Today’s book we have courtesy of Luc (thanks, Luc!) – French Military Weapons 1717-1938, by Major James Hicks. Originally written in 1938, it was reprinted by Flayderman’s in 1964. It’s tough to find today, but offers one of the few comprehensive overviews of French military arms from bayonets to field artillery.
As I mention in the video, this is a good one to keep an eye out for at gun shows, where you might find it for just a few bucks. But if you want it right now, there is always Amazon:
The Hotchkiss Universal was a closed-bolt submachine gun submitted to French military trials in the late 1940s to replace the MAS-38. The French were looking for a compact SMG in 9mm Parabellum, and tested guns […]
Get your “Only Dropped Once” shirt here, and do your part to push back against the stereotype of the French soldier! The French military had investigated the possibility of a Lebel carbine in the 1880s, […]
Allied troops occupied the Mauser factory complex in Oberndorf in April of 1945, right at the end of the war. The factory was put under French administration and by May that same year production lines […]
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Great book. One volume I often borrowed until I found a copy.
Love the line drawings. Much better than pictures for identification.
Is that SolidWorks open on the computer behind you?
No, just a photo of an interesting French rifle. 🙂
Look a photo of the prototype MAS 62 in 7.62 NATO
I’ve got an other book about French assault rifles, very interesting: “Les fusils d’assaut français de 1916 à nos jours” by Huon Jean.
Jean Huon is an excellent and prolific author on weapons, and has a great article in the current Small Arms Review (which came in this week’s post). The subject of the article is early French semi-auto rifle designs, and there were quite a few before the M1917/1918 that was issued. The rest of the issue’s full of great stuff, too.