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The MAS-36 is a short carbine-style rifle with a two-piece stock and slab-sided receiver. It is chambered for the modern rimless 7.5×54mm French cartridge; a shortened version of the "7.5×57mm MAS mod. 1924" cartridge that had been introduced in 1924 (then modified in 1929), for France's FM 24/29 light machine gun. The rifle was developed based on French experience in World War I and combines various features of other rifles like the two rear locking lugs of the British SMLE rifle (easy to clean and resistant to dirt), the dog leg shaped bolt handle of the British P14/U.S. M1917 Enfield rifle that places the bolt knob at a favorable ergonomic position in relation to the trigger and peep sight, bolt disassembly similar to the Japanese Arisaka Type 38, and the five-round box magazine (claw extractor) of the German Gewehr 98 which stored 5 rounds in a staggered column and fed by 5-round stripper clips), to produce an "ugly, roughly made, but immensely strong and reliable" service rifle.

There are just five user removable parts: a Lebel-type cruciform bayonet inserted into a guard tube under the barrel (taken out by the stopper and turned by snap-fastening the stopper in the tube to fix), the bolt body, the bolt rear cap, the firing pin and the spring of the firing pin. The metal parts of the rifle were black baked in an oven.

The MAS-36 bolt handle was bent forward in an "awkward fashion" to bring it into a convenient position for the soldier's hand. Some have since been found bent backwards into a facing-downwards position like that of many other bolt-action rifles. The MAS-36 had a relatively short barrel and was fitted with large aperture (rear) and post (front) sights designed for typical combat ranges. Typical for French rifles of the period, the MAS-36 had no manual safety.

The rifle was designed with an iron sight line consisting of a rear tangent-type aperture sight element that was calibrated for 7.5×54mm French mle1929 C ammunition for 100–1,200 m (109–1,312 yd) in 100 metres (109 yd) increments. The original front sighting element was milled and consisted of a front post that was protected by two open 'ears'. There were 25 rear aperture elements available for the sight line to optimize it horizontally and laterally in 2.32 MOA increments during assembly at the arsenal. These arsenal mounted rear aperture elements shifted to point of aim 13.5 or 27 cm (5.3 or 10.6 in) left or right or up or down at a range of 200 metres (219 yd). It is worth noting that the front stock fittings are a major component of setting the sights on a MAS-36. To discourage disassembling the front stock non-standard screws with a spanner head were used on the barrel band and nose caps. Only armorers were issued with the appropriate screw drivers to remove the front stock. If removed the front stock will probably face quite a bit of trial and error in getting the screws set back to their exact positions again.

It was normally carried with a loaded magazine and empty chamber until the soldier was engaged in combat, though the rifle's firing mechanism could be blocked by raising the bolt handle. The MAS-36 carried a 17-inch spike bayonet, reversed in a tube below the barrel. To use the bayonet, a spring plunger was pressed to release the bayonet. It was then free to be pulled out, turned around, and fitted back into its receptacle. The initial implementation of this bayonet design has a distinct (although, uncommonly encountered) disadvantage: with a bayonet stored in one rifle and the other empty, the top of the stored bayonet could be locked into the empty bayonet tube of the second rifle. This obscures the release button on the bayonet and results in permanently (at least up to destructive disassembly) mated rifles. In post-war use the French updated the bayonet storage design by drilling a hole in the bayonet, which allowed the locking catch to be depressed through an already-drilled hole in the bayonet cap. Like the Lebel model 1886 rifle, the MAS-36 featured a stacking hook offset to the right side of the barrel for standing a number of the rifles (usually a trio) upright.

Bethier Modèle 1907/15

Berthier "Mousqueton"

The Berthier was originally introduced as a partial replacement for the French 1886 Lebel rifle. The Lebel, a revolutionary concept at the time of its introduction because of its smokeless high-velocity, small-caliber cartridge, still used a tube-fed magazine and other details carried over from black-powder designs. By 1900, the Lebel was already obsolete in comparison to other newer magazine-fed rifles introduced by Mauser, Lee, and Mannlicher. With its tube-fed magazine, the Lebel was long, ungainly and distinctly muzzle-heavy when loaded, difficult to manufacture, was overly complex in construction. Most notably, the Lebel proved very slow in reloading compared to newer rifle designs. On horseback, carbine versions of the Lebel proved almost impossible to reload while on the move, while shortening the barrel to carbine length resulted in feeding problems due to an unreliable tube magazine that were never resolved. Mounted security forces, cavalry units, and artillery units in colonial services were forced to use single shot Mle 1874 carbines, most not even converted to fire the modern 8mm Lebel ammunition, against insurrectionist forces who were sometimes better armed than government forces. A replacement for the Lebel was clearly required, at least for mounted troops.

Named after its inventor, André Virgile Paul Marie Berthier, a French civilian engineer in the Algerian railways, the Berthier's three-shot vertical-feed Mannlicher-type en bloc magazine could be loaded by clips, greatly increasing reloading speed, a particular convenience for cavalry and other mounted troops. A spring-loaded arm fed cartridges to the breech, and when all cartridges had been loaded, the empty clip fell out by gravity through an opening in the bottom of the magazine. The small 3-shot magazine capacity was adopted after field testing, where the cavalry expressed a preference for a non-protruding magazine that did not interfere with the balance or handling of the rifle. The Berthier carbine was adopted by the French Army on March 14, 1890, and a short rifle version of the Berthier rifle was adopted in 1907. French records indicate that in excess of two million Berthier rifles and carbines were manufactured by the French State manufactures supplemented by civilian industries. Like the Mle 1886 lebel, the Berthier lacked a mechanical safety; French training protocols called for soldiers to carry their rifle with loaded magazine but without a round in the chamber until ordered to load rifles by an NCO or officer in charge. France employed large numbers of colonial troops with limited technological experience, and since colonial combat conditions in North Africa and Indochina were extremely hard on service weapons, carrying with an empty chamber was considered superior to reliance on a mechanical safety, since a rifle with no round in the chamber could never go off, unlike a rifle whose safety was not properly engaged or had malfunctioned due to grit or wear.

