The M.A.B. P-15 Pistol

by Ed Buffaloe and Bill Kelsey

The story of the MAB P-15 pistol is, in many ways, the story of the end of the MAB company. The founder of MAB, Léon Barthe (pronounced Bart), had died in 1937 at the age of 54. After World War II, his son Jean took over the company, and within a few years MAB began to produce a number of new pistol designs. Due to the renaissance of target shooting in France in the late 40’s and early 50’s, the company had some success with their two target pistols, the Model F and the Model R in .22 caliber. But the Model R pistol in the larger calibers (7.65mm French Long, 7.65mm Browning, 9mm Browning Short, and 9mm Parabellum), manufactured between 1951 and 1964, simply did not sell well. The Models G and GZ were only modestly successful. By 1964 production had ended for the Model F, the Model G, and all the Model R variants. The stalwart Models A, C and D continued to be the mainstays of the company.

MAC 50

New MAB Factory of 1964

The Model R in 7.65mm French Long and 9mm Parabellum represented the first time MAB had manufactured pistols in military calibers, but by the time they were in production the French military had already chosen the MAC 50 as their standard Military sidearm. The MAB pistols of this era did not meet the requirements of the military and were never seriously considered for military use.
MAB built a new factory in 1964. Sales of their Models A, C, and D were good, particularly in the Middle East, but the company needed a new more powerful and more advanced pistol if it wished to continue to be competitive in the worldwide arms market. So design work began on a military-style pistol in 9mm Parabellum.
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The new gun they designed bore an external resemblance to the Colt 1911 and the Browning Hi-Power, but was quite diffferent internally. While the MAB design, like the earlier Browning designs, features a recoil spring beneath the barrel, a magazine release behind the trigger, and a thumb-operated slide release lever on the left side, the gun has no breech locking mechanism. Instead, it utilizes a delayed-blowback rotating barrel system.
For some years I assumed that the P-15 design was based on Elbert Searle’s patent of 1905 which ultimately became the 1907 Savage automatic pistol. It is well known that the French acquired upwards of 40,000 Savage Model 1907 automatic pistols for use during World War I. However, I recently became aware of a number of prototype Mauser pistols with rotating barrels, designed by Josef Nickl (the Model 1915 and the Model 1917H) with mechanisms nearly identical to that of the P-15. The Nickl prototypes are illustrated in the book Mauser Pistolen, by W. Darrin Weaver, Jon Speed, and Walter Schmid (see pages 113-114, 120-122, and 126-135). Nickl’s design culminated in a production pistol manufactured by CZ in Czechoslovakia known as the vz.-24. I believe the P-15 is likely based on the Nickl designs.
The P-8 Prototype
The P-8 prototype is marked identically to a Model R. It was probably made sometime between 1963 and 1965. An early brochure titled Pistolet Automatique MAB 9 m/m Parabellum shows a photograph of the prototype pistol, clearly marked as a MODELE R. Inside the brochure, the gun is described not as the “model” but as the “type” P-8 or P-15.

The MAB P-8 prototype, or
so-called MAB R Para Experimental

MAB P-8

MAB P-8

The prototype is distinguished by its MODELE R markings, an unprecedented open slot in the top of the slide in which the upper barrel lug moves, and a spur hammer identical to those found on the Model R pistols. It has eight narrow, angled flat- bottomed slide serrations and wooden grip plates retained by two screws.
The 2005 edition of the Standard Catalog of Firearms designates this gun as the “R Para Experimental,” based on its slide inscription. According to Bastié and Casanova only a few dozen of these pistols were ever made.
The P-8
The P-8 pistol was manufactured from 1966 through 1968. It is an updated version of the P-8 prototype. The slide walls are thicker, the upper portion of the slide is squared off, and the slot cut through the top has been eliminated, becoming a channel in the top interior of the slide. The gun has seven flat-bottomed vertical slide serrations just above the grip plates. The grip plates are retained by two screws. The hammer has a round head with a hole drilled through it.
Like the Mauser/Nickl prototypes, the P-15 has a full-length recoil spring guide rod affixed to a block at the rear. The block (referred to in French as the berceau du canon, or barrel cradle) has a slot in the top in which the bottom lug of the barrel turns. In both guns the block is held in place by a pin, but in the Nickl design the pin is inserted vertically from the bottom of the gun, whereas in the P-8 and P-15 it is held in place in the frame by a transverse pin attached to the slide release lever, which serves as the take-down mechanism for the pistol. The rear of the P-8 and P-15 block is angled and polished to serve as a ramp for cartridges entering the barrel. The barrel is closely fitted into a massive slide. The slide, barrel, and some other parts are numbered to match the frame.
Due to the loss of their export license, MAB was forced to close in 1968, but restructured and reopened in October of 1969 after the company was sold to Claude Duvignacq, founder of the French baby products company Baby Relax. But production of the P-8 pistol never resumed.
William B. Edwards, one of the founders of Guns magazine and later a gun dealer, relates that when he visited the MAB factory in late 1968 or early 1969 he saw the remaining P-8 frames, in the white, stored as spare parts. Some of these frames may have been used later to make a few rare P-8 target pistols.
The gun is stamped on the left side of the slide:

