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maustypsu

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Ok, so I'm jumping the gun here - pun intended. No pics yet.

My Great Uncle fought in WWII. He brought back a pistol from France where he was stationed. My father has the original holster, pistol, magazine and the letter authorizing him to bring it back into the country.

Not sure but I think it is a .380. It's getting passed down to me during the weekend of July 4th. It has been shot in the past three years because my dad just had to know if it still worked. I am thinking about shotting over the weekend they are here (Independence Day).

Anybody know what I might be looking at? French WWII .380? The only thing I could find in my search that might fit was for a .25 or .32 (which is possible). It was called "Le Francaise Model 28 Military." I'll have the model number and caliber in a few weeks. But too excited to wait.
 
Betcha a nickel...

... it's a .32 ACP (7.65 Browning).


But it is good news any way you look at it. It is history, and it is family history.

Don't shoot up the old ammo, if there is any. It's history as well. New stuff won't hurt it.
 
If its a .380 its probably a walther PP or PPK but there is a good chance is a 32 acp like Archie said. I bet you a nickel is a german handgun that was captured in France. A German gun in France would be much easier to get since anyone could pick one up from the battlefield. I wouldn't think anyone would even want a French hand gun who was over there when given the choice. Just my 2 cents. Congrats
 
Found Out

So I got my old man off the couch to look up some details on the gun. It is an MAB MODEL D .32 CAL. Good call on the .32 folks.

Looks like the Model D was essentially a clone of the Browning M-1910. It was used by the police in Vichy France during occupation. Sounds like they were used by civilians, police and the German army. I'll have to check for stamps when I get it in hand to see if I can identify the origin of this specific gun.

Looks like it isn't worth a ton of money which is good. I don't plan to sell it but this way I'll be more likely to shoot it a few times each year.

Pics will follow in about a month...
 
Man, congrats. Those things are sweet.

They look like some kinda milsurp mutt like a TOKAMAKACOLT 1903 :D
 
A side note only...

During the Second World War, the NAZI armed forces used about anything they could obtain. From the reading I have done, it seems officers above the company level could carry pretty much anything they desired.

Plus, the 'serious' guns were going to company grade officers on the front lines. Most officers equivalent to our Major and above (I really don't know the proper rank structure, but there has to be equivalence there somewhere) carried pistols more as a badge of rank than an actual weapon. So, there were a lot of 'local' guns carried by senior officers. I know there are many Spanish made pistols (Astra, predominantly) with NAZI proofmarks.

An acquaintance of mine had a Belgian made Browning .25 ACP in the family, allegedly (story unverified) taken from a German general somewhere in France. I know the family has the pistol, I handled it (where ever it came from.) I heard from several different WWII veterans "The higher the rank, the smaller the pistol." I also heard many veterans who had 'pistols from German generals'. Sort of like Poncho Villa's guns...

Accept at your own convenience.
 
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