Etapas de la ejecución del estudio de trabajo

The French government factories with an interest in the production of handguns have included Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Saint Etienne (MAS); Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Chatellerault (MAC); and Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Tulle (MAT). In addition, pistols were made for the pre-1945 governments by Societe Alsacienne de Constructions Mecaniques (SACM) of Cholet in Alsace.

Until the 1870s, the French armed forces purchased revolvers from commercial sources. With the arrival of smokeless powder and the small-calibre jacketed bullet, it was decided to bring handguns into the state manufacturing system where—

with a few aberrations—they have remained ever since.

Franchi: ·38 RF-83.

Freedom Arms: ·22 Boot Gun.

French State Factories: 8mm Model 1892 ('Lebel').

The first attempts to improve the Mle 1873 and Mle 1874 service revolvers led to an experimental 1885-vintage 11mm solid-frame six-shot revolver with a loading gate and an ejector rod. By 1888 this had been modified for an 8mm smokeless cartridge, about a thousand guns being made as 'Mle 1887'. Trials revealed that the weapon was not entirely satisfactory, and it was refined by Saint-Etienne staff to produce the Mle 1892.

Modele 1892: This weapon, also known as the Modele d'Ordonnance or 8mm Lebel, was a solid frame six-shot revolver with side-swinging cylinder opening to the right and collective ejection by a hand lever. Access to the double-action lock was facilitated by opening the left side of the frame, which is suitably hinged at the front. What appears to be a loading gate on the right side of the frame is the release lever for the cylinder-locking system; retracting it to open the cylinder also immobilises the hammer.

An extremely rare variant is the 'Mle 92 a Pompe', with a different locking system. Its cylinder was retained by a spring catch controlled by a thick sleeve surrounding the ejector rod beneath the barrel. Pulling the sleeve forward released the cylinder; pushing it back then ejected spent cases.

The Mle 92 was soundly designed and well made, remaining in military service until the Second World War and in police hands until the late 1950s. Its principal defect was the low-powered cartridge; a 120-grain 8mm bullet moving at 720 ft/sec had much too little hitting power for combat purposes.

Modele d'Ordonnance 1892: Maker: Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Saint-Etienne. Type: solid-frame revolver. Calibre: 8mm. Length overall: 9·37in/238mm. Weight, unladen: 29·6oz/840gm. Barrel. 4·50in/114mm, rifled. Magazine: six-chamber cylinder.

MAS-35: Experience in the First World War persuaded the French army to begin work on an automatic pistol, albeit on a low priority. Government technicians and various manufacturers were canvassed until a gun promoted by Societe Alsacienne de Constructions Mecaniques (SACM) was selected for service as the Modele 1935.

The design was due to Charles Petter, a Swiss who had worked briefly with SACM; his patent of 1934 was little more than a variation on the Browning swinging link system, the most important feature being the construction of the firing lock in a separate, removable unit. The well-made pistol was excellent, with a well-shaped butt and a reliable action.

The safety catch was criticised, as it was a simple half-round shaft at the end of the slide which rotated to prevent the hammer striking the firing pin.

The biggest problem, however, lay in the cartridge; like the Mle 1892 revolver, the Mle 1935 pistol was handicapped by the useless 7·65mm Longue. The 87-grain bullet was propelled at 1,100 ft/sec, an improvement on the revolver but still poor by military standards.

In 1938, with war looming, Saint-Etienne redesigned the Mle 1935 to facilitate mass-production; the basic mechanical features were retained, but the lines became more angular and the components were finished to a lower standard. The original Browning-derived ribs on the barrel, locking into grooves in the slide, were replaced by a simple lug on the barrel locking into a single recess in the slide, and various short cuts were taken in the lockwork.

To distinguish between the two pistols, the original SACM design became the Mle 1935A while the utility model became the Mle 1935S. War began almost before production had begun; it has been claimed that work continued under German supervision, but only the Mle 1935A has been seen with German acceptance markings and official German inventories do not mention the Mle 1935S at all.