At the outbreak of World War I, the Model 1907 Berthier rifle was modified for mass manufacturing, resulting in the Mdle 07/15. The sights, barrel band, and stacking hook were simplified to increase the rate of production. While the original 1907 rifle incorporated a cruciform bayonet, the 07/15 was modified to take the same bayonet as the Lebel, simplifying supply. The turned-down bolt handle was changed to a simpler straight bolt.

During World War I, it was quickly recognized that the Berthier's three-shot magazine was simply too small in comparison to foreign weapons, requiring too-frequent reloading. Additionally, it was found that trench mud and grit could enter the weapon through the opening in the bottom of the magazine. To correct these issues, the Model 1916 Berthier rifle was introduced with a five-round en-bloc clip. The clip discharge opening at the bottom of the protruding magazine was replaced by a spring loaded trapdoor to keep out dirt and debris. This improved 5-shot design was then fitted to existing rifle and carbine-length Berthier models (Mle 1907/15, Mle 1890M16, 1892M16 and Mle 1916 mousquetons). In response to changing combat situations at the front, which had evolved from a war of maneuever into static trench warfare and frequent night raids, many Berthier rifles were also fitted with sights designed specifically for close range or night combat, using radium paint to improve visibility in poor light or darkness.

Berthier Mousqueton (carbine)

The Berthier design began as the "Mousquetons Berthier" - a series of bolt-action cavalry and artillery carbines with distinctly different actions from the Mle 1886/M93 8mm Lebel rifle. For instance, the Berthier carbine's bolt lugs lock vertically into the receiver instead of horizontally as in the Lebel rifle. Berthier carbines were first issued in 1890 and 1892, and had been designed by André Virgile Paul Marie Berthier, an engineer at the French Algerian Railways, to be used with standard 8mm Lebel ammunition.

The Berthier design was introduced as a replacement for the various aging Mle 1874 Gras single-shot carbines - still standard for French cavalry, artillery, and gendarme forces even after the introduction of the Mle 1886/M93 Lebel. Prior experiments with several carbine versions of the Lebel action proved unacceptably heavy and slow to load while on horseback. While retaining most of the action's strong points, the Berthier carbine improved on the earlier Mle 1886 rifle by using a one-piece stock and a Mannlicher-style, charger-loaded en bloc 3 shot clip. These Berthier carbines were progressively allocated to all cavalry, artillery and gendarmerie troops during the 1890s.

After the adoption of the new Lebel Model 1886 rifle, French military authorities attempted to develop a carbine version of the rifle for mounted troops. A prototype carbine was created by simply shortening the existing barrel, forearm, and magazine tube of the Mle 1886 rifle. However, this design was soon rejected for insufficient accuracy, as well as being too slow and cumbersome to reload with single cartridges while on horseback. In response, the French Army held a series of rifle trials in 1887 to select a suitable carbine. One of the prototypes submitted was designed by André Virgile Paul Marie Berthier, a mechanical engineer in the Compagnie Bône-Guelma (one of the five subsidiary companies of the Algerian Railway System). Berthier's design for the original carbine was adopted in 1890 as the Mle 1890, utilizing a 3-round en-bloc clip. The first Berthier carbine came into production as the "Carabine de Cavalerie Modèle 1890", which was officially adopted for service on March 14, 1890. The main production facilities were the Manufacture d'Armes de St Etienne or MAS and the Manufacture d'Armes de Chatellerault or MAC. The search for a suitable small arm for mounted troops was given greater urgency by the Germans' development of the Karabiner Modell 1888, a carbine variant of the Gewehr 1888. It was issued to essentially all French artillery and cavalry troops. As the high Command appreciated the performance of the Mle 1890 Berthier carbine, a second version was specifically produced for artillery service, the " Mousqueton Mle 1892" which could mount a short blade bayonet and thus had a re-designed forend stock. However it continued to feature the 3-round En-bloc clip of the Model 1890 carbine. During the First World War it became obvious that the 3-round clip was a handicap compared to German short weapons such as the German Kar98AZ which had a 5-round clip.

The Berthier carbines (and later the rifles) used a lighter, streamlined receiver and a one-piece stock that departed from the Lebel Mle 1886/M93 rifle system. For instance, the locking lugs present on the bolt of Berthier weapons lock into the receiver vertically, instead of horizontally as in the Lebel rifle. Like the Mle 1886/M93, the Berthier carbine was designed for the 8mm Lebel cartridge, but it was loaded by a three-round en-bloc Mannlicher-style clip. In line with the usual Mannlicher magazine design, designers included a large opening at the bottom of the magazine well, in part to verify if the carbine was loaded with a charger of cartridges. During World War I, after complaints from combat troops regarding the limited capacity of the 3-round charger and mud ingress into the well opening, the Berthier's magazine was increased to hold a 5-round "en bloc" charger. Furthermore, a hinged metal plate covering the bottom opening of the magazine well was added. The final result was the Mle 1892 M16 5-shot carbine which was well received, but did not appear on the front lines until the summer of 1918. Though inferior overall to Mauser's double-column box magazines, the Berthier weapons had to retain the Mannlicher en bloc system, as the rimmed and tapered 8mm Lebel cartridge could not feed properly from a Mauser-style box magazine

Fusil Mle 1902 and Mle 1907

After the success of the Berthier carbines or mousquetons, two full-length Berthier rifles were introduced during the years preceding World War I. They were the fusil Mle 1902 ("rifle, model of 1902") and the fusil Mle 1907, which were issued respectively to Indochinese and Senegalese Tirailleur troops. Lighter and easier to handle and load than the Mle 1886/M93 Lebel rifle, the Berthier rifles proved more suitable for offhand shooting and easier to maintain in tropical environments. In comparison to the Mle 1886 Lebel, the Berthier's sights were also wider, higher and more substantial. Like their shorter carbine counterparts, these Berthier rifles also featured a Mannlicher-type 3-round en bloc clip-loaded magazine and used 8 mm Lebel ammunition. The Mle 1902 and Mle 1907 were made on special order and in small numbers (altogether about 5,000 rifles) by the Manufacture d'Armes de Châtellerault.

