#Belgium

Any International Sniper Competition is yummy-yummy for firearms photo addicts, and this Photo Of The Day is no exception. Above we have a clean shot (pun intended) of two Belgian snipers, using a tripod and the tank trap for support. The Belgian jigsaw camouflage has been replaced by Multicam.

Photo Of The Day where we once again let the machine gun do the talking. We see a Belgian Armed Forces soldier as he engages the enemy during a dynamic display. This happened during Exercise Iron Wolf 22 at Pabradė Training Area, in Lithuania, in October 2022.

Photo Of The Day – Today we’re sharing some wonderful images from the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Centre. We’ve seen some other selected images from this event before, and it’s an event that just keeps on giving like a summer holiday on Crete.

Another Photo Of The Day with an FN Herstal FN SCAR with all the perks. Here it is in the hands of some Belgian Forces, at the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence in Lithuania, 2021. The Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) is NATO’s forward deployed defense in Central Europe through Poland and Northern Europe through the Baltic states, and they seem to be very busy with their training.

Born in the 1970s, the Belgian FN FNC (Fabrique Nationale Carabine) was adopted by the Belgian Armed Forces in 1989 to replace the FN FAL. It is now being phased out and replaced by FN SCARs. The FNC was also adopted by the Swedish Armed Forces, and it is still in use. Sweden calls their version the Ak5, and you can find more information about it here. The FNC uses a gas-operated long-stroke piston system with a rotating bolt locking mechanism, and I’ve spent quite a lot of time cleaning them. The lower receiver is made from aluminum alloy while the upper uses stamped steel.

Belgium’s own Fabrique Nationale Herstal, known as FN Herstal or simply FN for short, has produced some phenomenal and highly successful guns over its 131 year history. From their contributions in the handgun market with pistols like the Hi-Power and Five-Seven, to rifles like the P90 and SCAR series – and many more – FN has made some memorable guns.

Belgian Police are to acquire 1500 new FN SCAR SC carbines chambered in .300BLK. The Belgian interior minister has described the move as equipping the police with weapons equal to those used by criminals.

The Land Component of the Belgian Armed Forces will soon be retiring the venerable 7.62x51mm MAG M2 (FN MAG medium machine gun) for FN Herstals 7.62x51mm Minimi Mk3. Specifically 242 machine guns will be bought with an order of 2 million Euros from the countries own FN Herstal. The article mentions that this will be enough to have 3 machine guns per platoon of 30, thus making it a squad machine gun. I’m not sure if this is how the Belgium Army operates or if it is a editing mistake, but previously having a medium machine gun per squad slows it down and is where the Squad Automatic Weapon concept importantly plays in.

Thanks to Kristof P. for sending us this photo.

Deep in the thicket of civilian gun free Europe, there lies an unconquered patch of ground that fiercely withstands the onslaught of the socialist powers that be, the reigning dark lords of the various EU governments. It is the personal collection of a gentleman by the name of Jacky Comhair and it is maintained to this day. He is located in Werm, and is quote well known throughout the gun community, even bringing the American ambassador on a tour of his collection. Although the small arms section of it (and they are mostly all working, no replicas or dewats here) is very extensive, the collection is also fabulous for its war memorabilia and vehicles but those are beyond the scope of this article. These photos were kindly forwarded to TFB by a very generous reader who is currently working for the DOD and was kind enough to arrange for this collector highlight. This is an excerpt of his experiences moving to Europe and dealing with the firearms laws there.

While a rifle with the stock installed was not available – we were able to handle the stock itself. The construction appears solid and well constructed. I believe a tube-stock cheek pad would mount securely on this stock, such as the one from ITC.

In March I reported that S&W won the contact to supply the Belgian Federal Police with 9mm pistols to replace their aging arsenal of FN/Browning GP-35 (Hi-Power) pistols. Not getting this contract was a big blow to FN Herstal, who have been laying off workers because of poor sales. Smith & Wesson’s press release follows …