Modele 1935A: Maker: Societe Alsacienne de Constructions Mecaniques, Cholet. Type: automatic pistol (recoil operated). Chambering:

7·65mm Longue. Length overall: 7·60in/193mm. Weight, unladen: 26·1oz/740gm. Barrel: 4·33in/110mm, rifled. Magazine: eight-round detachable box.

Mode1e1935S: Maker: Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Etienne (see text). Type: automatic pistol (recoil operated). Chambering: 7·65mm Longue. Length overall: 7·40in/188mm. Weight, unladen: 27·9oz/790gm. Barrel: 4·13in/105mm, rifled. Magazine: eight-round

detachable box.

MAS-1950: The French army once again asked for a pistol after the Second World War had ended, the principal demand being a respectable calibre. Saint-Etienne took the obvious steps and redesigned the Mle 1935 to take the 9mm Parabellum cartridge, lengthening the grip to take a nine-round magazine. The Mle 1950 was made at Chatellerault and Saint-Etienne; the initials of the factory (MAC and MAS respectively) will be found on the right side of the slide.

Modele 1950: Maker: government factories in Saint Etienne and Chatellerault. Type: automatic pistol (recoil operated).

Chambering: 9mm Parabellum. Length overall: 7·68in/195mm.

Weight, unladen: 30·3oz/860gm. Barrel: 4·41in/112mm, rifled.

Magazine: nine-round detachable box.

PA-MAS 9mm G-1: Manufacture of the Mle 1950 ended by 1960, by which time the army had sufficient stock for the foreseeable future.

Subsequent demands were met by purchasing the PA-15 from Manufacture d'Armes de Bayonne (q.v.), until the company failed in 1988. When the armed forces decided they needed more pistols at the end of the 1980s, there was simply no manufacturer in France to

comply. Competitive trials led to selection of the Beretta 92F. Initially, pistols were simply purchased from Beretta for the Gendarmerie Nationale; however, in 1990, licensed production began at Saint-Etienne for the gendarmerie and the French navy. It was anticipated that the Army would be granted funds to allow it to procure the pistol in 1991.

French State Factories:

7·65mm Model 1935.A (SACM-Petter).

French State Factories: 9mm

MAS-1950.

FROMMER (HUNGARY)

The pistols designed by Rudolf Frommer were made by Fegyver es

Gepgyar Reszvenytarsasag ('FGGY') of Budapest prior to 1919, and then by a successor Femaru Fegyver es Gepgyar RT (1919-47). Frommer was born in 1868, joining FGGY in 1896 after qualifying as an engineer. He became

factory manager in 1900, remaining so until retirement in 1935; he died in the following year.

He was a first-class engineer with an original mind, and the pistols bearing his name were successful enough to see widespread use. Some were unnecessarily complicated, but their durability is implicit in their long employment by military and police in central Europe. Frommer was a contemporary of two other eminent Austro-Hungarian firearms designers, Georg Roth and Karel Krnka, and a certain amount of cross-fertilisation undoubtedly took place. Certainly, the enthusiasm of Frommer and Krnka for long recoil operation argues some degree of co-operative effort, though the precise connection is by now lost.

Model 1901: This, the first Frommer design, appeared in 1903 but achieved small success. It was entered for various military trials without success and was soon abandoned. The long thin barrel protrudes from a combined frame and receiver. A lengthy barrel jacket, forming part of the receiver, supports

the barrel during recoil. The true barrel protrudes only about an inch at the muzzle. The pistol was chambered for the

8mm Roth cartridge, which later became the 8mm Roth-Steyr. A rotating bolt-lock was employed, controlled by long recoil, and an external hammer was fitted. The ten-round magazine, charger-loaded through the top of the open action, was integral with the butt.