World War I and the Fusil Mle 1907/15

During World War I, a modified version of the 3-round clip Mle 1907 rifle called Fusil Mle 1907/15 was manufactured in large numbers (altogether 435,000 rifles) and issued to colonial troops, to the French Foreign Legion and to many minor allies (e.g. Russian Legion in France, Serbia, Greece, American Expeditionary Force African-American regiments detached to the French Army). It was also issued to some French regular infantry regiments after 1916 in order to bring relief to an endemic shortage of the Lebel rifle although well over 2 million Lebel rifles had already been produced between 1887 and 1917. Both the MAS (Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne) and the MAC (Manufacture d'armes de Châtellerault) were the principal state contractors for the Mle 1907/15 rifle. French civilian contractors (Automobiles Delaunay-Belleville, Établissement Continsouza and Manufacture Parisienne d'Armes et de Mecanique Generale) also participated massively in the industrial production of the Mle 1907/15 rifle.

Remington UMC also contracted to produce a French Army order for 200,000 Mle 1907/15 rifles. Although very well finished, the Remington order was rejected by French Government acceptance inspectors, who alleged that the rifles did not meet French barrel rifling and chamber dimensional standards. The contract was canceled after approximately half of the rifles were manufactured; and those rifles were sold on the private market. Rifles issued to American 'African-American soldiers of the US 93rd Division', were of French manufacture and not US made (B. Canfield, US Weapons of WW1). Many of these rifles subsequently appeared on the surplus market in the United States, often converted for hunting or sporting purposes. These rifles hold special significance to African-American historians. In combat service, most infantrymen found the Berthier rifles and carbines, with their one-piece stocks and fast-loading en bloc magazine, to be an improvement. However, the limited ammunition capacity of the Berthier Mle 1907/15's magazine (3 rounds) was viewed as a great disadvantage by troops in close contact with the enemy or participating in assaults or trench raids.

In response, French military authorities introduced a modified Berthier rifle in 1916, designated Fusil Mle 1907/15-M16 but generally called the 1916 rifle (Fusil Modele 1916). The new rifle had a re-designed magazine well, which now could hold "en-bloc" clips with a 5-round capacity, though they would still accept the original 3-round chargers. These rifles saw service in all branches of the French army mostly after 1918. They were still used by Compagnies Republicaines de Securite or C.R.S. until the 1960s for law enforcement purposes. The Mle 1916 Berthier infantry rifle only appeared on the front lines in small numbers during the late summer of 1918. With its greater cartridge capacity, it was better received than the Mle 1907/15 rifle and later became widely issued to infantry troops during the post-war years after their production had intensified. Nevertheless, some commanders continued to lobby for reissuance of the older Mle 1886/M93 Lebel for their infantry troops. After World War I, the French Foreign Legion, which carried the 3-shot Mle 1907-15 during most of its post-1916 combat operations, was re-equipped with the older Mle 1886/M93 Lebel rifle.

The most successful and long-lived variant of the Berthier system was the short and handy carbine version of the five-shot Mle 1916 Berthier rifle, designated "'Mousqueton Berthier Mle 1892/M16". Contrary to the Mle 1916 Berthier five-shot infantry rifle whose manufacture had barely started during the late summer of 1918, the mass production ( over 800.000 "mousquetons" ) of the Berthier Mle 1916 five-shot carbines had begun much earlier, in May 1917, at the Manufacture d'Armes de Chatellerault (MAC). The Berthier M-16 five-shot carbine immediately proved to be very popular with mounted cavalry, artillery, and reconnaissance troops.

After World War I, the French military sought to replace the 8mm Lebel cartridge, which was poorly suited to large-capacity rifle magazines and to automatic or semi-automatic weapons. After considerable delay, a modern 7.5mm mle 1929 rimless cartridge was finally introduced for the FM 24/29 light machine gun. Berthier rifles were converted (Fusil Mle 1907/15-M34) or newly manufactured (Fusil Mle 1934) to make use of the new round. However, this was merely an interim measure, as the French Army adopted the MAS-36 as its new standard bolt-action rifle. In the end, the production of converted Mle 1907/15-M34 Berthier rifles was limited to approximately 80,000 units.

The Pistolet Mitrailleur MAS modèle 35 (MAS Model 35 Submachine Gun) was developed from the experimental MAS-34, itself derived from the STA 1922 and the MAS 1924 both in 9 mm produced immediately after The Great War. Prior to the development of this weapon France used a variety of German and Swiss submachine guns.

MAS, the Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne (Saint-Étienne Weapons Factory), was a French supplier of arms that manufactured several firearms for the French military, including the MAS-36 rifle. It is now part of Nexter. The French Ministry of War said it had no need for a submachine gun and mass-production did not begin until 1936.

The MAS-35 is 623mm (24.53 in) long with a 224 mm (8.82 in) barrel; it weighs 2.87 kg (6.33 lb) empty. It uses a 32-round box magazine. The muzzle velocity is 350 m/s (1,148 ft/s) and it has a rate of fire of 600 to 700 rounds per minute.

The MAS-35 was chambered for the 7.65mm Longue cartridge, which although similar to the .30 Pedersen cartridge is not an exact copy. The 7.65 French Longue cartridge is nearly identical to its predecessor used by the Pedersen device, but with slight differences in the groove of the shell. This was also the cartridge used for France's M1935 series of service pistols, allowing for limited standardization, but with the effect of preventing French soldiers from using captured enemy ammunition.

The MAS-35 is easily recognizable due to its unorthodox receiver layout. This is because the receiver and butt diverge in alignment from the axis of the barrel by several degrees, making the weapon compact as its bolt recoils inside a tube running through the buttstock, while also enabling a lighter bolt to be used by providing mechanical disadvantage to the pressure from the expanding propellant gases. To allow a natural aiming stance, the butt had to rop while the receiver had to remain in alignment. This required that the bolt approach the breech at an angle and the face of the bolt was cut obliquely to allow it to close evenly on the cartridge. The MAS-36 also features an unusual safety catch: the bolt was locked (in either the forward or rear position) by pushing the trigger forward. A valuable feature was that tools were not required for its disassembly.

