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HomeFrance

France

Semiauto pistol

Serbian/Yugoslav Ruby Pistol

March 2, 2022 Ian McCollum 11

The Serbian Army was essentially destroyed in 1915, and lost a massive amount of equipment. It was rebuilt with French assistance and reequipped with French arms in 1917, including about 5,000 Ruby pistols. These were […]

Select-fire Rifles

MAS Type 62: France Does the FAL, With a Twist

February 21, 2022 Ian McCollum 35

https://youtu.be/JyLqCKzX5vc In the late 1950s and early 1960s, France was seriously considering joining the NATO small arms standardization. They were equipped with the MAS 49/56 semiauto rifle at this point, and were looking at three […]

Revolver

Le Redoutable: A Double-Barrel 20-Shot Revolver

February 3, 2022 Ian McCollum 39

“Manufrance” was the common abbreviated name for Manufacture d’Armes et Cycles de Saint Etienne, a massive mail-order catalog company in France for many decades. Like Sears Roebuck in the United States, one could get pretty […]

Antiques

Delhaxhe “Apache”: The Other French Knife-Knuckle-Gun

January 17, 2022 Ian McCollum 21

Long associated with Parisian street gangs called “Apaches” (after the American Indian tribe), there were two main patterns of combination knife/knuckle/firearm made in the mid/late 1800s in France. This one was designed by J. Delhaxhe, […]

Interview

Christian Prouteau on the FR-F1 Rifle

January 5, 2022 Ian McCollum 20

My interview with Christian Prouteau focused on the MR-73 revolver and how his men in GIGN trained with it. However, I did also ask him about the FR-F1 rifles, and figured I would separate that […]

Shotgun

Mystery Shotgun With a Very Unusual Action

December 20, 2021 Ian McCollum 19

This is a commercial pump-action shotgun manufactured in France and proofed at the St Etienne proof house. I know basically nothing else of its provenance, including who designed it, who sold it (although I would […]

Interview

Rigor, Discipline, and Excellence: Christian Prouteau on GIGN Training and the MR-73

December 16, 2021 Ian McCollum 25

https://youtu.be/klK_tHy_PdA I am honored today to be able to bring you an interview with Christian Prouteau, the founder and original leader of GIGN. This is France’s premier elite counter-terrorism force, who have been at the […]

Competition

Desert Brutality 2021 Day 2: Catastrophe and Redemption

December 4, 2021 Ian McCollum 9

When we left off yesterday, I had a perfect streak going with my FR-F2, but the choice of a .357 revolver for a Brutality match was looking pretty questionable. Well, we’ve got our more stages […]

Competition

Desert Brutality 2021 Day 1: Glory and Heartbreak

December 3, 2021 Ian McCollum 10

It’s time for Desert Brutality 2021! This match is a bit different from previous Brutality matches; it required three guns: pistol, rifle, and precision rifle. I chose to enter the Cold War division (all guns […]

Bolt Action Rifles

ASAC Presentation: Development of French Military Repeating Rifles

December 2, 2021 Ian McCollum 11

At the Fall 2021 meeting of the American Society of Arms Collectors, I had the opportunity to make a presentation on the development of French military repeating rifles. The story begins with the Mle 1874 […]

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