Frommer M1901: Maker: Femaru Fegyver es Gepgyar. Type: automatic pistol (recoil operated). Calibre: 8mm. Length overall:

7·09in/180mm. Weight, unladen: 22·9oz/650gm. Barrel: 3·94in/100mm, rifled. Magazine: ten-round charger-loaded internal box Model 1906: A transitional form of the M1901, this incorporated changes to simplify the action and improve reliability. Long recoil operation was

retained, but the gun chambered the 7·65mm Roth cartridge (alias 'Roth-Frommer' or 'Roth-Sauer'). The magazine on the earliest examples was the integral 1901 pattern, but this was soon changed to a conventional removable box inserted in the butt from below; this magazine resembled that of the Parabellum, with large wooden finger grips at the bottom and a stiffening groove in the side.

Model 1910: A final expression of the 1901-vintage design, this was an improvement of the M1906 with a new grip safety in the back strap of the butt. Although production of the 1906 and 1910 Frommers lasted until the beginning of the First World War, few were made; neither model is common today.

Frommer M1910: Maker. Femaru Fegyver es Gepgyar, Budapest. Type: automatic pistol (recoil operated). Chambering: 7·65mm Auto.

Length overall: 7·32in/186mm. Weight, unladen: 22·4oz/635gm. Barrel: 3·94in/100mm, rifled. Magazine: eight-round detachable box.

'Stop' Model: This design appeared in 1912 and was adopted by the Honved, the Hungarian second-line element of the Austro-Hungarian Army; it subsequently became the official service pistol of the independent post-1919 Hungarian army and remained in military and police hands until 1945, though theoretically replaced by later models.

The Frommer Stop was a fresh approach to long recoil operation, the vital feature being a double spring system lying in a tunnel above the barrel. One spring controls the movement of the bolt, while its companion absorbs the barrel recoil and returns the barrel to the firing position. This two-spring system is implicit in any long recoil mechanism where barrel and bolt move independently; the springs surrounded the barrel and bolt in the 1901 Frommer design, but placing them in the 1910-type tunnel (though complicating maintenance) made the gun much more compact.

At the instant of firing, the Stop is locked by a rotating head on the two-piece bolt. An inertia firing pin is struck by an external hammer, and the only safety device is a grip

lever. Barrel and bolt then recoil for about an inch to unlock the bolt. The bolt is then held while the barrel runs back, stripping out and ejecting the empty case as it does so. The bolt is then released to run forward, chamber the fresh round, and rotate its head to lock the breech.

Original service pistols all chambered the 7·65mm Auto cartridge and always bear an official acceptance mark on the left front side of the trigger guard: 'Bp' (for Budapest), followed by the Austro-Hungarian or Hungarian arms and the last two figures of the year of manufacture. The pistol was also offered commercially in 9mm Short after 1919, but these lack official markings. The Frommer Stop remained in production until about 1930, and is still relatively common in Central Europe. A variant marked 'M1939' was reportedly made for special export order.

Frommer 'Stop': Maker: Femaru Fegyver es Gepgyar, Budapest. Type: automatic pistol (recoil operated). Chambering: 7·65mm Auto.

Length overall: 6·50in/165mm. Weight, unladen: 21·5oz/610gm. Barrel: 3·94in/100mm, rifled. Magazine: seven-round detachable box.

Baby Model: This is no more than a smaller edition of the Stop, intended as a 7·65mm pocket pistol. It was made alongside its larger cousin from 1912 onward and, in 9mm Short, after 1919—but never in 6·35mm, as sometimes suggested.

Liliput Model: Marking Frommer's first move away from long recoil operation, this simple 6·35mm blowback was introduced in 1921. The Liliput had an external hammer and a grip safety.

The Stop design was too expensive to mass-produce, and Frommer had finally been convinced that there was no need to lock small-calibre pistols. The Liliput laid the foundation for the pistols which replaced the Stop in later years.

Frommer 'Liliput': Maker: Femaru Fegyver es Gepgyar, Budapest. Type:

automatic pistol (blowback). Chambering: 6·35mm Auto. Length overall:

4·33in/110mm. Weight, unladen: 10·6oz/300gm. Barrel: 2·17in/55mm, rifled.

Magazine: six-round detachable box.