A very high quality weapon, the MAS-36 was machined from solid steel with only a few stamped parts. It was designed with a buffered sear assembly to prevent wear and increase the life of the internal parts. A dual range sight system was concealed within the receiver so as to be out of sight until it was flipped up for use.

The odd appearance of the MAS-36 did not detract from its accuracy, but its cartridge was underpowered compared to the German 9mm standard pistol ammunition.

The Pistolet automatique modèle 1935A was developed by the Swiss-born Charles Petter, a former captain in the French Foreign Legion and an engineer of the French company Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques (SACM). Petter designed a pistol which had some of the same design elements as John Browning's M1911 pistol, such as the grooved slide and barrel which interlocked and recoiled together until a pivoting link lowered the barrel, thus unlocking the assembly and further rearward movement of the barrel and slide together, which after reaching the point of greatest movement would be returned to battery. Along the way, the slide would strip a cartridge from the magazine and push it into the chamber just prior to the under barrel link forcing the barrel up into engagement with the slide, locking the action. Petter eliminated the barrel bushing and used a full-length spring guide which had the effect of removing one of the elements of inaccuracy from the M1911 design and increased functional reliability. Petter's design was chambered for the 7.65mm Long cartridge.

The Chamelot-Delvigne 11mm Modele 1873 was adopted by the French army as a service revolver for non-commissioned officers. The Modele 1874 Revolver d'Officier was the version issued to officers. The differences between the two models included the following: the 1873 was finished in the white, whereas the 1874 had a fluted cylinder and a blued finish. The 1873 and 1874 were the first center-fire cartridge revolvers adopted by the French army. They had solid-frame, side-ejection, double-action mechanisms. The pistols were manufactured by the St. Etienne arsenal, which still continues to manufacture fine sporting arms.

The design of the Chamelot-Delvigne revolvers became so popular that versions were adopted by the Belgian in 1871, Italian, and 1872 in Switzerland with the Model 1872 Revolver.

Revolver Model 1872
The caliber of these French pistols was 11x17.8mmR. The French round was actually 0.47 mm larger than its German counterpart. The German round could be loaded and used in the French pistol, but French rounds would not chamber in the German pistol. The cartridge had a pointed lead bullet weighing 11 grams. The case length was 17.8 mm, which was rather on the short side. Reloading this cartridge could take some patience due to the shortness of the case. Military specifications called for black powder loads, replaced by a mild smokeless powder in the early twentieth century. Standard muzzle velocity was around 550 feet per second.

The cylinder had a side-loading gate which pulled straight to the rear. The sight picture was a ball and v type and is easy to align. It could be difficult to stay on target when shooting double-action due to the stiffness of the action. There was certainly no danger of accidentally pulling the trigger double-action. Cleaning and disassembly were easy as the cylinder pin doubled as a screwdriver and all-purpose tool. Internal parts were finely machined and finished. The trigger, hammer, and several of the internal springs were straw-finished, a type of case-hardening hot oil finish.

A French soldier ("trench cleaner") with a
Chamelot-Delvigne revolver, a primitive gas mask
(in this case a cloth mask and goggles soaked with chemicals)
and a dagger (1915, colorized

Though it was originally designed to serve as a commissioned officer's personal sidearm, over 350,000 Modèle 1892 revolvers were manufactured between 1892 and 1924. It was issued in the French Army, French Navy, and French Gendarmerie, amongst others. It is commonly, but mistakenly, called a "Lebel revolver" after the name of Colonel Nicolas Lebel, although there is no evidence whatsoever that Lebel had any involvement in the creation of the gun or its ammunition. Non-commissioned officers continued to carry the older Mle 1873 service revolver, but were also frequently issued .32 ACP automatic pistols (the Ruby pistol) during World War I.

Originally chambered for an 8mm black-powder cartridge closely resembling the .32-20 WCF round, later models issued during World War I and thereafter fired the same 8mm cartridge loaded with smokeless powder. The Mle 1892 revolver is a double-action solid-frame design, with chambers being accessed by swinging out the cylinder to the right. The fired cases can then be pushed out of the cylinder at the same time. After reloading, the cylinder is swung back into the frame and locked into place with the case-hardened loading gate located on the right side of the frame. In addition, the left sideplate of the frame can be swung back on a hinge to give access to the gun's internal parts for oiling or cleaning. These parts were individually numbered to indicate the order in which they can be disassembled. The year of manufacture of each revolver is engraved on the right side of the barrel, for instance "S 1895". The inscription "Mle 1892" is hand engraved on top of the barrel. It was carried in a large, closed leather holster, which held an additional 12 rounds of ammunition hidden below the flap.

In 1914, just before the start of the First World War, Gabilondo started manufacture of a sturdy self-loading pistol based on the Browning Model 1903 and chambered for the 7.65mm Browning/.32 ACP cartridge. Unusual for the time, the magazine capacity was nine shots instead of the usual six or seven. The pistol was intended for export to the Americas, and despite the small calibre it was designed with military and police sales in mind. Other Spanish manufacturers had copied the Browning since around 1905. The Ruby, apart from the extended magazine appears to be a direct copy of a pistol called the "Victoria" made by Esperanza and Unceta. This pistol used features patented by Pedro Careaga in 1911, and by the Esperanza and Unceta company in 1912. These patents may have covered the frame-mounted safety (instead of a grip safety), and an internal striker (instead of a hammer).

In 1915 Gabilondo sent examples of the pistols to the French government, who were hard-pressed for all sorts of small-arms, even in this early stage of the war. After testing was completed in May 1915, the French decided to accept the Ruby as the "Pistolet Automatique de 7 millimètre 65 genre "Ruby" and contracted Gabilondo to produce 10,000 pistols a month. By August the target had been raised to 30,000 and later still an incredible 50,000 a month. Despite its size, the company could barely cope with the initial contract and arranged for four partners to manufacture the Ruby for them:

Armeria Elgoibaressa y Cia
Echealaza y Vincinai y Cia
Hijos de Angel Echeverria y Cia
Iraola Salaverria y Cia

The contract stipulated that each company would produce a minimum of 5,000 pistols per month. Gabilondo would produce 10,000 guns, carry out overall quality control and arrange delivery to the French authorities in Bayonne. As the number of pistols required increased the company agreed to purchase any pistols in excess of the agreed number at the same contracted price. As demand increased Gabilondo recruited another three partners to help manufacture the Ruby. Estimates of Gabilondo Ruby production are between 250,000 and 300,000 pistols in total. While most Gabilondo contract pistols were of good quality, others were less well made.

