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Manufacture D'armes De Saint-Étienne (MAS)
The , often abbreviated to MAS ("Saint-Étienne Weapons Factory" in English), was a French state-owned weapons manufacturer in the town of Saint-Étienne, Loire. Founded in 1764, it was merged into the French state-owned defense conglomerate GIAT Industries in 2001. History Saint-Étienne was well known as a center of sword and knife manufacturing beginning in the Middle Ages. In 1665, a Royal Arms Depot was created in Paris to store military weapons made in Saint-Étienne. The was created by royal decree in 1764 under the supervision of the General Inspector of the Royal Arms Manufacture of Charleville. 12,000 weapons were being produced each year when the French Revolution began in 1789. The city was renamed Armsville during the Revolutionary period and production increased to arm the French Revolutionary Army. Subsequently, the French Empire required a threefold increase in production to meet the needs of the Grande Armée in its conquest of Europe. By 1838, during ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Government-owned Corporation
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goods at lower prices, implement government policies, or serve remote areas where private businesses are scarce. The government typically holds full or majority ownership and oversees operations. SOEs have a distinct legal structure, with financial and developmental goals, like making services more accessible while earning profit (such as a state railway). They can be considered as government-affiliated entities designed to meet commercial and state capitalist objectives. Terminology The terminology around the term state-owned enterprise is murky. All three words in the term are challenged and subject to interpretation. First, it is debatable what the term "state" implies (e.g., it is unclear whether municipally owned corporations and ente ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Revolutionary Army
The French Revolutionary Army () was the French land force that fought the French Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1802. In the beginning, the French armies were characterised by their revolutionary fervour, their poor equipment and their great numbers. However, the French Revolutionary Army had become arguably the most powerful army in the world by the mid-1790s, as the French armies had become well-experienced and organized, enabling them to comfortably outfight their enemies. Despite experiencing early disastrous defeats, the revolutionary armies successfully expelled foreign forces from French soil and then overran many neighboring countries, establishing client republics. Leading generals included Napoleon Bonaparte, Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, André Masséna, Jean Victor Marie Moreau and Étienne Macdonald. As a general description of French military forces during this period, it should not be confused with the "revolutionary armies" (''armées révolutionnaires'') which we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grenade Launcher With Grenade Manufacture De Saint Etienne France 1760
A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade generally consists of an explosive charge ("filler"), a detonator mechanism, an internal striker to trigger the detonator, an arming safety secured by a transport safety. The user removes the transport safety before throwing, and once the grenade leaves the hand the arming safety gets released, allowing the striker to trigger a primer that ignites a fuze (sometimes called the delay element), which burns down to the detonator and explodes the main charge. Grenades work by dispersing fragments (fragmentation grenades), shockwaves (high-explosive, anti-tank and stun grenades), chemical aerosols (smoke, gas and chemical grenades) or fire (incendiary grenades). Their outer casings, generally made of a hard synthetic material or steel, are desi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assault Rifle
An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer ''Special Forces Foreign Weapons Handbook'', R.J. Scroggie, F.A. Moyer ''Special Forces Combat Firing Techniques'', Musgave, Daniel D., and Thomas B. Nelson, ''The World's Assault Rifles'', vol. II, The Goetz Company, Washington, D.C. (1967): 1 Assault rifles were first put into mass production and accepted into widespread service during World War II. The first assault rifle to see major usage was the German StG 44, a development of the earlier Maschinenkarabiner 42(H), Mkb 42.''Firearms: The Life Story of a Technology'', by Roger Pauly. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2004. pp. 145–146 [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bullpup
A bullpup firearm is one with its firing grip located in front of the Chamber (firearms), breech of the weapon, instead of behind it. This creates a weapon with a shorter overall length for a given barrel length, and one that is often lighter, more compact, concealable, and more maneuverable than a conventionally configured firearm. Where it is desirable for troops to be issued a more compact weapon, the use of a bullpup configuration allows for barrel length to be retained, thus preserving muzzle velocity, range, and ballistic effectiveness. The bullpup concept was first tested militarily in 1901 with the British Thorneycroft carbine, but it was not until the Cold War that more successful designs and improvements led to wider adoption. In 1977, the Austrian Federal Army, Austrian Army became the first military force in the world to adopt a bullpup rifle, the Steyr AUG, as a service rifle, principal combat weapon. Since then the militaries in many countries have followed suit w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FAMAS
The FAMAS ( French: ''Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne'', lit. 'Assault rifle from the Saint-Étienne Weapon Factory') is a bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured in France by MAS in 1978. It is known by French troops as ''Le Clairon'' (The Bugle) due to its distinctive shape. The FAMAS is known for its high rate of fire of around 900–1,100 rounds per minute. Beginning in 2017, the FAMAS was replaced in most frontline units in the French Army by the HK416F, and the FAMAS is expected to remain in limited service until 2028. History The first French bullpup rifles were developed between 1946 and 1950 at the AME (''Atelier Mécanique de Mulhouse'') and MAS, testing rounds such as .30 US Carbine, 7.92×33mm Kurz, 7.65×38mm (Made by ''Cartoucherie de Valence'') and some other intermediate calibres. Since France was engaged in the First Indochina War at the time, and was also the second-largest contributor to NATO, the research budgets ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MAS-49 Rifle
