Hosted in Finland by @varusteleka Ian joins the lads of Bloke on the Range to discuss how the French could be simultaneously so backwards and yet so forwards-looking.

DOWNLOAD AS PODCAST: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p9c2FrNO_IdoBZRtV2xWeAhQvrpT-Gho/view?usp=sharing

2:02 – The Lebel as the embodiment of French backward and forward thinking
4:50 – The 1866 Chassepot: metallic vs paper cartridges, comparison to contemporary needlefire rifles
11:44 – Early French auto-loading rifles: Meunier, Chauchat, RSC 1917
16:32 – French machine guns before and during WWI: Hotchkiss, St. Étienne, Puteaux, Benét-Mercié
22:45 – French interwar arms development: 7.5x58mm and subsequent ka-booms, 7.5x54mm, FM 24 and 24/29 LMG, legacy usage of French small arms
31:55 – French interwar arms development: self-loading rifle development to MAS-40, MAS-36 as the backup rifle, delays due to French politics in late 1930s
40:30 – Interwar and WWII pistols: replacing the Ruby, 7.65 French Long (.30 Pedersen), SACM 1935A, MAS-1935S, legacy usage of Mle 1892 revolvers and Ruby pistols in WWII
47:35 – Interwar and WWII Submachine guns: MAS-38, Thompsons bought from US, captured Erma EMPs
56:18 – Postwar French arms and development: MAS-44 (briefly) MAS-49 and 49/56, legacy use of MAS-36, MAT-49, AA-52 machine gun, MAC1950
1:03:42 - Postwar French arms and development: rifle grenades (back to WWI), MAS-36/51, MAS 49/56 vs FAL and G3, optics mounting
1:13:47 – Post-colonial conflicts and arms: France encounters the AK, SIG SG 540 as a stopgap, the FAMAS
1:27:23 – Beyond the FAMAS: HK416, loss of French state arsenals, FAMAS safety and selector