It incorporated the standard Browning striker-firing mechanism and a grip safety along with a magazine safety and an external safety lever (known as the "triple safety") in a compact package. Offered in both .380 ACP (6-round magazine) and .32 ACP (7-round magazine) calibres, it remained in production until 1983. It is possible to switch calibres by changing only the barrel. However, FN never offered packages containing a single pistol with both calibre barrels.

A variant of the Model 1910 was known variously as the Model 1922 or 1910/22. This was a larger model with a longer barrel (113 mm), slide extension, and a longer grip frame to accommodate an extra two rounds. This model was aimed at military and police contracts and many examples were produced for various agencies. The FN Model 1910 was initially designed for the Kingdom of Serbia. In 1913, a purchase order for 235 Model 1910 semi automatic pistols was made by the Serbian National Army. The purchase was made for the 1st and 2nd Timok infantry divisions of the first army.

Model 1910/1922 pistols went on to see extensive service in World War Two, and continued to be manufactured by the Germans after their occupation of Belgium and seizure of the FN factory. These examples carry Nazi production stamps, and most have simple chequered wood grips instead of the earlier horn or plastic grips bearing the FN logo.

The FN Model 1922 was also used by the following countries: Yugoslavia (60,000 Automatski pistolj (Brauning) 9mm M.22 between 1923 and 1930), The Netherlands, Greece, Turkey, Romania, France, Finland, Denmark, and West Germany in the post war period. While the Model 1910 was widely sold on both civilian and military markets, the Model 1922 was considered specifically a military and police pistol, with FN offering it to individual civilians only by special order.

In 1955, the Browning Arms Company introduced the Model 1910 pistol for the American market as the Model 1955. Made in Belgium, this model was virtually identical to the European model except for the markings and grips. Importation ceased in 1968 due to the passage of stricter gun-control laws in the U.S.

Another version, the Model 1971, featured a longer barrel and slide (similar in length to the Model 1922, but with a one-piece slide), adjustable sights, a finger-rest magazine, and enlarged "target" grips. These features were intended to comply with the Gun Control Act of 1968 which had halted import of the Model 1955.

The Hamada Type (浜田式, Hamada shiki) or Hamada Type Automatic handgun was a semi-automatic pistol developed in 1941 for use by the Empire of Japan during World War II. Developed by Bunji Hamada, the pistol took its basic design from the Model 1910 Browning. Production occurred at the Japanese Firearms Manufacturing Company, with only minor changes made as the war progressed.

The French St. Étienne Mle 1907 (French: Mitrailleuse Mle 1907 T) was a gas operated air-cooled machine gun in 8mm Lebel which was widely used only in the early years of the First World War. For “political reasons”, the "St.Etienne Mle 1907" was developed not to derive from the patented Hotchkiss machine gun. Instead, to avoid patent infringement and royalties, it borrowed its gas operated, blow-forward design from the semi-automatic Bang rifle of 1903. The Bang system, first transposed by 1905 to the French Puteaux APX Machine Gun, had proved unsatisfactory enough to inspire its redesign by 1907 as the "St-Étienne" machine gun. However the Mle 1907 "St-Étienne" was only a partial redesign: the original blow-forward gas piston, rack-and-pinion system, and bolt mechanism of the Mle 1905 "Puteaux" machine gun had all been kept only slightly modified inside the newer weapon. Eventually a total of over 39,700 "St-Étienne" Mle 1907 machine guns were manufactured between 1908 and late 1917. They were widely used by French infantry only during the early part of World War I until their replacement by the more reliable Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun.

Around the turn of the century the French military evaluated machine guns made by the private French firm of Hotchkiss et Cie. While the tests were technically convincing, following which Hotchkiss machine-guns were purchased for French alpine and colonial troops, it was decided for political reasons that a machine gun for French line infantry had to originate from state-owned arms manufacturers. A first attempt by a French government arsenal near Paris (APX) was the Puteaux M1905 machine gun inspired by the first gas actuated blow forward Bang rifle system of 1903. It was a deliberate attempt to develop an infantry machine gun that would be mechanically different from the patented Hotchkiss Mle 1900 machine gun design. However, the M1905 Puteaux machine gun soon proved to be unsatisfactory. Consequently, the national arsenal at Saint-Étienne (MAS) thoroughly reworked and modified the Puteaux machine gun resulting in some measure of improvement but also increased complexity—64 component parts for the St-Étienne Mle 1907 vs. only 32 parts for the Hotchkiss Mle 1914. Barrel changes on the Mle 1907 St-Étienne were much easier than on the M1905 Puteaux and its firing rate could be set at any point between eight rounds per minute and about 600 rounds per minute. Either metal strips different from those used on the Hotchkiss machine gun or else fabric belts, the latter introduced in 1916, for the 8mm Lebel ammunition could be used.

George Chinn notes about the 1907 model that: "While it was gas actuated by means of a piston, the French reversed the conventional principle. Instead of the piston thrust rearward furnishing the source of energy to operate the piece, the gas propels the piston forward to unlock the bolt. The piston is attached by a spring-loaded rod to a gear rack. This in turn engages a spur gear which is fastened to an actuating lever. When the lever is in the forward horizontal position and engages a cam slot in the bolt, the gun is locked. Upon firing, the gas drives the piston forward, compressing the spring and causing the spur gear to rotate clockwise. The actuating lever turns with the gear for a half revolution, retracting the bolt and stopping at the rear horizontal position. The driving spring then forces the piston rearward, which reverses the action and returns the bolt to battery."