PISTOLET AUTOMATIQUEMABBREVETTE S.G.D.G

and on the right side the marking reads simply:

MADE IN FRANCE

The P-15

MAB P-15

MAB P-15

The P-15 was manufactured from 1966 through 1982. Named for its 15-round magazine capacity, it was the first 9mm pistol to exceed the 13-round capacity of the Browning Hi-Power. The grip frame of the P-8 was widened considerably to allow for the high-capacity magazine and the shape of the grip was changed slightly. Otherwise the two guns are more or less identical inside and out. The grip plates are retained by a single screw.
The back side of the barrel block forms part of the ramp the guides the cartridge into the chamber. The barrel is closely fitted into the reinforced slide. The slide, barrel, and some other parts are numbered to match the frame.
Two basic versions of the P-15 were sold, an “M1” military pistol available either blued or parkerized, and an “S” (for “Standard”) commercial pistol, available with various finishes and options, including target sights.* The military version was also sold commercially. By 1981 a prototype of a .45 caliber version had been developed and by 1982 was close enough to production that labels listing it were printed, although development ended with MAB’s bankruptcy the same year.
Variations and Markings on the P-15
The P-15 went through a few internal and external changes in its 14-year lifetime.
The magazine safety directly blocks the sear, preventing the trigger from being pulled. On early pistols. if the hammer is down and the magazine is removed the slide cannot be opened because the sear binds the hammer. If the hammer is cocked and the magazine removed the slide can be worked easily; however, the hammer cannot be lowered until the magazine is reinserted. On later pistols the mechanism was modified to allow the hammer to be cocked or lowered with the magazine removed.
The shape of the frame cut-out beneath the grip plates was modified slightly, requiring a change to the backs of the grip plates in order to fit properly on the frame. This change has been noted on later guns labeled P-15 rather than the earlier PA-15 designation.
The earliest magazine release button was checkered, whereas the later release button featured circular grooves.
All gun made by the MAB company appear to have eight flat-bottomed vertical slide serrations.
All versions of the gun, like other MAB pistols, are stamped, in sans-serif characters on the left side of the slide:

PISTOLET AUTOMATIQUEMABBREVETTE S.G.D.G

Most of the factory magazines had a heavy milled steel baseplate, but a few of the late magazines had a stamped metal baseplate. Factory magazine followers were of milled steel, though aftermarket followers are often seen in plastic. Thirty-round magazines were also made, but we are not entirely certain if they were made by the MAB factory or not.

P-15 Advertisement - Guns & Ammo Magazine
February 1968

Variant I: An undated MAB catalogue, reported to date from 1966, shows both 8- and 15-shot guns with no model markings. The catalogue designates the guns as “M.A.B. Parabellum 15 et 8 cartouches,” but the text refers to them as P-8 and the P-15. The first Gun Digest listing for the gun appeared in 1968, where it was simply called the “MAB Autoloading Pistol,” and was described as having an 8- or 15-shot magazine; Mars Equipment, importers. Early guns, with four-digit serial numbers on the frame above the trigger guard, have no model marking anywhere on them. If imported, they are stamped MADE IN FRANCE on the right side of the slide beneath the extractor and ejection port. This variant duplicates the markings on the PA-8, and has been observed in serial number 3019.*
Variant II: Later guns have six-digit serial numbers with model designation in the format PA.15 M1 XXXXXX on the right side of the frame above the trigger guard. These guns have, stamped on the right side of the slide in front of the ejection port, MODELE PA-15 in sans-serif characters. Some of these guns are marked FRANCE in serif characters below the trigger guard on the front edge of the frame grip. The marking does not appear to be stamped into the metal but is imprinted into the finish by some means. The mark may have been done manually, as it is often crooked or poorly centered. This variant has been observed in serial numbers 552352-601764.*
Variant III: Later still, or possibly parallel with Variant II, we have observed guns with six-digit serial numbers with model designation in the format PA-15 XXXXXX on the right side of the frame over the trigger guard. They are stamped, on the right side of the slide in front of the ejection port, MODELE PA-15 in sans-serif characters, directly beneath which (on some, but not all, guns) is MADE IN FRANCE. This variant has been observed in serial numbers 518154-601393, so there is some overlap with Variant II.*
Variant IV: We have observed guns with no model prefixhaving six-digit serial numbers on the right side of the frame over the trigger guard bow. They are stamped, on the right side of the slide in front of the ejection port, MODEL P-15 in sans-serif characters, directly beneath which is MADE IN FRANCE. Three thousand MAB of these fourth variant pistols were imported into the U.S. in 1981 By Howco Distributing. Guns imported by Howco are typically marked on two lines on the front portion of the left side of the frame HOWCO DIST. INC. / LAUREL. MD. USA. This variant has been observed in serial numbers 610771-625103 and appears to be the final series made by MAB.*
There may be other variants which we have not yet observed.
About 100,000 PA-15s are reported to have been produced between 1966-1982.

