French SEALs Carry the 6" S&W 686 !!!

I recall marcinko using issuing the 686 AND ruger mini 14 at 6 because they were STAINLESS and therefore better suited to marine environments. The french were perhaps copying this notion??

On two trips to paris in 97 I saw the military police at the airports carried (unlaoded) Fn_MAS rifles like the one pictured, while street cops carried MAB automatics on steel reincfoced shock cords on their belts. One lady cop i saw on guard duty outside place d'Italie was carrying a beretta machine pistol (not sure of the designation but it has two vertical grips and the stick magazine slants back into the action in front of the triggerguard) at port arms and was wearing a BP vest.. far more menacing than the gendarme who reminded my that there was no smoking on the metro.

Of course it could have been a french "refinement" of an italian gun.. you know the french are VERY keen on developing and using their own technology. So it may indeed have been a manhurin 686 french seals carried while waging war on Greenpeace. ;)

Dr.Rob
 
Read the page, the newest Manhurin with
its onehanded release and ejection system
sound really interesting.

How does it work?

Je ne sais pas.

Glenn
 
Nope Walt. I respectfully disagree. I was riding in a police car in Paris and asked about their guns. I saw a Ruger (pronounced Rooo-ge) and S&Ws. No doubt that Manurhins are out there too (perhaps the Gendarme Nationale). I'm not sure about how each police prefecture purchases firearms.

The French were curious about what I carried and when I replied, "Sig-Sauer" I got blank stares. I then said, "Deustches Waffen" thinking they could at least pick up on German. More blank stares. "Tedeschi" I said in Italian. Finally, from some dark crevice of my brain, I said, "Allemand" to which they lit up.

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Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt
 
Dr. Rob, I was in Paris three years ago and remeber something similar. At the Gar du Nord they had cops (?) patrolling the train station armed with what looked to be MP5s hung on a chain sling. They had those things pointed in every which direction with absolutely no discretion, and their finger on the trigger at all times.
 
Oui,

France was having a LOT of problems with terrorist bombings at that time and the gendarmes who prowl the metro stations did so armed to the teeth. In fact on my first trip in April, 97 you could NOT FIND a public trash can anywhere in Paris, seems they kept blowing up. Seriously and and all public trash cans were removed or welded shut and no businesses put out the garbage until RIGHT before the garbage trucks arrived. this was NOT the case in Dec. of 97, as I noticed the garbage cans were beginning to re-appear.

Unfortunately for me the Louvre was on strike on both trips. ;(

Dr.Rob
 
The French produce good wine and quirky, but lovable women.
But guns?
They always seem to be drawn to the wierdest and strangest designs and ideas.
The S&W 686 is a very good gun, but for SWAT, wouldn't you want a few more shots?
 
Hey Guys,

I'm new to this forum... but this thread caught my attention because a few years ago I bought a 6" 586 with a matte black finish and round J-frame Hogue grips. The dealer told me it was a contract overrun meant for the S.E.A.L.s(didn't say what country). I thought he was lying to sell a gun but I loved the gun because it was so unusual and the price was about normal so I bought it.
It's next to my bed as I write this, and its exciting to think maybe he wasn't lying!

I'm glad I stumbled onto this sight, I'm going to enjoy reading and responding to your posts.

Wheelgunner
 
Wow, I guess those Algerians can get pretty nasty. Around that same time I was caught in a bomb scare in the London Underground. I was stuck two hours in the tube while they searched for a bomb. I still didn' notice nearly as many armed patrols in London as I did in Paris, and it was Marching season to boot. Belfast, now thats a another story...
 
French...

Revolvers...

Oi!

Where is my Martha Stewart forum?

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"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." - Sigmund Freud
Hey - have you seen the new Ultimate Super Tactical Match Gun?
 
They did get heavily into the 357 Magnum (afer they realized what POS the other European rounds were) and built a proprietary revo to shoot it. Maybe it was the Manhurin, I forget. It ended up being too expensive so, think they bought Rugers. Around this time they also wanted to purchase the l'il S&W in 9mm, then reneged, that's where those came from.

Watch La Femme Nikita (French Version) and you'll see the detective using a 357 Magnum revolver, think it was a S&W.

What do you expect from a country that gave us Inspector Clouseau?

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Be mentally deliberate but muscularly fast. Aim for just above the belt buckle Wyatt Earp
45 ACP: Give 'em a new navel! BigG
"It is error alone that needs government support; truth can stand by itself." Tom Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1785




[This message has been edited by BigG (edited December 07, 1999).]
 
