It‘s hard to compare the Fn with the C7 and/or the AK series. I‘ve fired all three and they are different systems. Sure there are certain similarities as they are all military assualt rifles and all of those to an extent can be traced back to the old German WW2 MP-44 the grandfather of modern military rifles.
The FN was not really an assualt rifle as we know it as the C7 and AK are. It was really too big, both in its size and the calibre it used. It was more akin I think to the old semi auto and bolt action wpns of WW2. A logical improvement on them. A full sized rifle, as opposed to a smaller assualt wpn. That often dictated tactics and training. (Anybody out there remember the old section attacks with rifle group, C2 group and stand up "bullets bullets"?)
It was an interesting wpn. Heavy yes, but great to shoot. It was also a lot more effective in close in work too. Hey compare 12 odd pounds of wood and metal with a bayonet on it as opposed to a few pounds of plastic. Fairly easy to clean and maintain too as I recall.
The C2 though as a section support wpn was in my opinion a failure. It was a heavy barrel version of the C1 with full auto and a 30 rd mag (something akin to the US BAR). This meant you really couldn‘t put out the sustained fire you can with the C9.
Probably why other Commonwealth countries never adopted it as a replacement to the bren Gun and went with either the GPMG (Brits) or the M-60 (Australia) at the section level.