MAB PAP F1 Target Pistol

MAB P-8 Target Pistol

The P.A.P. F1 Competition Target Pistol
The competition version of the PA-15 is built on the same frame as the standard model, but has an extended slide and barrel. According to Huon, the barrel is 150mm long, and the overall length of the gun is 234mm. A special bushing at the front of the slide assures precise barrel alignment, and the rear sight is fully adjustable. The gun weighs in at a hefty 1215 grams (43 ounces). The gun is designated as the Model F1, and is also referred to as the P.A.P., which stands for pistolet automatique de précision. According to Huon, the F1 was manufactured from 1966 through 1985, but it is not listed in the company’s 1966 catalogue.
We have noted various inscriptions on the slide. Most guns have

PISTOLET AUTOMATIQUEMABBREVETTE S.G.D.G

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inscribed on the left side of the slide in all capital sans-serif characters, though we have noted one gun (serial number 600026) that has only the

MAB

monogram on the left side.
Two different right-side slide inscriptions have been documented:

MODELE PA-15

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on earlier guns, and

P.A.P. Mle. F1 Cal 9 m/m

on later guns.
In addition, Olivier Chevasson tells me that MAB made about 50 P-8 target pistols which simply say MODELE P-8 on the right side of the slide, but have the long barrel, long slide, and target sights of the P.A.P. F1.
The End of MAB
By 1976 the MAB company is in financial trouble. There is a shakeup in the board of directors, expenses are cut, and Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Herstal, Belgium becomes a major shareholder in the company with a 40% stake. FN provides much-needed capital, but FN is primarily interested in obtaining contracts to make weapons for the French military and when this prospect falls through they quickly lose interest in MAB. In 1981, the then CEO, Vincent Dubecq leaves the company, taking some of the best technical talent with him to two new precision engineering companies he has created. The new CEO, Marcel Gozzi, knows little about firearms, but he is a knowledgeable manager. It doesn’t take him long to realize that the company is using outdated machinery and obsolete production methods, and he needs to cut production time in half for the company to be profitable, but he has a young, militant, unionized work force that is resistant to change. Gozzi brings in experts from FN. They streamline production and outsource the manufacturing of P-15 frames to Astra in Spain, where the frames can be precision cast quickly by the lost-wax method. In return, Astra outsources the finishing and assembling of the .357 magnum Barracuda revolver they are manufacturing for FN to MAB.
It is in this period that Howco Distributing orders 3000 P-15 pistols to sell in the U.S. The Howco CEO mentions in passing that it is too bad they don’t make the gun in .45 caliber, which would be much more popular in the U.S. Gozzi passes this comment on to one of his foremen who proceeds to show him a .45 prototype he had already made in his spare time. Gozzi immediately okays a project to make this a production gun.
But labor disputes ultimately sink MAB. The union refuses to work with the company Gozzi had contracted to do nickle plating. Then Astra refuses to accept a large percentage of the guns that have been finished by MAB, saying the work is sub-par. Finally in May of 1982, as a prank, a worker substitutes real cartridges for blanks that were being used to test pistols and real bullets fly about the factory. The worker is fired and the union goes on strike. FN withdraws all financial support, and by September bankruptcy is inevitable. Gozzi resigns and the workers are dismissed. The union workers try desperately to put together a worker’s collective to buy up the company and resume operations, but are unable to organize financing. A very small number of workers are eventually hired by the companies owned by the former CEO, Vincent Dubecq, who still owns the 60% of MAB not owned by FN. Dubecq’s companies take over some of MAB’s remaining contracts. But the vast majority of MAB’s workforce is left unemployed.
MABCO
In 1984 several previous executives of MAB bought the remaining MAB stock and formed a new company, called MABCO, to continue production of the P-15 and PAP F1. MABCO modernized and computerized the production process, designed an updated “Series 2” P-15 (P15-S2), designed a convertible P-15 that could shoot both 9mm and .45 caliber and, in hopes of winning a French government contract for a high capacity double action pistol to replace the aging P-1950, created a new double action version of the P-15. Unfortunately, the new design was not ready in time for the military contract competition, and in 1989 the Beretta 92-F was selected. This pretty much sealed the fate of MABCO. Neither the updated P15-S2 nor the double action version ever went beyond the prototype stage. According to Bastié and Casanova, MABCO went out of business sometime in the early 1990’s. According to Jane’s Infantry Weapons (2008 edition), during 1991, the Yugoslavian arms Manufacturer Zastava Arms was licensed to produce the P-15 for export, although there is no evidence they ever did.
MAM

