POTD: WWII Period Obligation Weapon

Welcome to at this time’s Picture of the Day! Seems this neglected French nine-shooter really noticed its fair proportion of trenches again within the day. Designed by some cats known as Manufacture d’armes de Bayonne (or MAB for brief), their Mannequin D auto-pistol hit the scene in 1933. Now this slick quantity took cues from Belgium’s tremendous FN Brownings however kicked issues up a notch for the gendarmes and squaddies of the period. Packing 9 rounds of .32 or .380 right into a sturdy grip body, the Mannequin D gained hearts from Casablanca to the Maginot Line. Heck, even the Wehrmacht snatched up over 100,000 once they rolled into Paris, holding MAB’s Bayonne manufacturing facility buzzing for the Reich. However after liberation, manufacturing fired proper again up for an additional 40 years. Past equipping les flics and the Legion, you’d even see Dutch and German cops packing surplus Mannequin Ds into the Nineteen Fifties.

“Producer: Bayonne Manufacture D’armes

Mannequin: Mab D

Kind: Pistol

Gauge: 7.65 mm auto

Barrel: 4 inch spherical

End: blue

Grip: plastic”

Lot 6525: Two Nazi Marked French Semi-Automated Pistols – B) M.A.B. Mannequin D Pistol. (n.d.-bs). Rock Island Public sale Firm. {photograph}. Retrieved December 7, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/element/1034/6525/two-nazi-marked-french-semi-automatic-pistols.

Sam.S

Author | TheFirearmBlog
Author | AllOutdoor.com Instagram | sfsgunsmith Previous soul, licensed gunsmith, revealed writer, avid firearm historical past learner, and appreciator of outdated and distinctive weapons.