was made sometime before WW II, which is when it was acquired by my grandfather' s army buddy.

I would suggest you contact a dealer in fine arms, and have it appraised, or evaluated based upon proof marks (those symbols you are talking about), or consult a proof-mark book either in a library or on-line to determine when and by whom it was made.

Due to the fact that it is a .30/' 06, I' d venture to say it is NOT a pre-WIIgun which once belonged to the King of Belgium, or any other place, but it could be! If it were, I' d expect it to be chambered for a cartridge other than the .30/' 06, but it is conceivable that there were a few pre-WWII Mausers being used in Europe in this chambering. MOST pre-WWII Mausers made in Belgium AND in Germany in .30/' 06 were made to be sold here, however.

Thanks a million for the reply! Funny......I was trying to remember what those symbols were called, thanks for refreshing my memory. My father did take it around to a few gun shows to get it appraised and most had no idea about the gun. One guy' s jaw dropped when he saw it and he said " Well I' ll tell you one thing, you can' t put a price on a gun like that!" That didn' t explain a whole lot except that we know for sure it' s valuable. Doesn' t matter much to me what it' s worth in $$, because I' d never sell it, and it' s true value is in sentimentality and the fact that it' s an excellent hunting rifle.

I do know that it had to be made before WW II due to the fact that that' s when my grandfather bought it. As far as being custom made for the king, I have no idea if that' s true so that' s really what I would like to find out.

Thanks again......I' ll do some searching online for FN proof marks.