MAM P-15

Chevasson PA15-2000

The company Montage Assemblage Mecanique (MAM) of Biarritz was contracted in 1984 by the French Ministry of Cooperation to make P-15 pistols to be sold or distributed mostly in Africa to countries friendly to France and receiving French assistance. According to Bastié and Casanova, MAM made 200 pistols per month between 1984 and 1992. If this contract was fulfilled, MAM must have made nearly 20,000 pistols. The slide inscription varies from the original in that the MAB on the left side of the slide is not in the stylized lettering of the old company, but in simple sans-serif: MAB , although the monogram on the grip plates is still that of the old company. The horizontal step on the side of the slide has been eliminated to give the slide a flat, smooth appearance, and the redesigned slide has six broad, flat-bottomed vertical slide serrations at the rear. The MAM company moved to Bayonne in 1998 and is still in business today. They stopped making parts for the P-15 in March of 2015.
Chevasson
After MAM quit making the P-15 pistol, the remaining frames and unassembled parts, all together totaling about 200 pistols, were acquired by a French firearms dealer Olivier Chevasson who, in the year 2000 incorporated Chevasson Armes (dba Armurerie Lechkine) in the central French city of Romorantin-Lanthenay, and advertised new and custom P-15s among his firearms. The pistols he assembled from MAB parts he called the “PA-15 2000” and stamped them with serial numbers beginning with “CH.” These pistols came with target front and rear sights, and could be customized to order. In February of 2010 Chevasson Armes was declared bankrupt and closed. However, M. Chevasson has now gone into business as Long Range and can be reached at [email protected]. At the time of this writing, he can still build PA-15 pistols to order from existing parts.

These guns feature a flat slide with six broad, flat-bottomed vertical slide serrations, and are marked on the left side of the slide in script:

Chevasson.

The right side of the slide is marked PA15-2000 and MADE IN FRANCE.
Usage of the P-15
Ezell states that the P-15 was the French army’s standard handgun in 1980, which is not true, although French military special operations units are reported to have included the P-15 among their weapons arsenals. The website http://world.guns.ru states, “When, in late 1970s, production of the 9mm M1950 pistols ceased, the French army obtained small numbers of commercially available MAB P15 pistols, also in 9x19. These pistols were never adopted for general army service, but saw some use in the hands of French Naval Commando units, Military Police and Marines.”
In Josserand’s 1979 article on MAB pistols, he states that the P.A.P. (pistolet automatique de précision) modèle F1, the target version of the PA-15, was in use by the French military and gendarmerie. A technical manual for the gun online at http://www.littlegun.be displays the note: “Approuvé par le chef d’état-major le l’armée de Terre le 18 avril 1968..” The book French Service Handguns also states that the MAB P-15 was never adopted by the French military, but that the target version was used by French military and police pistol teams.
The Bank of France adopted the P-15 for its security personnel, stamping their guns with “BFP” for Bank de France Paris, just as it had once stamped “BF” before the serial number on the M.A.B. Model D, also used by its security agents.
The MAB P-15 was adopted by the Finnish Rajavartiolaitos (Border Guards defense force) in 1975 and by some European police forces, as well as by military and police forces in some Francophone former French colonies of Africa, including Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Gabon, Central Africa, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, and Chad.
Functionality and Impressions of the P-15 by Ed Buffaloe

