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Date: |
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Description: | MA S 1916
St Etienne MLE 1907_15
date stamp, Aout 1916
The standard infantry rifle of the French Army in 1914, the Model 1886/93 (see FIR 7986), was at least a generation behind the rifles of the other combatant powers in design terms. The French had been hoping to regain the lead in the field by designing a self-loading rifle. The outbreak of war put a temporary end to these developments.
Aware of the inferiority of their rifle, the French took the pragmatic step of developing a rifle of the Berthier pattern, a type already in service with colonial, cavalry and artillery units (see FIR 7472). The resulting rifle was the Model 1907/15, which entered service in 1916. The 1907/15 replaced the slow-loading tubular magazine of the 1886/93 with a three round clip, but proved to be less robust in combat conditions than the older rifle.
firing pin cut | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Manufacture d'Armes St Etienne, France | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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