There is a popular saying on the Internet: How can a Frenchman write a slogan about his old weapon? Answer: It was a nearly brand new pistol, which had never been used, except one day in June 1940, when I discarded it.
There is no doubt that this is a satirical French joke, but there is some truth in it. France also has a MAS-36 similar to the one mentioned in the joke.
The MAS-36 is a burst developed by France after World War I, and it uses 75 bottomless rim bullets of 54 mm caliber. Its structure is very simple, there are few parts, the construction is very cheap, it is very reliable, and it does not distinguish between rifles and cavalry guns, so that the French team is unified. The pistol's bayonet is also special, it can be hidden in the handguard so that it can be carried around. However, this pistol also has shortcomings, such as the lack of safety devices, and the stock is too small, which can easily create recoil when fired.
The development of the MAS-36 began when the French found their military power out of touch with the period in which they lived. During World War I, France was armed with the Lebel M1886, the world's first rifle without smoke and explosives, invented by French Lieutenant Colonel Nicolas Lebel with an 8 50 mm bottom-edged burst. The power and power of this pistol reached a level that made Germany fearful, forcing Germany to improve its Mauser 1871 and introduce the M1888 commission rifle, commonly known as the "old sleeve" and "made in Hanyang".
The Lebel M1886 is indeed very powerful, but there is still a shortcoming, that is, the construction of the bullet. The large bottom edge of the 8x50 mm shell gave it a certain difficulty in its construction, and at the same time its cone angle was too large, which was unfavorable for both loading and unloading. This problem was on full display in the French Shousha submachine gun, which used a special cartridge box, which had a very strange shape and often jammed or erroneously occurred.
In response to the above, France has embarked on the development of new **,7Bottomless rim bullet of 5x54 mm caliber. It has a better profile, better impact resistance, and no bottom edge, which facilitates magazine and reloading. With the advent of new bullets, France was in dire need of a new rifle that could match. Originally, France planned to develop a semi-automatic rifle, but because there was too much ammunition backlog after World War I, it was impossible to replace it all at once, so they chose a new generation of bolt-action rifles, and after developing a new semi-automatic**, they were gradually phasing out the old version. Hence the MAS-36 rifle.
The development of the MAS-36 went through twists and turns, due to irrational planning and financial problems, and finally in 1936, its design was completed, and in 1938 it was put into mass production. At the time of the French surrender in June 194, there were only 250,000 MAS-36 rifles, which was too few for the French. Most French people are still armed with the Lebel M1886, and some are still using 19th-century Grasse rifles. In the face of the great bombardment of the Germans, this old-fashioned ** seemed to be useless. The French resistance quickly collapsed, and a large number of equipment fell into the hands of the Germans, including the MAS-36 rifle. This is why some would say that the MAS-36 was never launched once, but was simply dropped on the ground in order to surrender to the enemy.
This is obviously an exaggeration, in fact the MAS-36 was also seen on the battlefield. The MAS-36 rifle was more common among the French and fought in North Africa, Italy and France, and was held in a parade in London. After World War II, during a battle in Indochina, the MAS-36 also followed French troops to Vietnam. However, for the French, these battles did not turn out too well, and the MAS-36 did not play its due role, but was captured by the Vietnamese army and finally by the Americans.
The mas-36 is very tragic, in terms of design, this gun is actually quite good, but later because of the wrong decision of the French **, and the subsequent changes in the war, this gun not only did not come in handy, but became a kind of irony. Perhaps, it was really just a pistol that had never been fired, but it had been dropped on the ground as a sign of submission.