15 Rounds fired at a 1.5” Circle Drawn on a Paper Plate - 25 feet

The rotating barrel of the MAB P-15 does not constitute a true locked breech mechanism, but may be classified as a delayed blowback system. Spin imparted to the bullet by the barrel rifling acts in the opposite direction to the unlocking mechanism, tending to keep the breech closed until the bullet exits the barrel. While the P-15’s rotating barrel mechanism is not as efficient as a true locked breech, according to J.B. Wood it allows the gun to handle “..a wide range of loads of varying pressures..” A close-fitting bushing at the front of the slide which positions the barrel precisely, combined with the fact that the barrel does not move up and down to unlock the breech, gives the gun remarkable accuracy.
Though the PA-15 is a single action design, it has a top-mounted connector bar like many double action guns, giving it a relatively light, smooth trigger pull. The lockwork for the P-15 is quite different from all previous MAB pistols, which had nearly identical mechanisms back to 1925. The entire P-15 is of milled steel, with the exception of the trigger bar and magazine safety, which are stamped. The gun has the great merit of simplicity and ease of disassembly, but is quite heavy.
According to Bastié and Casanova the P-15 was tested by the French military in the 1970’s, but they found that parts were not always interchangeable between guns. Apparently the obsolete manufacturing methods in use in the MAB factory included the hand-fitting of parts for each individual gun, giving the P-15 tremendous accuracy but limiting parts interchangeability. (I note that most parts are stamped with the last three digits of the serial number.)
A critical examination of the P-15 can be found in the book Great Combat Handguns. The authors state that if the safety is on and the trigger is pulled with great force the sear pin can be subjected to a lot of torque and might break. Additionally, the magazine safety is frail and the authors suggest that if either the safety lever or the lip of the magazine were to wear over-much the gun would be rendered inoperable. The manual safety lever is difficult to operate, as is the magazine release. They do, however, state that the grip design is good, providing fast sighting after a quick draw, and the slide release is easy to operate. They also state that their test gun shot too far to the left.
The PA-15 is nicely finished--not a mirror finish, as you can see faint mill marks, but nicely polished nonetheless and deeply blued. Some guns have a phosphate finish, and a few are stainless steel. When I first removed the slide and grips, interior edges were quite sharp and caught threads from my patches and cloths. I took some 1500 grit microfine sandpaper to the sharp edges under the grips and in the slide--just enough to prevent them from snagging threads. The gun had sat for years in a gun shop cabinet and was quite dry, so I carefully lubricated it with some Hoppe’s Moly Oil and Militec grease. Recoil is heavy--a lot of people attribute this to the rotating barrel design, but I think it is due to the heavy slide, which is of course necessitated by the unlocked breech. The recoil spring is also quite powerful, and it requires considerable manual strength to work the slide and chamber a round.
The PA-15 has functioned flawlessly every time I have taken it to the range. Despite heavy recoil, it is extremely accurate. With the grip of the gun on the tabletop, at 10 yards I had to look again after firing the first four rounds--they were all in a hole I could cover with a dime right at the top of the bullseye. The gun shoots about 4 inches high at 25 yards, but I can compensate for that, and at 50 yards it is right on. The only other 9mm pistol I own that approaches the accuracy of the P-15 is the H&K P7 M8 with its fixed barrel and gas-operated delayed blowback mechanism.
Field Stripping the P-15
  1. Make certain the gun is unloaded, with no cartridge in the chamber.
  2. Remove the magazine by pressing the magazine release behind the trigger on the left side.
  3. Cock the hammer fully.
  4. Draw the slide back about 1/4 inch until the notch in the slide lines up with the rear of the slide release. Press in on the slide stop pin from the right side of the gun. (In practice I find that if I press in on the slide release pin and move the slide back and forth very slightly the pin will pop out easily.)
  5. Remove the slide stop completely from the left side of the gun.
  6. Pull the slide forward and remove it from the frame.
  7. With the slide and barrel assembly held upside down, press forward on the block at the rear of the recoil spring guide rod and lift it up carefully--this part is under spring tension, so use caution.
  8. Move the barrel forward slightly in the slide and lift it up--it is tightly fitted, so it may require a little manipulation to remove it from the slide.
* If you would like to help us gather more information, please send photographs and/or detailed descriptions of your gun that indicate the serial number. Please tell us how your magazine safety works, and if your gun has import marks. If you purchased your gun new, we would particularly like to know when you purchased it. If you still have any of the literature that came with your gun, scans or photographs would be very helpful.

References

2005 Standard Catalog of Firearms, by Ned Schwing. Krause Publications, Iola, Wisconsin: 2004.
French Service Handguns, 1858-2004, by Eugene Medlin and Jean Huon. Tommy Gun Publications, St. Louis: 2004.
Great Combat Handguns, by Leroy Thompson & René Smeets. Blandford Press, London: 1987.
Handguns of the World, by Edward C. Ezell. Barnes & Noble, New York: 1981.
Les Pistolets Automatiques Francais: 1890-1990, by Jean Huon. Histoire & Collections, Paris: 1995.
Les Pistolets MAB, by Jean-Pierre Bastié & Daniel Casanova. Crépin-Leblond et Cie: 2015.
“The M.A.B. Pistols,” by Michel H. Josserand. The American Handgunner, May/June 1979.
Mauser Pistolen, by W. Darrin Weaver, Jon Speed, and Walter Schmid. Collector Grade Publications, Cobourg, Ontario: 2008.
“New Gun From Bayonne: MAB PA-15,” by J.B. Wood. Guns, April 1969.
Troubleshooting Your Handgun, by J.B. Wood. Folett, Chicago: 1978.
http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/5442270


Copyright 2007-2015 by Ed Buffaloe and Bill Kelsey. All rights reserved.

