We have lots of exciting content coming for you in 2017, including at least two international trips, thanks to support from the fine folks on Patreon! I will be visiting the Pattern Room collection, and also making an exploratory trip to France. I don’t know what material that will result in right now, but I hope it will lay the foundation for future visits to see some really cool guns.
I will also be filming again at the Cody Firearms Museum this year, plus multiple series of videos form both the Rock Island and James D. Julia auction houses. I have some filming planned in Canada as well, and visits to a couple amazing private collections here in the US that I have not previously explored.
Subscribe and hang on for another great year of Forgotten Weapons!
Oh, and don’t forget your cool Forgotten Weapons merch!
Hey Ian,
Looking forward to what you have for us in 2017. One thing I haven’t seen lately, and that I really enjoy watching, is you and your buddy completing in those two gun matches. Watching some of those old guns in actual use doing a competition, to me at least, is great fun. It is very interesting to me to see what those in our past had to cope with when using those weapons in warfare. I expect with your travel you are missing a lot of those, but I really get a charge out of those videos.
Take care and God bless.
Most of the 2-Gun match video is now on the InRangeTV channel: http://youtube.com/inrangetvshow
Making multiple *separate* trips to Europe seems like such a huge waste of money, compared to making a single overseas trip and hitting all those museums in one single –albeit lengthy– tour.
Maybe that’s the downside of being successful and staying busy all the time, such as with having scheduled visits at various auction houses all throughout the year that leaves no open stretches of time available on the calendar for making a thorough pan-European tour.
Hi,
As a frenchman, I want to thank you for what you have done for promoting knowledge of French Firearms through your videos and articles!
I enjoy all your presentations of different firearms, both history/mechanics/shooting, from the whole world.
I wish you, and all your kin / friends (and also readers/watchers), a happy New Year.
Jeb
1) Hope you will be able to shoot your RSC soon.
2) Is it a “chasseur alpin beret” on your head and a MAC 50 (behind you) ?
“As a frenchman”
Would you name any French weapons, which wasn’t described here – https://www.forgottenweapons.com/tag/france/ – but you think should be.
I think MAB PA-15 is worth of describing
http://modernfirearms.net/handguns/hg/fr/mab-pa-15-e.html
Now I opened Zhuk’s book and found 2 potentially interesting French automatic pistols, see 49-10 and 49-11 here:
http://www.earmi.it/armi/atlas/271.htm
At first glance looks typically but after examination, you can see that they have cartridge in magazines indicator.
Zhuk’s book give following info:
Names:
MAS, 1925, model No 1
MAS, 1932, type A No 4
[BTW: note that 2nd has text SE MAS rather than MAS on slide]
Caliber: 7,65 (for both)
Capacity: 10 (for both)
Principle of operation: blow-back
Hammer: external
Has anybody more info or photos of one of said automatic pistols?
All I know is the “SE-MAS” means “prototype of the MAS”.
Maybe the predecessor of the M1935 S in 7.65mm long ?
The MAS 35 “S” lost against the SACM 35 “B” in the middle of the 1930s.
Despite this, it was produced in numbers for the army after 1944.
Regards
Link I provide says about 7,65 Long cartridge, but my edition of Zhuk’s book simply state 7,65 which probably mean 7,65mm Browning that is .32 Auto (in MAS 35 entry Zhuk use name 7,65 мм Д [standing for Russian world for long]
You can see photo of SEMAS 1932 here:
http://www.encyklopediezbrani.cz/encyklopedie_zbrani_pistole_francie.html
If I am not mistaken it is said it was unsuccessfully offered for French Army. It also point cartridge counter, but not provide any further details.
Thanks – and yes, those both are. 🙂
Hi Ian, and happy new year!
If you come visiting in France, the museum of the Invalides, aka Musée de l’Armée, is unmissable. But you might probably want to get in touch with the Musée d’Art et d’Industrie of Saint-Etienne. I believe this is were they keep (in storage) all regulation, prototypes and trials guns ever used in the French military. I’ve read that there also is a nice firearm museum in Tulle. But I guess you probably already know all of these.
Yep, I am definitely visiting Les Invalides, and working on finding a connection to see the collection at St Etienne.
There are very few french weapons Mr McCollum have not described.
I even learnt a lot with him about weapons of my own country.
The PA 15 (or MAB P15) is a good idea, even if it was more used by civilians than by the military.
