World War II Database

Country of Origin	France
Type	Handgun
Caliber	7.650 mm
Capacity	8 rounds
Length	188.000 mm
Barrel Length	106.000 mm
Weight	0.770 kg
Muzzle Velocity	340 m/s

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe MAS M1935S semi-automatic handgun design, by Swiss designer Charles Petter of Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Saint-Étienne (MAS), lost the French military competition of 1935-1937 to its related but distinctly different MAS M1935A design, but in 1938 a contract was signed to quickly increase the quantity of French weapons. The first delivery was made in early 1939, but by the time the Germans captured the MAS plant in 1940, only 1,404 examples were built. The Germans chose not to continue the production of this design. Production resumed after the return of French sovereignty, increasing the total number of M1935S haundguns produced to 6,686. Licenses were sold to Manufacture Française d'Armes et Cycles de Saint Étienne (M-F), which built about 10,000 examples between 1944 and 1945; Societe d'Applications Generales d'Electricite et de la Mecanique (SAGEM), which built about 10,000 examples between 1945 and 1953; and Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Chatellerault (MAC), which built 56,087 examples between 1946 and 1956.

Sources:
Ian Hogg, The Encyclopedia of Infantry Weapons of World War II
Wikipedia ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Jul 2014

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