The MAS-49 is a French semi-automatic rifle that replaced various bolt-action rifles as the French service rifle that was produced from 1949. It was designed and manufactured by the government-owned Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne, MAS arms factory.Huon, Jean; ''Proud Promise—French Semiautomatic Rifles: 1898–1979'', Collector Grade Publications, 1995. . The formal French Army designation of the MAS-49 is ''Fusil semi-automatique 7 mm 5 M. 49'' ("semi-automatic rifle of 7.5 mm model 1949"). Overall, the MAS-49 and 49/56 rifles gained the reputation of being accurate, reliable and easy to maintain in adverse environments. All the MAS-49 and 49/56 rifles feature a rail on the left side of their receivers to accommodate a designated rifle scope. The MAS-49 and MAS-49/56 were replaced as French service rifles by the FAMAS assault rifle starting in 1979. History The MAS-49 arrived after a series of small, distinct design improvements. Today, this might be termed spira ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MAS-36 Rifle
The MAS Modèle 36 (also known as the ''Fusil à répétition 7 mm 5 M. 36'') is a military bolt-action rifle. First adopted in 1936 by France and intended to replace the Berthier rifle, Berthier and Lebel Model 1886 rifle, Lebel series of service rifles, it saw service long past the World War II period. It was manufactured from late 1937 onward by Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne (MAS), one of several government-owned arms factories in France. Only 250,000 MAS-36 rifles were available to equip the French infantry during the Battle of France in 1940. Mass production finally caught up after World War II and MAS-36 rifles became widely used in service during the First Indochina War, the Algerian War, and the Suez Crisis. Altogether, about 1.1 million MAS-36 rifles had been manufactured when production ceased in 1952. Description The MAS-36 is a short carbine-style rifle with a two-piece stock and slab-sided receiver. It is chambered for the modern rimless 7.5×54mm French car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lebel Rifle
The Lebel Model 1886 rifle (French: ''Fusil Modèle 1886 dit "Fusil Lebel"'') also known as the ''"Fusil Mle 1886 M93"'', after a bolt modification was added in 1893, is an 8 mm bolt-action infantry rifle that entered service in the French Army in 1887. It is a repeating rifle that can hold eight rounds in its fore-stock tube magazine, one round in the elevator plus one round in the chamber; equaling a total of ten rounds held. The Lebel rifle has the distinction of being the first military firearm to use smokeless powder ammunition. The new propellant powder, "''Poudre B''," was nitrocellulose-based and had been invented in 1884 by French chemist Paul Vieille. Lieutenant Colonel Nicolas Lebel contributed a flat nosed 8 mm full metal jacket bullet ("''Balle M''," or "''Balle Lebel''"). Twelve years later, in 1898, a solid brass pointed (spitzer (bullet), spitzer) and boat-tail bullet called "''Balle D''" was retained for all 8mm Lebel ammunition. Each case was protected a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manufacture D'armes De Châtellerault
The ''Manufacture d'Armes de Châtellerault'' (, "Châtellerault Weapons Factory", abbr. MAC) was a French state-owned weapons manufacturer in the town of Châtellerault, Vienne. It was created by a royal decree of 14 July 1819 to manufacture swords, then (after 1850) firearms and cannons. Antoine Treuille de Beaulieu in 1840 began to develop the concept of rifled artillery at Châtellerault for the French Army. The Lebel Model 1886 rifle, the first military firearm to use smokeless powder ammunition and the primary French infantry weapon during World War I, was developed and produced here. History Following the French tradition of state arsenals competing with each other and with private industry, MAC designed and manufactured several well-known French small arms, including the FM 24/29 light machine gun and its derivatives the MAC mle 1931 and MAC 1934 machine guns, as well as the MAC 1950 (later MAS 1950) semi-automatic pistol. Some features of prototypes develo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gras Rifle
The Fusil Modèle 1874 or Gras was the French Army's primary service rifle from 1874 to 1886. Designed by Colonel Basile Gras, the Gras was a metallic cartridge adaptation of the single-shot, breech-loading, black powder Chassepot rifle. It was developed from 1872 to 1874 as a response to the German adoption of the Mauser Model 1871 metallic cartridge rifle. Modified in 1880 as the M80 with an improved breechblock and in 1914 as the M14 to accommodate the 8×50mmR Lebel smokeless powder cartridge, the Gras was replaced as the standard-issue service rifle by the Lebel in 1886. Description Converted from the Chassepot, the Gras was in caliber and used black powder centerfire metallic cartridges with a bullet over a charge. It was a robust and hard-hitting single-shot weapon. Additionally it had a triangular-shaped Model 1874 "Gras" sword bayonet. The Gras rifle was replaced from 1886 by the Lebel rifle. Development The Gras was manufactured in response to the developmen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chassepot
The Chassepot (pronounced ; ), officially known as , was a bolt-action military breechloading rifle. It is famous for having been the arm of the French forces in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. It replaced an assortment of muzzleloading Minié rifles, many of which were converted in 1864 to breech loading (the Tabatière rifles). An improvement to existing military rifles in 1866, the Chassepot marked the commencement of the era of modern bolt action, breech-loading military rifles. The Gras rifle was an adaption of the Chassepot designed to fire metallic cartridges introduced in 1874. It was manufactured by (MAS), (MAC), (MAT), and, until 1870, in the in the former Château des Rohan. Many were also manufactured under contract in England (the Chassepots delivered to the French Navy), in Belgium (Liege), and in Italy at Brescia (by Glisenti). The approximate number of Chassepot rifles available to the French Army in July 1870 was 1,037,555 units. Additionally, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
