France - Forgotten Weapons

Romanian Berthier Carbine Conversions

March 22, 2024 Ian McCollum 10

Romanian had more than a million rifles in its inventory after World War One, but they were mused between Mannlicher 88/90, Mannlicher 95, Mosin Nagant, and Berthier patterns – and they were almost all rifles […]

Early Development of the MAC 1950 Pistol

March 15, 2024 Ian McCollum 10

Today we have a short look at two of the predecessors of the French MAC 1950 service pistol. The first is the Type SE MAS 1948, which retains many of the characteristics of the previous […]

Prototype Matra Manurhin Compact SMG at the Range

March 9, 2024 Ian McCollum 13

https://forgottenweapons.vhx.tv/videos/matra-manurhin-smg-at-the-range I came across this prototype (serial number 7) PDW/compact SMG in a collection, and had the opportunity to take it out to try on the range. I don’t have any specific data about it, […]

Prototype French MAS-49 SMG in .45ACP

January 31, 2024 Ian McCollum 0

In the late 1940s the French developed a new suite of small arms, including a competition to replace the 7.65mm MAS-38 submachine gun with a new 9x19mm SMG. The eventual winner of this program was […]

MAS-49 Carabine Mitrailleuse: A French Prototype Lever-Delayed Assault Rifle

January 17, 2024 Ian McCollum 35

When France was developing it’s new suite of small arms in the late 1940s, there was a debate over whether to adopt an intermediate-power cartridge or retain the full-power 7.5x54mm round for the infantry rifle. […]

Variations on Gras Cavalry Carbines & Conversions from Ethiopia

January 7, 2024 Ian McCollum 2

While I was at InterOrdnance unpacking French rifles, I took the opportunity to pull out a couple different examples of Gras Cavalry Carbines to show the differences between original French production examples and Belgian commercial […]

Gear-Ratio-Accelerated? Yep, It’s a Thing: French MAT 1955 Prototype

December 20, 2023 Ian McCollum 21

EDIT: Shoot, I managed to get the gear ratio backwards. Sorry! The recoil action provides the necessary delay, and then the gear ratio provides acceleration to ensure the bolt can open reliably, akin to the […]

Weirdest of the French Trials SMGs: the EROP 1954

December 15, 2023 Ian McCollum 8

“EROP” was a small company based in Paris, which produced about 18 submachine gun prototypes between 1954 and 1956. These were submitted to French military trials in several different configurations first in 1954 and later […]

Hotchkiss Portative: Clunky But Durable

November 27, 2023 Ian McCollum 11

The Portative was an attempt by the Hotchkiss company to make a light machine gun companion to their heavy model (which had found significant commercial success). The Portative used the same feed strips, albeit loaded […]

Guycot: A Rocket Ball Chain Rifle From 1879

October 30, 2023 Ian McCollum 7

The “Guycot” is a rocket ball chain rifle system named for its two creators, Paulin Gay (the designer) and Henri Guénot (the financier). They patented the idea in 1879, and manufactured it in both rifle […]