Model 1929: Chambered for the 9mm Short cartridge, this pistol appeared in 1929 and was immediately adopted by the Hungarian army, some 50,000 being made prior to 1935. In essence it is little more than an enlarged Liliput, an external-hammer blowback with the barrel retained in the frame in Browning fashion by four lugs. It was a robust and simple weapon and, as a service pistol, a more practical proposition than perpetuating the Frommer Stop. A short-lived training version was developed for ·22 rimfire in 1933, but it failed to gain military approval.

Frommer:

7·65mm M1910.

Frommer: 7·65mm 'Stop', or Model 1912.

Frommer: 9mm M1929.

Model 29: Maker: Femaru Fegyver es Gepgyar, Budapest. Type: automatic pistol (blowback). Chambering: 9mm Short. Length overall:

6·77in/172mm. Weight, unladen: 26·5oz/750gm. Barrel: 3·94in/100mm, rifled. Magazine: seven-round detachable box.

Model 1937: Appearing a year after his death, Frommer's last design was an improved Model 1929 in 9mm Short chambering. It was adopted by the Hungarian army as the '37.M'. The principal difference between the 1937 and 1929 patterns lies in the abandonment of pinned-in cocking grips at the rear of the slide in favour of conventional grooving. The later gun also has a smaller hammer and an additional finger-rest on the toe of the butt. A Frommer-type of grip lever provided the only safety device, and production continued until 1942.

The German government negotiated a contract for 50,000 7·65mm Auto 1937-type pistols with pro-Axis Hungary in 1941. These were destined largely for the Luftwaffe. Excepting for the change of calibre, the first consignments were identical with the M1937; shortly after supply had begun, however, the Luftwaffe demanded a manual safety catch. This was added to the left rear of the frame, whereupon the slide marking was changed from the original FEMARU FEGYVER ES GEPGYAR RT 37 to P. MOD. 37 KAL 7,65 with German Waffenamt acceptance stamps.

The code 'jvh' concealed the manufacturer, in accordance with the contemporaneous German system.

Production of the Pistole 37 (u) was extended until 1944, ending after 85,000 or so had been produced. The well-made 7·65mm-calibre guns were extremely accurate and pleasant to shoot, being rather heavier than the general run of pistols in this calibre. Many are still in circulation.

Model 37: Maker: Femaru Fegyver es Gepgyar, Budapest. Type: automatic pistol (blowback). Chambering: 7·65mm Auto. Length overall: 7·17in/182mm. Weight, unladen: 27·2oz/770gm. Barrel: 4·33in/110mm, Magazine: seven-round detachable box.

FRONTIER (USA)

1: Colt made this name famous with its Model 1873 Single Action Army revolver, though exactly where and when it first acquired the name 'Frontier' is far from clear. Since then, almost every Model 1873 copy has used the name somewhere in its title.

2: The Frontier or Army revolvers were solid frame gate-loaders in ·41 Long centre-fire (Frontier) or ·44-40 Winchester (Army) chamberings, manufactured by J.B. Ronge et Fils of Liege. Both have notably thick barrels and finger-rests beneath the trigger-guard, with a 'JBR' monogram in the butt grips. The style suggests manufacture in 1875-85.

FYRBERG (USA)

Andrew Fyrberg of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, was active in the firearms business for many years. For the greater part of his career he was satisfied to license his patents to others; much of his work appears in revolvers made by Iver Johnson and Harrington & Richardson. Early in the twentieth century, however, Fyrberg decided to produce revolvers to a 1903 patent protecting an improved latch and cylinder retainer for hinged-frame revolvers.

Hinged-frame double action guns were made in ·32 and ·38 with rounded butts and ribbed barrels. Both had five-chamber cylinders, the ·32 having a three-inch barrel and the ·38 version measuring 3·25in. There is no proof that Fyrberg actually manufactured these revolvers; their appearance is so like the contemporary products of Iver Johnson, except for the prominent catch of Fyrberg's patent frame latch above the cylinder, that it seems more probable that a well-established company made them. Fyrberg probably bought the parts, added the catch, then assembled and finished the guns. The butt grips bear his 'AFCo' monogram. Work is believed to have ceased about 1912.

