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Though certainly not the first pistol to employ a polymer frame - being preceded by the HK VP70 by twelve years - the Glock 17 is a pistol with an immense impact.

As the first order of Glock pistols were delivered in 1983, this is quite possibly the earliest military manual available for the plastic "wonder nine".

The manual can be downloaded here.

The archive of manuals can be found here.

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As a follow-up to the recently posted FN Minimi manual, we have the Belgian Army's FN MAG manual from the same year, 2000.

As a bigger brother (tactically, not technically) to the Minimi, the MAG generally was issued out at a rate of one per platoon, though armoured infantry squads of the 1980s were known to have one per fusilier squad.

The manual can be downloaded here.

The archive of manuals can be found here.

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Much like the American Army that adopted the FN Minimi as the M249 SAW, the Belgians used the "Mini-Mitrailleuse" to arm each of their squad's two fireteams.   Later on, one of the Minimis was replaced by an FN MAG/ 7.62mm Minimi.

The Belgian Army is one that is surely to be explored further in a following post, as some solid information is available concerning, for example, the adoption of the FN FAL.

The manual can be downloaded here.

The archive of manuals can be found here.

Footnotes

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As was the case with so many other nations, the Belgian Armed Forces used the M72 LAW in the light anti-tank role. Replacing the Energa rifle grenade, the M72 provides an easy-to-use option for dealing with any armoured vehicle that is not a modern MBT.

It would appear the Belgians continue to use the M72 LAW, having upgraded from the A2 to the EC version (AFAB VSR (Anti-Fortification Anti-Blindé Very Short Range)).

The manual can be downloaded here.

The archive of manuals can be found here.

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Without delving too deep into the history of the AR-10, Artillerie Inrichtingen had acquired the license to produce the "ArmaLite Infantry Rifle", producing small batches for a number of customers.

Though trialled by the Dutch military in 1961 - an event sure to be discussed at a later point - the rifle lost out to the FAL by quite a wide margin. The AR-10 simply was not as reliable. As such, state-owned AI would soon be shutting down production.

The following parts list is from right around this trial period, dated April 1961. It can be found in full here.

The archive of manuals can be found here.