Oh, great. Now it's the trash cans. When I was in Paris the hardest thing to find was a water fountain. Okay, now let's quit picking on the French (BigG, et al). They do have some redeeming qualities like..... the.... err..... uhmm.... that time they, naw.... then there was the, no...... didn't they make the, nope..... I'll have to get back to you guys on that one.

Did a little web search of my own, below is a link that has the history of Manurhin. I wonder if the manufacturing agreement they signed with Ruger included a secret clause that Manurhin would not actively seek distribution in the USA. Might explain why these revolvers are rarely seen on this side of the Atlantic. I also wonder if Chapues will still use the Manurhin name for marketing purposes. I found Manurhin's web sight, though it was all in French (the semester I had in high school didn't help much), they make no mention of manufacturing sidearms.

I'm still not convinced the French, or any Europeans, are making stainless wheel guns. The Manurhin on the Australian distributor's page has a shine that looks like nickel, but it's hard to tell, the accompanying verbiage doesn't say one way or the other. I'm not stating "I know for a fact" they don't make stainless, I'm just wonder if anyone out there is certain. -- Kernel

Official French Guns Page:

http://www.netaphore.com/guns/frenchguns_home_us.html
 
In response to a request from Chapuis Arms, I've just received a catalog for the Manurhin line. (Please note the address posted above, although I had the name incorrectly as Chapues.)

If the gun is anything like the elegant and informative brochure, it must be a honey.

The brochure states that the French military SWAT teams use the MR73 revolver.

Some other interesting things:

The MR73 and the MR88 can use 9mm as an option.

Every Manurhin revolver shipped is fired an average of 15 times at the plant and MUST score well. The Match versions must print five shots within a 20mm (.8 inch)circle at 25 yards (not feet).

By the way, it is selling the MR96 "gun of the future". Since I'm not a revolver guy, it's pretty much greek (or should I say French) to me. It looks great! Check the following website for basic pictures of the three models (MR73, 88 and 96)
http://www.sportingagencies.com.au/index1.htm

They sent me a couple of extra Chapuis Arms/Manurhin brochures, and if anyone wants to digitize the brochure and put in on their website for everyone to look at, I'll be happy to send it on.

Cheers,
Roon
 
Korth make a stainless steel version of their revolvers. now these r high quality guns. the trigger pull is SWEET! the Manurhin was carried by Century Arms for a little while in Canada. not sure bout the US. they were pricey for sure!

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Mik

<A HREF="http://"http://marina.fortunecity.com/harbour/347/10mm.html"" TARGET=_blank>my 10mm page</A>
 
"What do you expect from a country that gave us Inspector Clouseau?" You mean Britain? Sellers created that character and he was a Brit.

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So many pistols, so little money.
 
nebob,
yes, you would want a few more shots, so for land based CQB and everything other than diving, sundry semi autos are used. What seems to have been missed here is that the stainless 686 is chosen (by US Seals as well as the French frogs) not because they like it better than any semi auto but because it is the only handgun you can dive with and come up shooting. Everything else gets corrosion gunked so fast on the ingress swim so as to be unreliable beyond the first shot.
 
Who gives a F what the freakin Frenchies carry? They're a bunch of miserable, rude, American-hating panty wastes anyway. Isn't French SEAL (usually a hard-ass comes to mind when thinking of a SEAL) an oxymoron? ;)
 
Arent the Frogs 0-2? Thats what I thought, if it wasnt for us and our guns [could include the english if they had any] those damn frogs would be eating bratwurst mit "sauer"kraut
 
You know, I'm really amazed at this need to bash the French. They are, in many ways, like the folks who are bashing them.

They are extremely proud with an old and distinguished culture. What seems to anger Americans most about them is that they will not go down on their knees to American bullying. They effectively dropped out of NATO because of their determination to remain independent and not to be dominated by the US. They don't want to be pushed around.

Doesn't that sound familiar?

People forget how most of the French people fought and died through the resistance during WWII to save their own land from domination by a foreign power. They stick to their guns about what they believe is right, not necessarily politically correct in the eyes of Americans.

Isn't that what many folks on this forum believe, especially after incidents about Waco and being pushed around?

The French have taken a weapon and turned it into some of the finest arms on the planet. I don't think that is something to ridicule. I think that is something to admire.

Remember how this thread started, American pride over how another culture had used a weapon we produced. Then we found out not only was it a weapon they produced, but that that weapon came about by improving on an American design.

Hey, ain't that the American Way??
 
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