Fyrberg: Maker: probably Iver Johnson for A. Fyrberg & Co. (see text). Type: hinged-frame revolver. Calibre: ·32. Length overall:

6·30in/160mm. Weight, unladen: unknown. Barrel: 3·00in/76mm,rifled. Magazine: five-chamber cylinder.

G

GAC (SPAIN)

The 'GAC Firearms Mfg. Co.' was a sales ploy used by Garate, Anitua y Cia of Eibar. It was confined to a ·32-30 or ·38 copy of the S&W Military

& Police Model, where it was stamped into the barrel. Although the revolvers were only manufactured in 1930-6, a surprising number turned up in England in 1940 and were issued to the Home Guard.

GAC: Maker: Garate, Anitua y Cia, Eibar. Type: solid-frame revolver. Chambering: ·32 S&W Long. Length overall: 9·65in/245mm.

Weight, unladen: 29·1oz/825gm. Barrel: 5·04in/128mm.rifled. Magazine: six-chamber cylinder.

GABILONDO (SPAIN)'

Founded in 1904 as Gabilondos y Urresti, this company originally made cheap revolvers of Velo-Dog type. One Gabilondo brother left in 1909, whereupon the name became Gabilondo y Urresti; the Radium automatic was added to the product line shortly afterward.

Work on an Eibar-pattern automatic, marketed as the Ruby, began in 1914. Early in 1915, Gabilondo y Urresti received an open-ended contract from the French army for 10,000 Ruby pistols every month, a figure soon increased to 30,000. The partnership could not possibly meet such a demand, so work was sub-contracted to five other local makers; even this was insufficient and several companies eventually became suppliers to the French. The Ruby contracts laid the foundations of several Spanish pistol-making businesses. Although the output was supposed to be controlled by Gabilondo, and all the pistols were to be named 'Ruby', the whole business got out of hand—and anyone capable of making automatic pistols leaped aboard the bandwagon. The situation became even more chaotic when the Italian army also began ordering automatic pistols.

Gabilondo y Urresti moved to Elgoeibar, close to Eibar, shortly after the end of the First World War and became Gabilondo y Cia. Manufacture of Eibar-type pistols was largely superseded by a 1910-pattern Browning clone sold under several names. The first of a new range of Llama pistols, based on the Colt M1911, appeared in 1931 and continues to date. These well-made and reliable pistols have achieved worldwide sales.

Gabilondo y Cia re-located in Vitoria after the end of the Spanish Civil War. A fresh range of Llama designs, intended to reflect modern techniques, was introduced in the 1980s.

Bufalo: This was made by Gabilondo y Cia for sale by the Armeria Beristain y Cia of Barcelona, and bears the 'BC' monogram moulded into the grips. Beristain had patented—among other features—a grip safety and a loaded-chamber indicator for automatic pistols, the former being used in the Bufalo design.

The smallest Bufalo was a 6·35mm copy of the 1906-type Browning, marked AUTOMATICA PISTOLA ESPANA PATS 62004 Y 67577 BUFALO 6,35 ( ·25 CAL). The larger models, in 7·65mm and 9mm Short, were modifications of the Browning of 1910, with a concentric recoil spring, but had an internal hammer instead of a striker. The Beristain grip safety also differed internally from the Browning type. The marking duplicated the 6·35mm type, excepting for the calibre notation and the omission of 'Pistola'; MADE IN SPAIN was added on the right side of the

The smallest Bufalo was a 6·35mm copy of the 1906-type Browning, marked AUTOMATICA PISTOLA ESPANA PATS 62004 Y 67577 BUFALO 6,35 ( ·25 CAL). The larger models, in 7·65mm and 9mm Short, were modifications of the Browning of 1910, with a concentric recoil spring, but had an internal hammer instead of a striker. The Beristain grip safety also differed internally from the Browning type. The marking duplicated the 6·35mm type, excepting for the calibre notation and the omission of 'Pistola'; MADE IN SPAIN was added on the right side of the