If you still want some curiosities:
1) MAS 36 CR 39
http://armesfrancaises.free.fr/FR%20MAS%2036%20CR%2039.html
Used in the last months of WW2, during the battle of the Alps, and much more during Indochina
One guy on youtube has one in his collection in the US.
2)Lebel M27
http://armesfrancaises.free.fr/FR%20Mle%201886%20M93%20M27.html
Numerous prototypes (2’500 ???) of Lebel 1886 convertion to 7,5mm with a Mauser style mag
If I remember well, the owner of C&Rsenal blog and channel has one.
3) Daudeteau 1896 model B in various caliber (not the Mauser-Dovitis in 6.5mm Daudeteau!)
http://armesfrancaises.free.fr/FR%20Daudeteau%20cal%208%20mm.html
The only french bolt action rifle with a safety.
Produced later by Manufrance as hunting rifle (in 6.5mm Daudeteau, 8mm Rival, 8mm Lebel, .303 British, .405 Winchester CF)
A few guys on Gunboards have daudeteau hunting rifle in the US.
4)MAC 50 pistol
http://armesfrancaises.free.fr/PA%20MAC50.html
A pistol with a long service life : from Indochina (1950s) to Afghanistan (2000s).
And others.
Happy new year.
Jeb
“The PA 15 (or MAB P15) is a good idea, even if it was more used by civilians than by the military.”
I don’t consider user here: I think it is worth nothing at is delayed-blowback automatic pistol (so far I know rare solution in 1960s European automatic pistols) and having 15-round magazine (so far I know that is high capacity by 1960s European standards)
“Lebel 1886 convertion to 7,5mm with a Mauser style mag”
Would that make economic sense? New French cartridge has smaller diameter (7,5 mm) that older (8 mm) so it anyway it needs new barrel anyway. Wouldn’t making new rifle from scratch more sense?
Yes: it was a dead end. to costly.
The Lebel M27 was dropped for the Berthier M34: a conversion of the 3 shots Berthier 07-15 Long rifle into a 7.5mm short rifle (with a new barrel and mauser style mag).
After being produced up to 65’000 pièces, the M34 was dropped for the MAS36 because “making new rifle from scratch (makes)more sense”.
Regards
I now have a MAC 1950 and an M27 Lebel in my collection – I don’t have a Daudetau rifle or a CR39, though.
Ian- You might want to contact Cowans Auctions in Cincinnati about filming some of their items. They get some great collections there, albeit a bit lower in profile than the other places. Their firearms expert Jack Lewis is very well informed, especially on U.S. martial arms.
It is good to keep channel of communication open; this is boost to mutual confidence and optimistic lookout. I plan to offer small donation early in winter on your address as I did in past.
If making trip to Canada, I’d suggest to you to visit of course War museum in Ottawa (which is nice town on its own merit) and also museum which is attached to CFB Camp Borden. Part of tanks and artillery, there was when I was visiting there years ago also small arms collection.
Wishing you and all readers all the best in New year!
Beside civilian stuff (old muskeetry, 19th c. hunting rifles/shotguns, pocket revolver, etc…), there would be opportunities for off-topic episodes as displayed on InrangeTV, visiting historical spots and having contact with various reenactment groups.
For general interest, Musée des Invalide in Paris have a lot of displayed item and require time to be explored/
Even if you guys are apparently less into vehicle, a museum in Saumur is worth to see :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_des_Blind%C3%A9s
Sounds like a great year coming up. One of the few bright spots in an otherwise very succulent 2016 was this and InRange.
Glad we could be a high point. 🙂
Any videos on the apparently substantial funny hat collection?
When you say Pattern Room is that the one in the UK? If so that will be a fascinating series of films.
Yes – it’s actually the National Firearms Centre, but most people are more familiar with the Pattern Room name.
A suggestion for a post, sometime: a list of the reference books you find most useful for firearms history, and their strong and weak points.
Apparently the museum in Tulle has a collection of mat 49″s going through prototypes riht up to to prudution models
I remember when you could buy mat 49 frame flats for 50 francs at gunshoWs over here
I wonder if there are enough people within striking distance of Leeds to justify a Forgotten Weapons get-together when you visit, Ian?
Ian,
did you get any time at the NFC to look at the “cadet rifles” that were trialed
for a manually operated .223″. The hand cocking SA80 was eventually chosen but
very little has been written on them. One of the contestants that is in pressed
steel was built from drawing to completion in 18 days by someone that you know