Fabrique Nationale de Herstal, more often known as Fabrique Nationale and abbreviated as FN, is a Belgian firearms manufacturer. The official company name is FN Herstal.
FN originated in the city of Herstal, near Liège. The Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre (French for "National Factory of Weapons of War") was established in 1889 to manufacture 150,000 Mauser rifles ordered by the Belgian Government, and remains best known as a manufacturer of firearms, although for some time (early-mid 20th century) it was the most important manufacturer of motorvehicles in Belgium: cars were produced in Herstal in the early 20th century, motorcycles were continued until 1965.
One of Fabrique Nationale's weapons, a Model 1910 semi-automatic pistol in 7.65 × 17 mm (.32 ACP) (serial number 19074) was used to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, triggering World War I.
FN also owns the U.S. Repeating Arms Company (Winchester) and the Browning Arms Company (an American gun company founded by John Moses Browning's family).
The British .303 Browning aircraft machine gun introduced in the late 1930s and used in World War II was actually a license-built FN Browning design, not a "Colt-Browning" as often referred-to.
FN and John Moses Browning also jointly developed the Browning GP35 'High Power' (sometimes written as Hi-Power) pistol, the GP standing for Grande Puissance or "high power" in French.
Fabrique Nationale de Herstal | Firearms manufacturers | Société Générale de Belgique
Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre | FN Herstal | Fabrique Nationale de Herstal | Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre | FN社 | Fabrique Nationale de Herstal | Fabrique Nationale
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