FN Herstal Fabrique Nationale d ' Herstal ( French for " National Factory of Herstal " ) — self identified as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale or simply FN — is a firearm s manufacturer located in Herstal , Belgium . It is currently the largest exporter of military arms in Europe . FN is a subsidiary of the Belgian Herstal Group , which also owns U . S . Repeating Arms Company ( Winchester ) and Browning Arms Company . FN Herstal is the parent company of two United States entities : FN Manufacturing and FNH USA . FN Manufacturing , located in Columbia , South Carolina , is the manufacturing branch of FN Herstal in the United States , producing firearms such as the M249 and M240 machine guns and M16 rifle , among others . FNH USA , located in McLean , Virginia , is the sales and marketing branch of FN Herstal in the United States . Firearms designed and / or manufactured by FN include the Browning Hi - Power pistol , Five - seven pistol , FAL rifle , FNC rifle , F2000 rifle , P90 submachine gun , M2 Browning machine gun , MAG machine gun , and Minimi machine gun — all of which have been very successful for the company . FN Herstal ' s firearms are used by the armed forces of over 100 nations . History . FN originated in the small 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 Model 89 rifle s ordered by the Belgian Government . FN was co - founded by the major arms makers of the Liège region , with Henri Pieper of Anciens Etablissements Pieper being the driving force and the primary shareholder of the new company . In 1897 the company entered into a long - lasting relationship with John Moses Browning , a well - known firearms designer . FN was an important manufacturer of motor vehicles in Belgium , a development championed by Alexandre Galopin as managing director . Cars were produced in Herstal in the early 1900s until 1935 . Production of FN motorcycles continued until 1965 , and production of trucks until 1970 . One of Fabrique Nationale ' s handguns , a Model 1910 semi - automatic pistol in 7 . 65×17mm ( . 32 ACP ) ( serial number 19074 ) was one of four weapons that were taken from the assassins of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria , although it is unknown which of the four weapons actually fired the fatal round . 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 claimed . John Moses Browning began development of the Browning GP35 ' High Power ' ( sometimes written as " Hi - Power " ) pistol , the " GP " standing for " Grande Puissance " or " high power " in French . However , the weapon was finalized by Dieudonné Saive and did not appear until nearly a decade after Browning ' s death . The FN Manufacturing LLC plant in Columbia , South Carolina is part of the military division of FN . It is primarily responsible for the production of U . S . military weapons , such as M16 rifle s , M249 light machine guns , M240 machine gun s , and M2 machine gun s .