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The 1935 French Service Pistols
by Ed Buffaloe

For many years, the French had been in the forefront of firearms design. They invented the first pinfire cartridge, the first rimfire cartridge, the first center-fire cartridge, and smokeless powder. But at the end of the Great War (World War I) their official sidearm was still the Model 1892 revolver.

Top: M1935A. Bottom: M1935S.

In 1937 the French
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Commission d’Experiences Techniques de Versailles, charged with selecting an automatic pistol for use by the French military, chose a design from the Societe Alsacienne de Constructions Mecaniques (SACM) which originated with their director, Charles Gabriel Petter. This gun became known as the Modèle 1935A, and was the official sidearm of the French military until 1950. Due to production limitations at the SACM factory, the French army general staff also adopted a competing design by the Manufacture Nationale d’Armes de Saint Ètienne (MAS), which became known as the Modèle 1935S.
Many sources, including Josserand and Kinard, state that MAS redesigned Petter’s 1935 design to make it easier and cheaper to manufacture, and that this gun then became the 1935S; but according to Medlin and Huon the 1935S was designed independently for the French military tests, though both guns were ultimately based on the Colt 1911. Medlin and Huon say, in regard to the 1935S: ‘First, the gun was submitted at the same time as the 1935A as a finished design; and second, any examination of the “S” shows it to be completely different from the “A” in a number of ways. A close comparison of the two provides no evidence that the “S” would be any cheaper to manufacture.’ Apparently, the similarities the two guns display are a result of both meeting the design specifications of the Commission d’Experiences Techniques de Versailles.
These specifications were as follows:
  1. The gun must fire the 7.65mm long round.
  2. The gun must be a single-action design with one spring for both the hammer and sear.
  3. The hammer, sear, and mainspring assembly must be constructed as a unit to facilitate replacement in the field.
  4. A magazine safety must be provided to disconnect the trigger bar from the sear.
  5. A manual safety must be provided to block the hammer from striking the firing pin.
  6. The gun must not require tools for field stripping.

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The two guns have other similarities, which do not appear in the specifications, such as a captive recoil spring and guide rod assembly, and a loaded chamber indicator. The idea for the unitized hammer, sear, and mainspring assembly was almost certainly derived from the Russian Tula-Tokarev pistol of 1930.
The SACM 1935A

SACM 1935A

Charles Gabriel Petter was granted French patent number 782914 on 25 March 1935; Swiss patent 185452 on 31 July 1936; and U.S. patent 2139203 on 6 December 1938.
The Petter patent was clearly based on the Browning-designed Colt 1911. The French had been impressed by M1911’s performance during the Great War, but must have felt the gun was too large and heavy, and some French writers described its recoil as “brutal.” So the French were looking for a gun with the best features of the M1911, along with a few improvements. This might also describe the Tula-Tokarev TT-30 pistol, which was likewise a copy of the Browning design, with improvements. The Petter and Tokarev were both single action, short-recoil, dropping-barrel designs, with unitized lockwork. The Tokarev, however, utilized a much more powerful cartridge--the 7.62x25mm Tokarev, virtually identical to the 7.63x25mm Mauser.
The Modèle 1935 was officially adopted early in 1937, and manufacture began almost immediately at the SACM factory in Alsace. (The suffix ‘A’ was added to the model designation in 1938, and stands for ‘Alsacienne’ in the company name.) Early deliveries took place in October of 1937. Production continued until the German invasion in mid-1940--German occupation forces took over the SACM factory and resumed fabrication of the pistol on 15 October 1940. Approximately 23,850 M1935A pistols were manufactured under German occupation. The German-made pistols received a Waffenamt acceptance stamp on the left side of the frame between the model designation and serial number--no other changes were made. French production was resumed as quickly as possible after liberation--the approximate date being 1 October 1944. The final M1935A was made on 10 February 1950. Total production was 84,950 pistols.

SACM 1935A

The Petter design features a barrel with two swinging links at the rear of the barrel, instead of one, and a captive recoil spring with the rear end of the guide rod drilled through. This drilled end fits between the two swinging links that depend from the barrel. The slide stop is inserted through both links and the recoil spring rod to lock the barrel and guide rod to the frame. Petter utilized a pivoting trigger that attaches to a Browning-style stirrup-shaped connector running on either side of the magazine. Like the Colt M1911 and the Tokarev TT-30, the barrel has two locking lugs on top, just in front of the chamber, which fit into cuts on the top interior surface of the slide, serving to lock the breech when the slide is forward. The rear sight is fixed, but the front sight is dovetailed and drift-adjustable.
The M1935a features a loaded chamber indicator on top of the slide, but this feature is not found in any of Petter’s patents. I suspect it was requested by the French military at some point during the trials, even though it was not one of the original specifications.
The M1935A has a grey parkerized finish with an overlay of black enamel. The magazines were parkerized, with black enamel on the base only. Prior to the end of the war, the magazine bases were blank, but after the war they were marked “35_A”. The gun was not made with a lanyard, but many were retro-fitted with lanyards for use by French police. Typically , the U-shaped lanyard was staked to the lower left grip frame, and a corner of the grip plate was cut away to make room for it.