Nevertheless, in the muddy environment of trench warfare the mechanically complex St-Étienne Mle 1907 suffered from frequent stoppages and was difficult to maintain by front-line soldiers. A quote from a French post-war military evaluation says it all: "admirable weapon, patented clockwork, but very delicate and sparing its whims only for machine-gun virtuosos." In July 1917 the Mle 1907 St-Étienne was gradually withdrawn from front line service and replaced by the distinctly simpler and more reliable Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun. Large numbers of the M1907 St-Étienne machine gun were then transferred to military units in the rear, to the French colonies, and to the Italian Army. Many also ended up in the Greek Army during the 1920s. Altogether 39,700 Mle 1907 St-Étienne machine guns had been manufactured when the decision to close down their last assembly line was taken in November 1917.

The FM Mle 1924 entered production in late July 1925 and saw first operational use in Morocco in May 1926. It was immediately well-received and even favorably compared in performance with the much heavier Hotchkiss machine gun. However, problems created by the new 7.5mm ammunition did appear. In particular, 8×57mm Mauser ammunition which was used in captured Mauser rifles carried by auxiliaries in Morocco during the Rif War from 1920 to 1926, could be chambered and fired with disastrous results. This situation led to the development of a slightly shorter 7.5×54mm round, which was retained in 1929 as the standard ammunition for all future rifles and light machine guns in French service. The modified fusil-mitrailleur modèle 1924 modifié 1929 (FM Mle 1924 M29) was mass-manufactured (187,412), beginning in 1930. In addition to these newly manufactured guns some 45,530 older FM Mle 1924s, already in service after phasing out the Chauchat, were rebarreled in order to accept the newer 7.5×54mm ammunition.

Both the original fusil-mitrailleur Mle 1924 (rifle machine gun, model of 1924) as well as the modified Mle 1924 M29 have the same overall features: a folding bipod and can accommodate a small levelling stand under the buttstock, an in-line wooden stock, a pistol grip and a top-mounted 25-round detachable magazine. The top mounted magazine necessitates shifting the rear and front sights to the left, which forces the weapon to be fired right handed. The bolt is held open after the magazine's last round had been fired. There are two separate triggers: the trigger in front for using semi-automatic fire only and the rear trigger for firing on full automatic. Protection of all the openings against mud and dust proved excellent. It could be mounted on a motorcycle sidecar or in vehicle weapon ports using a mounting set in the handguard. The leather carrying strap, robust and efficient, has a metal hook allowing the user to switch from the carrying position to a hip firing position. The cyclic rate was controlled at 450 rounds per minute, thus allowing more continuous firing without overheating. In general, this new weapon was accurate and reliable but the barrel was screwed well into the receiver, as in the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), and thus it could not be separated quickly and easily in the field as for the Czech ZB vz. 26 and its British variant, the Bren gun. The French Army instruction manual (July 1925) recommends not to go beyond 400 rounds of uninterrupted firing since at that point the gun needs to be given a pause of ten to fifteen minutes in order to cool off. But instead, the French instruction manual recommends the following routine for the FM 1924: fire 4 to 5 detachable magazines (100 to 125 rounds), take a short pause, then keep repeating that same restrained fire plus short pause routine which permits steady performance and very extensive firing periods.

The French 75 is widely regarded as the first modern artillery piece. It was the first field gun to include a hydro-pneumatic recoil mechanism, which kept the gun's trail and wheels perfectly still during the firing sequence. Since it did not need to be re-aimed after each shot, the crew could reload and fire as soon as the barrel returned to its resting position. In typical use the French 75 could deliver fifteen rounds per minute on its target, either shrapnel or melinite high-explosive, up to about 8,500 m (5.3 mi) away. Its firing rate could even reach close to 30 rounds per minute, albeit only for a very short time and with a highly experienced crew.

At the opening of World War I, in 1914, the French Army had about 4,000 of these field guns in service. By the end of the war about 12,000 had been produced. It was also in service with the American Expeditionary Forces, which had been supplied with about 2,000 French 75 field guns.

The forerunner of the French 75 was an experimental 57 mm gun which was first assembled in September 1891 at the Bourges arsenal under the direction of Captain Sainte-Claire Deville. This 57 mm gun took advantage of a number of the most advanced artillery technologies available at the time:

Vieille's smokeless powder, which was introduced in 1884.
Self-contained ammunition, with the powder charge in a brass case which also held the shell.
An early hydro-pneumatic short recoil mechanism that was designed by Major Louis Baquet.
A rotating screw breech built under license from Thorsten Nordenfelt.
The only major design difference between the 57 and 75 that would emerge was the recoil system. But even before the 57 entered testing, in 1890 General Mathieu, Director of Artillery at the Ministry of War, had been informed that Konrad Haussner, a German engineer working at the Ingolstadt arsenal, had patented an oil-and-compressed-air long-recoil system. They also learned that Krupp was considering introducing the system after testing it. Krupp would later reject Haussner's invention, due to insoluble technical problems caused by hydraulic fluid leakage.

In 1891 Haussner sold his patents to a firm named Gruson, which searched for potential buyers. After reviewing the blueprints in February 1892, the French artillery engineers advised that a gun should be produced without purchasing the Haussner invention. Accordingly, General Mathieu turned to Lt. Colonel Joseph-Albert Deport, at the time the Director of the Atelier de Construction de Puteaux (APX), and asked him whether he could construct a gun on the general principle of the Haussner long-cylinder recoil without infringing the existing patents. After it was judged possible, a formal request was sent out on 13 July 1892.

It took five more years under the overall leadership of Mathieu's successor, General Deloye, to perfect and finally adopt in March 1898 an improved and final version of the Deport 75 mm long-recoil field gun. Various deceptions, some of them linked to the Dreyfus Case which erupted in 1894, had been implemented by Deloye and French counter-intelligence to distract German espionage.

The final experimental version of Deport's 75 mm field gun was tested during the summer of 1894 and judged very promising. Extensive trials, however, revealed that it was still prone to hydraulic fluid leakage from the long-recoil mechanism. The Deport 75 was returned to Puteaux arsenal for further improvements. Hydraulic fluid leakage was typical of this experimental phase of artillery development during the 1890s, as Haussner and Krupp had previously experienced.

