The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale (FN) by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries and it has been made under licence in several countries, including Argentina, Canada (as the C6 GPMG), Egypt, India and the United Kingdom. The weapon's name is an abbreviation for Mitrailleuse d'Appui Général, meaning "general support machine gun". The MAG is available in three primary versions: the standard, infantry Model 60-20 machine gun, the Model 60-40 coaxial machine gun for armoured fighting vehicles and the Model 60-30 aircraft variant. History The FN MAG was designed by FN Herstal in the 1950s. Taking inspiration from the MG 42, the MAG was created firstly to help balance out inconsistent levels of firepower among pre-existing infantry arms, and secondarily in response to NATO standardisation of the 7.62×51mm round in 1954, with the machine gun serving as a complement to the FN FAL battle rifle. The MAG first entered production in 1958, and it is sometimes referred to as the MAG-58. Design details The MAG Model 60-20 is an automatic, air-cooled, gas-operated machine gun, firing belt-fed 7.62×51mm NATO from an open bolt. The MAG uses a series of proven design concepts from other successful firearms, for example the locking mechanism is modeled on that of the Browning M1918 (BAR) automatic rifle, which FN produced under license with some adaptions, and the feed and trigger mechanisms are from the WW II-era MG 42 universal machine gun. Operating mechanism The MAG operates via a long-stroke piston system, which utilizes the ignited powder gases generated by firing vented through a port in the barrel to propel a gas piston rod connected to the locking assembly. The barrel breech is locked with a vertically tilting, downward locking lever mechanism that is connected to the bolt carrier through an articulated joint. The locking shoulder and camming surfaces that guide the locking lever are located at the base of the receiver. The unlocking sequence starts after rearward gas piston rod movement to keep the breech block fully locked until the bullet has left the gun barrel and the high-pressure propellant gas pressure has dropped to a safe level. The MAG fires from an open bolt. Both the spring-powered extractor and ejector are contained in the bolt. After firing, spent cartridge casings are removed downwards through an ejection port