SACM 1935A Components

To fieldstrip the Model 1935A:
  1. Remove the magazine and make sure the chamber is empty.
  2. Draw the slide back approximately 5mm.
  3. Press the end of the slide lock from the right side and remove it from the left side of the gun.
  4. Draw the slide and barrel off the frame.
  5. Remove the spring and guide rod assembly and then the barrel from the slide.

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In 1937 Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG) received a license from SACM to manufacture guns under the Petter patent. It was some years before anything other than prototypes were made, but eventually SIG produced the SP47/8, later renamed the P210, which was a 9mm pistol on the Petter design with a few significant improvements. The SIG P210 is considered by many to be the finest military pistol ever manufactured.
The MAS, MAC, or SAGEM 1935S

MAC 1935S

MAS did not receive the first order for the M1935S until September of 1938, and the first guns were not completed until February of 1939. Because MAS was producing a number of other weapons, only 1404 of the Modèle 1935S pistols were actually delivered by June of 1940 when German troops reached the factory in St. Etienne. It was late in 1944 before MAS was able to resume production. MAS eventually completed an additional 5281 Modèle 1935S pistols, with a parkerized finish.
At this time, due to the exigencies of the French War in Indochina, MAS contracted with the firm Manufacture Française d’Armes et Cycles de Saint Étienne, commonly known as Manufrance, to produce the weapon. This firm produced approximately 8000 pistols with a parkerized finish. Manufrance pistols retain the M.A.S designation on the left side of the slide, but are also marked with the letters MF on the right side of the frame just in front of the trigger guard and have serial numbers with a G prefix.
By the end of 1945 MAS had contracted with yet another firm to produce the pistol. Manufacture Nationale d’Armes de Chatellerault (MAC) began production probably early in 1946. MAC pistols have 1935-S stamped on the base of the magazine (whereas MAS and MF magazines are marked MLE 1935-S), and show the initials M.A.C on the left side of the slide. MAC also changed the orientation of the safety on the 1935S. The early safeties had the safety lever forward for safe and down for fire. The MAC pistols were changed to conform to the safety positions of the 1935A pistols, with the lever pulled back and up for safe--this way the lever stuck out from the rear of the gun and was directly in the shooter’s line of vision if the gun was on safe. Most guns with the new safety are marked M1 after the model designation on the right side of the slide. The MAC pistols were blued rather than parkerized, though some guns were parkerized when they were refinished. There are a number of minor variations of the MAC pistols that I will not describe, but see Medlin and Huon’s book French Service Handguns, 1858-2004 for full details. MAC produced the 1935S pistol until 1956, with a total production run of 50,087.

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MAC 1935S

One other manufacturer produced the 1935S pistol--the Societe d’Applications Generales d’Electricite et de la Mecanique (SAGEM) made 10,000 guns between 1945 and 1953 with a black enamel finish. The barrels for these guns were subcontracted to the Manufacture d’Armes de Paris

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(MAP), whose barrels are stamped with MAP in a small rectangle beneath the chamber. The guns are marked SAGEM in an oval on the left side of the slide and again on the right side of the right side of the frame above the trigger guard.
The gun saw military use primarily in the French Indochina War, though it was also widely used by French police. Total production, by all the various companies, was approximately 82,773.
The French 1935S pistol, like the 1935A and many other pistols of the 20th century, is a modified Browning design, strongly influenced by the Colt 1911. There is no barrel bushing at the front of the weapon, such as on the Colt. The guide rod and recoil spring are made as a unit, as is the hammer and sear assembly. The trigger pivots, and the connector runs on the left side of the gun, unlike the Colt and M1935A, which use a stirrup-shaped connector. The barrel has a Browning-style swinging link, but instead of the usual locking lugs on the barrel, the chamber has a sharp shoulder on its top front which engages a shallow cut in the roof of the slide. This locking method was later widely copied by SIG-Sauer, Glock, and Kel-Tec, among others.