In December 1894, Deport was passed over for promotion, and resigned to join "Chatillon-Commentry", a private armaments firm. Two young military engineers from Ecole Polytechnique, Captains Etienne Sainte-Claire Deville and Emile Rimailho, continued development and introduced an improved version in 1896. Their contribution was a leakproof hydro-pneumatic long-recoil mechanism which they named "Frein II" (Brake # II). A major improvement was the placement of improved silver-alloy rings on the freely moving piston which separated the compressed air and the hydraulic fluid inside the main hydro-pneumatic recoil cylinder. These and other modifications achieved the desired result: the long-term retention of hydraulic fluid and compressed air inside the recoil system, even under the worst field conditions.

Captain Sainte-Claire Deville also designed important additional features, such as a device for piercing the fuzes of shrapnel shells automatically during the firing sequence (an "automatic fuze-setter"), thus selecting the desired bursting distance. The independent sight had also been perfected for easy field use by the crews, and a nickel-steel shield was added to protect the gunners. The armored caissons were designed to be tilted in order to present the shells horizontally to the crews. The wheel brakes could be swung under each wheel ("abattage"), and, together with the trail spade, they immobilized the gun during firing.

The gun was officially adopted on 28 March 1898 under the name "Matériel de 75 mm Mle 1897". The public saw it for the first time during the Bastille Day parade of 14 July 1899.

In the 1930s the French Army sought a replacement for the derivatives of the 75 mm mle 1897 field gun it used as an anti-tank gun. The soixante-quinze was an effective anti-tank gun but was heavy and much harder to conceal than the newer, small, high-velocity, small calibre anti-tank weapons. The chosen weapon was a design of the state-owned arsenal Atelier de Construction de Puteaux workshop (abbreviated to APX) located in Puteaux, Paris, and was named the canon de 47 mm semi-automatique mle 1936. Both were efficient weapons, especially given the thin armour of contemporary German tanks. The gun could pierce 60 mm (2.4 in) at 550 meters (600 yd) or 80 mm (3.1 in) at 180 meters (200 yd).

During World War I, the German industrialist Reinhold Becker developed a 20 mm caliber cannon, known now as the 20 mm Becker using the advanced primer ignition blowback (API blowback) method of operation. This used a 20×70mmRB cartridge and had a cyclic rate of fire of 300 rpm. It was used on a limited scale as an aircraft gun on Luftstreitkräfte warplanes, and an anti-aircraft gun towards the end of that war.

Because the Treaty of Versailles banned further production of such weapons in Germany, the patents and design works were transferred in 1919 to the Swiss firm SEMAG (Seebach Maschinenbau Aktien Gesellschaft) based near Zürich. SEMAG continued development of the weapon, and in 1924 had produced the SEMAG L, a heavier weapon (43 kg) that fired more powerful 20×100mmRB ammunition at a slightly higher rate of fire, 350 rpm.

In 1924 SEMAG failed. The Oerlikon firm, named after the Zürich suburb of Oerlikon where it was based, then acquired all rights to the weapon, plus the manufacturing equipment and the employees of SEMAG.

In 1927 the Oerlikon S was added to the existing product line. This fired a still larger cartridge (20x110RB) to achieve a muzzle velocity of 830 m/s (versus 490 m/s for the original Becker 20x70RB gun), at the cost of increased weight and a reduced rate of fire (280 rpm). The purpose of this development was to improve the performance of the gun as an anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapon, which required a higher muzzle velocity. An improved version known as the 1S followed in 1930.

Three sizes of gun with their different ammunition and barrel length, but very similar mechanisms, continued to be developed in parallel. In 1930 Oerlikon reconsidered the application of its gun in aircraft and introduced the AF and AL, designed to be used in flexible mounts, i.e. manually aimed by a gunner. The 15-round box magazine used by earlier versions of the gun was replaced by drum magazine holding 15 or 30 rounds.

In 1935 it made an important step by introducing a series of guns designed to be mounted in or on the wings of fighter aircraft. Designated with FF for Flügelfest meaning 'wing-mounted', these weapons were again available in the three sizes, with designations FF, FFL and FFS. The FF fired a slightly larger cartridge than the AF, 20x72RB, but the major improvement in these weapons was a significant increase in rate of fire. The FF weighed 24 kg and achieved a muzzle velocity of 550 to 600 m/s with a rate of fire of 520 rpm. The FFL of 30 kg fired a projectile at a muzzle velocity of 675 m/s with a rate of fire of 500 rpm. And the FFS, which weighed 39 kg, delivered a high muzzle velocity of 830 m/s at a rate of 470 rpm.

Apart from changes to the design of the guns for wing-mounting and remote control, larger drums were introduced as it would not be possible to exchange magazines in flight. For the FF series 45, 60, 75 and 100 (and a rarely used 150) drum magazines were available, but most users chose the 30 or 60-round drum.

The 1930s were a period of global re-armament, and a number of foreign firms took licenses for the Oerlikon family of aircraft cannon. In France, Hispano-Suiza manufactured development of the FFS as the Hispano-Suiza HS.7 and Hispano-Suiza HS.9, for installation between the cylinder banks of its V-12 engines. In Germany, Ikaria further developed the FF gun as the MG FF, firing 20x80RB ammunition. And the Imperial Japanese Navy, after evaluating all three guns, ordered developments of the FF and FFL as the Type 99-1 and Type 99-2.

FAMH (Compagnie des forges et aciéries de la marine et d'Homécourt), commonly known by the FAMH main factory location - Saint-Chamond, developed a 150 millimetres (5.9 in) heavy howitzer[1] as a complementary artillery piece to the Mondragon-designed 75 millimetres (3.0 in) field guns Saint-Chamond had built for the Mexican Army. The prototype howitzer was presented to the Mexican Govt. in 1911 but did not result in a production order. In 1913 the Saint-Chamond prototype howitzer was demonstrated to the French Army but there was no official interest since it was thought the Canon de 155 C Mle 1904 TR Rimailho howitzer satisfied the heavy howitzer requirements of the French Army.

