MAS-38 (MAS Mle 1938) submachine gun (France)

MAS-38 (MAS Mle 1938) submachine gun (France)

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MAS-38 submachine gun, left side
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MAS-38 submachine gun, right side

Caliber	7,65x20mm Longue
Weight	2,83 kg empty
Length	635 mm
Barrel length	222 mm
Rate of fire	600 rounds per minute
Magazine capacity	32 rounds
Effective range	50-100 meters

The MAS-38 (MAS Mle 1938) submachine gun was developed by French state arsenal in St.Etienn (Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Etienne or MAS in short). Development of a new submachine gun for French army commenced at several state armories during early 1930s; in about 1935 MAS produced a prototype weapon known as SE-MAS 1935, which by 1938 evolved into MAS-38. It was officially adopted by French government in 1938 and production started in 1939, but only few were in service when Germany took over France in 1940. MAS-38 saw limited use during the World War 2, and soon after the war it was replaced in military service with more powerful MAT-49 submachine gun, although few MAS-38 saw the action i the early stages of the Indochina war. In police service, on the other hand, MAS-38 survived during at least for two more decades.
Generally speaking, MAS-38 was quite good weapon, reliable and rather accurate and controllable; its only problem was underpowered 7,65x20 Long ammunition, which greatly limited is effective range.
MAS-38 submachine gun was blowback operated, full automatic only weapon that fired from open bolt. The most unusual thing about MAS-38 was that bolt rode at a slight downward angle to the axis of the bore; in theory, this was done to reduce recoil and slow down the movement of the bolt by additional friction. The bolt reciprocated inside the long tube, that run through the wooden buttstock. The cocking handle was located on the right side of the gun and had a dustcover attached to it. Once gun was cocked, the cocking handle remained in retracted position and not reciprocated when gun was fired. Additional dustcover was fitted to the front of the magazine housing, and closed magazine aperture when magazine was removed. The manual safety was made in the form of folding trigger; to render the gun safe operator had to fold the trigger forward. Standard sights consisted of front blade and two folding rear blades.

MAT Modele 1949 / MAT-49 submachine gun (France)

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MAT-49 submachine gun, right side. Shoulder stock is retracted, ejection window dustcover is closed.
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MAT-49 submachine gun, left side
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MAT-49 submachine gun, with shoulder stock retracted, magazine removed and magazine housing folded forward for compact storage or transportation
Caliber: 9x19mm Luger/Parabellum
Weight: 3.6 kg w/o magazine
Length (stock closed/open): 404 / 660 mm
Barrel length: 230 mm
Rate of fire: 600 rounds per minute
Magazine capacity: 20 and 32 rounds
Effective range: 100 meters
MAT-49 submachine gun was developed at the French state arms factory MAT (Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Tulle) in the late 1940s, and was adopted by the Armee de Terre (French Army) in 1949. First batches were delivered in 1950, and production of the MAT-49 continued at Tulle until mid-1960s, when it was transferred to the MAS factory at the St.Etienne. Production was ceased in about 1979, when French army officially adopted the FAMAS assault rifle. For some 30 years the MAT-49 was widely used by French military and police forces, and it was brought through the Indo-China and Algeria campaigns, and it still could be encountered in ex-French colonies in Africa and Indo-China. It should be noted that North Vietnamese once produced local copy of the MAT-49, chambered for 7.62mm TT round. MAT-49 is no longer used by French army, but still can be sometimes seen in the hands of the Police and Gendarmerie officers. For police use, MAT also produced a specialized version, known as MAT-49/54. This was fitted with longer barrel and with selective fire mechanism with dual triggers.
MAT-49 is a blowback operated, box magazine fed submachine gun which fires from open bolt. Most parts of the gun, including the receiver, pistol grip and a magazine housing, are stamped from sheet steel. Magazine housing can be folded forward and below the barrel when gun is not in use, to save space. Buttstock is made of steel wire and is retractable. MAT-49 is equipped with automated grip safety, located at the back of the pistol grip. Bolt retracting handle is located on the left side of the receiver; its slot is covered with sliding dustcover. Ejection window on the right side also is fitted with spring-loaded dustcover which opens up automatically when bolt is cocked. Army issue MAT-49 submachine guns can only fire in full automatic mode, but some batches were made for Gendarmerie and Police with dual triggers, and those guns were capable of both full-auto and single shots. Police guns also sometimes were made with longer barrels and non-retractable wooden stocks. Rear sights are of flip-up type, "L"-shaped and marked for 50 and 100 meters distance.