MAC 1935S Components

The barrel is held in place by a pin integral with the slide stop, almost identical to the Colt. The gun has a loaded chamber indicator on top of the slide and can be seen and felt when there is a cartridge in the chamber. The non-adjustable front and rear sights are integral with the slide.
To fieldstrip the Model 1935S:

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  1. Remove the magazine and make sure the chamber is empty.
  2. Lock the slide back and press in on the end of the slide lock on the right side of the gun.
  3. Remove the slide lock from the left side of the gun.
  4. Draw the slide and barrel off the frame.
  5. Remove the spring and guide rod assembly and then the barrel from the slide.
The 7.65 MAS (.32 French Long) Cartridge:
The cartridge is variously known as the 7.65mm Long, 7.65mm French Long, 7.65mm MAS, 7.65x20, .30 Pedersen Long, .30-18, .30 Browning Automatic Rifle, and the 7.65L Pistolet-Mitrailleur Model 1938.
The only explanation I have ever read as to why the French military adopted this cartridge is, I believe, incorrect: they wanted it to shoot the same ammunition as their MAS-38 submachine gun. True, the French military wanted a pistol and submachine gun that shot the same cartridge, but the MAS-38 submachine gun was developed in parallel with the SACM 1935A and the MAS 1935S pistols, and the specification for the cartridge to be used by both was made well before either the pistol or the submachine gun were designed.

Left: 8mm French Ordnance Revolver
Center: 7.65mm French Long
Right: 7.65mm Browning (.32 ACP)

The cartridge was, apparently, specially designed by Remington U.M.C. during World War I for use in the Pedersen Device, which was a mechanism for converting the 1903 Springfield bolt action rifle into a semi-automatic weapon. Remington designated the cartridge the “U.S. Pistol Cal. 30 Model 1918,” or .30-18 Automatic. It is a true rimless cartridge, unlike the .32 ACP which is semi-rimmed. John Browning later designed an experimental carbine to shoot this cartridge. The French military encountered the cartridge when they were allowed to preview the Pedersen Device in 1917, and again when they tested Browning’s experimental carbine in 1920. Maybe the French were impressed with the cartridge, even though they didn’t buy Browning’s carbine. Most American military planners thought the cartridge was too puny to be of much value, and eventually most of the Pederson Devices (which had been manufactured just in time for the end of The Great War) were destroyed.
The brass for the .32 long cartridge is about 2mm longer than the .32 ACP (7.65mm Browning), and the bevel of the head groove is longer. The bullet weighs 88 grains. Medlin and Huon give the case length at 0.78 inches, and the overall cartridge length at 1.19 inches. Most references state that the .32 Long developed a muzzle velocity of about 1100 feet per second, whereas virtually every source on the Pedersen Device states that the .30-18 cartridge developed 1300 fps, but this was from a rifle barrel. White & Munhall give the muzzle velocity of the .30-18 cartridge in an M1935A as 1114 fps, and that of the 7.65mm French Long at 1175 fps.

Cartridge

Bullet Weight

Muzzle Velocity

Muzzle Energy

7.62mm Tokarev

85 grains

1647 feet/sec.

511 foot-pounds

8mm French Ordnance

8mm Lebel

120 grains

716 feet/sec

137 foot-pounds

7.65mm French Long

.32 French Long

88 grains

1175 feet/sec.

270 foot-pounds

7.65mm Browning

.32 ACP

73 grains

1043 feet/sec

177 foot-pounds

9mm Browning Short

.380 ACP

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92 grains

955 feet/sec

187 foot-pounds

9mm Parabellum

115 grains

1280 feet/sec

420 foot-pounds

All figures are from the current (2009) Sellier & Bellot website, except for the 8mm French Ordnance and 7.65mm French Long, which are calculated from data found in White and Munhall’s book Pistol and Revolver Cartridges. The 8mm data is for a black powder load.
Interestingly, Ian Hogg is of the opinion that the French Long was not derived from the cartridge for the Pedersen Device. “It seems more likely that it was a French arsenal draughtsman’s attempt to provide a 7.65mm cartridge as powerful as possible and different to that of anyone else.” However, I feel the near identical characteristics of the two cartridges cannot be ignored.
Another consideration in the choice of the 7.65mm long round may have been that the 8mm French Ordnance revolver cartridge had been in use by the French military since 1887 and was considered an adequate military round. The primary reason the Model 1892 French service revolver was replaced was that it was regarded as inadequate by comparison with self-loading pistols which held more rounds and could be fired and reloaded much more quickly.
Only four production guns were ever chambered for the .32 Long (if we discount the Pedersen Device, which never saw use ): the MAS Model 38 submachine gun, the French Model 1935A service pistol, the French Model 1935S service pistol, and the MAB Model R (which is very scarce). FN produced a “Browning Model 1936” in .32 long, an adaptation of the Hi -Power, which is shown in Huon’s book, but no more than a few prototypes were ever manufactured since it was not chosen for production by the French Military.