In 1915, the French Army conducted a series of unsuccessful attacks on German trench lines. After the Second Battle of Artois in May 1915 an analysis of the performance of the artillery showed that the Rimailho howitzers were incapable of delivering the volume of fire required by extant artillery doctrine. This doctrine required that heavy howitzers should deliver an intense bombardment on enemy trench lines just before an infantry attack. General Joffre, the French Army Commander-in Chief, demanded new heavy howitzers which were capable of sustained high rates of fire and had sufficient range to minimise the effects of counter-battery fire. 400 155 millimetres (6.1 in) howitzers were ordered from Saint-Chamond in June 1915. However, production delays meant that the Saint-Chamond howitzers didn't enter service until the Autumn of 1916. The Saint-Chamond howitzers were delivered at a rate of 50 howitzers/month and once the order was complete Saint-Chamond produced the Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider under licence until the end of the war. In 1917 a modified Saint-Chamond howitzer was prototyped which increased the max. range to match that of the Schneider howitzer but this wasn't taken up because of concerns about disrupting production of the Schneider howitzer.

The Canon de 155 C modèle 1915 Saint-Chamond was a howitzer of relatively advanced design for its time. It used a hydro-spring recoil system mounted below the barrel and had a small gun shield. The box carriage had wooden wheels so it could only be towed as a single load at low speeds by vehicles or by a team of 8 horses The barrel was drawn back over the trail for towing. It had a semi-automatic vertical sliding block breech that ejected the cartridge case after firing. A loading tray was attached to the carriage on a swinging mount. It fired a 43.5 kilograms (96 lb) high-explosive (Obus FA Mle 1915) shell to a range of 9,300 metres (10,200 yd). The ammunition was "semi-fixed" the propellent was packaged in small bags in a brass cartridge and the total propellent charge could be adjusted by changing the number of bags. The Saint-Chamond howitzer was unique among French guns in that it had rear-positioned trunnions. The advantage of rear-positioned trunnions is that the breech doesn't "disappear" into a box trail as is the case with trunnions mounted at the centre of gravity of the barrel and receiver. This means that the howitzer can be loaded at high elevation angles since the breech position does not change significantly throughout the elevation range. The disadvantage of rear-positioned trunnions is that the elevation system must be more robust since it must bear greater forces from the barrel weight. To reduce the forces on the elevation gearing an equilibrator is necessary, this is usually a spring, or in the case of the Saint-Chamond a pneumatic system. The Saint-Chamond elevation system also moved the gun shield along with the barrel which meant that the gun shield could be smaller than a fixed gun shield. The traverse system was similar to that of other French guns, a worm gear moved the carriage across the axle.

The lighter 75 mm guns were of limited use against trenches; so, once the western front in World War I had settled down to trench warfare, the French army ordered large numbers of the L 13 S, which, with its larger 15.74 kg (34.7 lb) shell, was more effective against fortified positions and had a range of 12,000 metres (7.5 mi).

After the end of World War I, France sold or gave many Schneider 105 mm guns to various other countries, including Belgium, Italy, Poland, and Yugoslavia. In Italy, the 105 mm was re-designated the Cannone da 105/27 mod. Guns were also produced under license in Italy, starting from September 1914, by Ansaldo.

The F-1 grenade was first put into mass production by the French State in 1915 during the First World War. In May 1915 the first of the F1 grenades (fusante No. 1) appeared in the French military, in limited quantities. This new weapon inherited from the experience of the first months of the war: the shape was made to be more modern, with an external grooves pattern for better grip and easier fragmentation. The second expectation proved deceptive, since the explosion in practice gave no more than 10 fragments (although the pattern was designed to split into all the 38 drawn divisions). The design was proved to be very functional, especially due to its stability compared to other grenades of the same period. Later, the Fusante No. 1 was used en masse by many foreign armies in the period 1915–1940. The F-1 grenade has been used as a basis for the development of many other grenades by different nations, including the US and the Russian Federation.

The Brandt mle 27/31 was a simple and effective weapon, consisting of a smoothbore metal tube fixed to a base plate (to absorb recoil), with a lightweight bipod mount. The mle 27/31 could be disassembled into 3 loads, plus the ammunitions loads, and a complete crew was 10 men. When a mortar bomb was dropped into the tube, an impact sensitive primer in the base of the bomb would make contact with a firing pin at the base of the tube, and detonate, firing the bomb towards the target. HE and smoke mortar bombs fired by the weapon weighed 3.25 kilograms.

In 1915, about the same time when English civil engineer Wilfred Stokes turned to developing trench mortars for the troops, French applied artist, silversmith and ironsmith Edgar Brandt did the same while serving in the French Army. He developed two pneumatic weapons, obusier pneumatique Brandt de 60 mm modèle 1915 on a tripod carriage and later also modèle 1916 on a cast aluminium baseplate.[7][8] Already the first type of the shell (projectile type A) had an aerodynamic teardrop body with flat stabilizers (called vanes or fins) and an obturation groove around its widest part, both features which will define the design of mortar shells in decades to come.

In September 1917 under-secretary of state for inventions sent a circular letter requesting inventors to design a better projectile for the successful Stokes mortar, and Brandt scaled his 60 mm projectile up to 81 mm. Both British and French military adopted the scaled-up design except for the grooves (apparently, their importance wasn't realized at the time) in 1918 as projectile BM (Brandt-Maurice) modèle 1918 (later simplified to FA (fonte aciérée) modèle 1921) and Mk. II HE bomb respectively.

After several years of further development in January 1925 Brandt applied for a patent on a mortar shell with several obturation grooves (of several types), a design which has not in principle changed in the century since. French shell FA modèle 1924/27 soon adopted in place of BM Mle 1918 closely followed the drawing in the patent, and FA modèle 1932 offered even more improvement in range. It was this refined projectile design that made Stokes-Brandt mortar so superior compared to WWI Stokes: with Brandt-type WWII shells, the latter was able to reach 2,650 yards (2.42 km) in range.

The modèle 37 was issued during 1939 to replace rifle grenades in infantry platoons. It was a simple weapon with a fixed elevation of 45°, with the range being set by twisting a ring on the base which varied the diameter of gas vents on the tube. It consisted of a tube, baseplate and bipod. Although light and mobile it was short ranged and fired a small projectile.