Hotchkiss "type Universal" submachine gun (France)

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Hotchkiss "type Universal" submachine gun in ready-to-use configuration
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Hotchkiss "type Universal" submachine gun in collapsed configuration (note that the size of package can be further decreased by telescoping the barrel back into receiver by about 1/2 of its length)

Caliber	9x19mm Luger / Parabellum
Weight	3,43 kg empty
Length (stock closed/open)	540 / 776 mm (440 mm when completely "folded")
Barrel length	273 mm
Rate of fire	650 rounds per minute
Magazine capacity	32 rounds
Effective range	150-200 meters

Hotchkiss "type Universal" submachine gun is one of most unusual weapons that appeared during early post-WW2 period. It was announced by once famous French arms-making company Societe des Armes a Feu Portatives Hotchkiss et Cie in 1949, and was produced until about 1952. The idea behind this gun was to made it as compact as possible when carrying or storing; the intended market for such weapon could be either paratroopers or people engaged in all sorts of clandestine operations. As a result of development, the "type Universal" submachine gun was able to be folded into a rather small package, only 440mm long when completely "collapsed". On the minus side, resulting weapon was overly complicated and expensive to make. It had many parts and probably was not reliably enough for any serious use. Small number of Hotchkiss "Universal" submachine guns saw action during earlier stages of war in the Indochina; few were purchased by Venezuela during early 1950s, but there were no more buyers and production of this gun has stopped.
It is also possible that it was the Hotchkiss "Universal" submachine gun that inspired Eugene Stoner when he devised his Ares Folding Machine Gun.
Except for its ability to fold down into a small package, Hotchkiss "type Universal" submachine gun is rather conventional weapon, using simple blowback action. It fires from open bolt, and capable of selective fire (fire mode selector is made in the form of cross-bolt button above pistol grip). The cocking handle has a sliding dustcover on its slot, and does not move when gun is fired. The sights consist of hooded front and flip-type aperture rear, marked for 50 and 100 meters.
The buttstock and pistol grip are made from sheet steel. When gun need to be collapsed, the pistol grip is pivoted forward to cover trigger guard, and magazine housing is folded forward to lie below the barrel. The buttstock then folds down and forward, and locks to the outer walls of magazine housing. If gun has to be further collapsed, operator shall depress a special latch that is located at the front of receiver, below the barrel. barrel then can be pushed backwards and into the receiver. It must be noted that it took more than few seconds to bring gun back to action from "fully collapsed" state.

MGD / ERMA PM-9 submachine gun (France)

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7,65mm MGD submachine gun (possibly prototype) with fixed wooden stock
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9mm MGD PM-9 submachine gun in ready position, right side
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9mm MGD PM-9 submachine gun in ready position, left side
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9mm MGD PM-9 submachine gun in folded position
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Close-up view on receiver of MGD PM-9, with rotating charging handle and folding magazine housing
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Author demonstrates the compact size of MGD PM-9 submachine gun in folded configuration
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Drawing from original US patent, issued for design of the MGD submachine gun

Caliber	9x19mm Luger / Parabellum
Weight	2,53 kg empty
Length (stock closed/open)	359 / 659 mm
Barrel length	213 mm
Rate of fire	750 rounds per minute
Magazine capacity	32 rounds
Effective range	100 meters

The MGD PM-9 submachine gun was developed during late 1940s and early 1950s by frenchman Louis Debuit, who at the time worked for French company Etablissements Merlin & Gerin in Grenoble. The idea behind this unusual and little-known weapon was to provide a compact and easily concealable weapon with low felt recoil. Apparently, the MGD name comes from names of the company (Merlin & Gerin) and name of designer (Debuit). Early prototypes were made in French 7,62x20 Long caliber, but later development switched to 9x19mm caliber weapons. M & G built undisclosed numbers (probably several thousands) of MGD PM-9 submachine guns in several modifications, including versions with fixed or folding stocks, and with standard (short) or quite long (rifle) barrels, all between 1954 and 1955. In about 1956, German arms company Erma Werke tried to produce 9mm MGD PM-9 submachine gun under license from Merlin & Gerin. According to available sources, Erma produced about 10 prototypes of MGD, and then switched to other designs, which were less complicated to make and thus less expensive. Actually, what killed this interesting weapon was it expensive construction, which required a lot of milling and other labor-extensive metal processing. It is not known if these weapons were ever issued to any military or police service, or participated in any military conflicts.
Author was able to examine one of MGD PM-9 submachine guns, and it was surprisingly devoid of any markings, and its history was unknown.
MGD PM-9 submachine gun is deleayed blowback operated weapon which fired selectively in single shots or full automatic mode, from open bolt. The most unusual design solution was very light and compact bolt (breechblock), with additional mass provided by rotating flywheel located in the circular extension on the right side of the receiver. The flywheel was connected to the clockwork-type spring, and had a projection on one side, which entered the vertical cam track, cut in the rear extension of the bolt. To cock the gun, shooter has to rotate flywheel for about 180^o counterclockwise (looking from right side of the gun) through the handle which is located on the right side of the gun. Once wlywheel is fully rotated back, it is locked there by the sear. This cocking movement also pulls the bolt back. Upon firing, the pull on the trigger releases the flywheel, and its spring rotates flywheel clockwise, thus pushing the bolt forward, to load the fresh cartridge from magazine and then fire it once the cartridge is fully seated in the chamber. Upon discharge, the rearward movement of the bolt is delayed by inertia of the flywheel, the force and the spring, combined with the leverage, provided by the position of the pin on the flywheel relative to the axis of the flywheel.
Other features of MGD included a folding magazine housing (which received widely available MP38 / MP40 magazines of German origin), and a side-folding stock, made from thick steel wire. The sights were of simple fixed variety, set for 100 meters range.