SALW Guide

Global distribution and visual

identification

FN Herstal FN MAG
Fact sheet
https://salw-guide.bicc.de
FN Herstal FN MAG SALW Guide

FN Herstal FN MAG
The Belgian FN MAG (Mitrailleuse d’Appui
Général, meaning general-purpose
machine gun) entered into production in
1958. It is one of the most widespread
machine gun designs and is used in more
than 90 countries around the globe. It is
still manufactured in Belgium and
produced under license in several
countries including Argentina, Egypt, the
US and the UK. It can be carried by infantry and is usually fired while mounted on a tripod.

Technical Specifications
Category Heavy Machine Guns

Operating system gas, automatic

Cartridge 7.62 x 51mm / .308 Winchester

Length 1260 mm

Feeding disintegrating metal link belt

Global distribution map

The data on global distribution and production is provided primarily by the BwVC1, but also
from national and regional focal points on SALW control; data published by think tanks,
international organizations and experts; and/or data provided by individual researchers on
SALW. It is not exhaustive. If you would like to add to or amend the data, please use the
website's feedback function.

1. Bundeswehr Verification Center

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SALW Guide FN Herstal FN MAG

Distribution

Global distribution list

The FN Herstal FN MAG is found in 101 countries according to our data.

Argentina (ARG) G Luxembourg (LUX) G

Australia (AUS) G Malaysia (MYS) G

Austria (AUT) G Mali (MLI) N

Bahamas (BHS) G Mauritania (MRT) G

Bahrain (BHR) G Mexico (MEX) G

Barbados (BRB) G Monaco (MCO) G

Belgium (BEL) G Montenegro (MNE) U

Belize (BLZ) G
Morocco (MAR) G

Bolivia (BOL) G
Myanmar/Burma (MMR) G

Botswana (BWA) G
Netherlands (NLD) G

Brazil (BRA) G
New Zealand (NZL) G

Brunei (BRN) G
Nicaragua (NIC) G

Burkina Faso (BFA) G

Nigeria (NGA) G

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FN Herstal FN MAG SALW Guide

Burundi (BDI) G Norway (NOR) G

Cameroon (CMR) G Oman (OMN) G

Canada (CAN) G Pakistan (PAK) G

Chad (TCD) G Panama (PAN) G

Chile (CHL) G Peru (PER) G

China (CHN) G Philippines (PHL) G

Colombia (COL) G Portugal (PRT) G

Cuba (CUB) G Qatar (QAT) G

Cyprus (CYP) G Rwanda (RWA) G

Democratic Republic of the G Saudi Arabia (SAU) G

Congo (COD)
Seychelles (SYC) G
Denmark (DNK) G
Sierra Leone (SLE) G
Djibouti (DJI) G
Singapore (SGP) G
Dominican Republic (DOM) G
Slovenia (SVN) G
Ecuador (ECU) G
South Africa (ZAF) G
Egypt (EGY) G
South Korea (KOR) G
El Salvador (SLV) G
Spain (ESP) G
Estonia (EST) G
Sri Lanka (LKA) G
France (FRA) G
Sudan (SDN) G
Gabon (GAB) G
Suriname (SUR) G
Ghana (GHA) G
Swaziland (SWZ) G
Greece (GRC) G
Sweden (SWE) G
Guatemala (GTM) G
Switzerland (CHE) G
Haiti (HTI) G
Taiwan (TWN) G
Honduras (HND) G
Tanzania (TZA) G
India (IND) G
Thailand (THA) G
Indonesia (IDN) G The Gambia (GMB) G

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SALW Guide FN Herstal FN MAG

Iraq (IRQ) G Tunisia (TUN) G

Ireland (IRL) G Turkey (TUR) G

Israel (ISR) G Uganda (UGA) G

Jamaica (JAM) G United Arab Emirates (ARE) G

Jordan (JOR) G United Kingdom (GBR) G

Kenya (KEN) G United States (USA) G

Kuwait (KWT) G Uruguay (URY) G

Latvia (LVA) G Venezuela (VEN) G

Lebanon (LBN) G Vietnam (VNM) G

Lesotho (LSO) G Zimbabwe (ZWE) G

Libya (LBY) G

Lithuania (LTU) G

Explanation of symbols
Country of origin

Licensed production

Production without a licence

G Government: Sources indicate that this type of weapon is held by Governmental agencies.

N Non-Government: Sources indicate that this type of weapon is held by non-Governmental armed
groups.

U Unspecified: Sources indicate that this type of weapon is found in the country, but do not specify
whether it is held by Governmental agencies or non-Governmental armed groups.

It is entirely possible to have a combination of tags beside each country. For example, if
country X is tagged with a G and a U, it means that at least one source of data identifies
Governmental agencies as holders of weapon type Y, and at least one other source confirms
the presence of the weapon in country X without specifying who holds it.

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FN Herstal FN MAG SALW Guide

Note: This application is a living, non-comprehensive database, relying to a great extent on

active contributions (provision and/or validation of data and information) by either SALW
experts from the military and international renowned think tanks or by national and regional
focal points of small arms control entities.

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SALW Guide FN Herstal FN MAG

Visual Identification
Characteristics Markings

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FN Herstal FN MAG SALW Guide

Ammunition
The following ammunition can be used by the FN Herstal FN MAG.

7.62 x 51mm / .308 Winchester

Bullet diameter 7.82 mm

Case length 51.18 mm

Overall length 69.85 mm

No information available.

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SALW Guide Annex

Annex
Tagging of Sources
We believe that our Guide should be as transparent as possible without endangering the
confidentiality of our sources. Rather than name the exact source for each unit of data, we
have created tags so that users can at least know whether the data comes from a primary
or secondary source, and by which medium it can or has been found. All incoming data is
validated and then tagged by the project team at BICC before it enters our database.

Sources are tagged according to the following criteria:

1. Primary Sources:
These are presentations of facts. They are proof of an SALW event (e.g. a transfer, sighting,
misuse, etc.) because the source was created at the time of the event itself. Primary
sources as usually original documents such as transfer authorizations, firearms legislation,
or academic journals presenting results of a study on SALW holdings in a particular country,
for example. However, they can also be information offered by a person with direct
knowledge of an SALW event or who has documented an SALW event at the time that it
happened.

2. Secondary Sources:
These are interpretations or evaluation of facts. Secondary sources contain commentary
and analysis of SALW events that are documented in primary sources.

Sources are also tagged according to the dominant medium of delivery:

A. Written - the source is based on written words.

B. Oral - the source is based on spoken words.
C. Visual - the source is based on seen events or optical images.

These criteria make our tags two-dimensional. While the process of classifying sources is a
primarily subjective one, the project team at BICC has developed the following table to
serve as an example of possible sources within each category.

Table: Examples of sources on SALW distribution

Primary Secondary

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Annex SALW Guide

Written • Fact books • Wikipedia

• Weapons Transfer • Literature reviews
authorizations • Training or safety manuals
• End-user certificates on gun control, ammunition,
• Transcripts of interviews, legal physical stockpile security
proceedings, speeches/ management)
presentations, meetings, • Minutes of meetings,
conferences or symposia conferences, symposia
• Newspaper articles • Indexes (e.g. Global
• Written correspondence (e.g. Militarization Index)
letters, emails, text messages, • Newspaper articles
etc.)
Etc.
• Blogs
• Peer-reviewed journal articles
• Treaties, constitution, laws
• Records of organizations (e.g.
annual reports)
• Surveys, questionnaires

Etc...

Oral • Interviews with experts, • Speeches, panel

including radio or telephone presentations, etc. on data
• Legal proceedings provided by experts
• Speeches or interventions by
Etc...
experts or national
representatives in government
or international meetings

Etc ...

Visual • Artifacts (e.g. the weapons • PowerPoint presentations on

themselves, ammunition) results found by experts
• Photographs of weapons,
Etc...
ammunition, etc.
• Videos (e.g. YouTube, those
recorded by mobile phone)
• Television documentaries, news
reports

Etc ...

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SALW Guide About the Guide

Table: Example tags

Source (sample) Type of Medium of

source delivery

IHS Jane’s Weapons Infantry (2015-2016) primary written

Panel discussion of weapons use of non-state secondary oral

armed groups

Documentary on paramilitaries in Colombia primary visual

About the Guide

The Interactive Guide on Small Arms and Light Weapons is an open access tool,
designed to build knowledge on how to identify different types, makes and models of
commonly used SALW in organized violence; to collect data on the global and country-
specific spread of these SALW; and to describe some of their visual and technical
specifications.

The guide is not an exhaustive list of all SALW that are used around the world.

Global SALW control relies on, among other things, data and knowledge of the weapons
themselves. Our aim is that the Guide will be used to support national reporting duties on
SALW holdings; facilitate and ameliorate the collection of data on SALW; and increase
general knowledge of global distribution of SALW.

The interactive Guide was developed by BICC in close cooperation with the Bundeswehr
Verification Center (BwVC), and with the generous support of the Federal Foreign Office,
Germany.

Contact
Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC) gGmbH
Joseph Farha
Project Coordinator
Pfarrer-Byns-Str. 1
53121 Bonn
Germany

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Overall project coordination SALW Guide

E-Mail: joseph.farha@bicc.de
Internet: www.bicc.de

Zentrum für Verifikationsaufgaben der Bundeswehr (ZVBw) - Bundeswehr

Verification Center (BwVC)
Global Arms- and Proliferation Control Division
Major Laurentius Wedeniwski
Selfkant-Kaserne
Rue de Quimperle 100
52511 Geilenkirchen
E-Mail: LaurentiusWedeniwski@bundeswehr.org

Overall project coordination

Joseph Farha
Project Coordinator
Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC)

Responsible for all content (including photos):

Zentrum für Verifikationsaufgaben der Bundeswehr (ZVBw) - Bundeswehr Verification

Center.
Major Laurentius Wedeniwski: Small Arms and Light Weapons Guide (2016).

Responsible for design, editorial and technical implementation:

Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC) gGmbH.

Technical management: Joseph Farha
Programming: Rolf Alberth

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