While I was at InterOrdnance unpacking French rifles, I took the opportunity to pull out a couple different examples of Gras Cavalry Carbines to show the differences between original French production examples and Belgian commercial conversions. What we will see today are how to recognize:

- Fre...

EDIT: Shoot, I managed to get the gear ratio backwards. Sorry! The recoil action provides the necessary delay, and then the gear ratio provides acceleration to ensure the bolt can open reliably, akin to the accelerator in a Browning M1917 or 1919 machine gun, or a Lahti L35 pistol. Please excuse ...

"EROP" was a small company based in Paris, which produced about 18 submachine gun prototypes between 1954 and 1956. These were submitted to French military trials in several different configurations first in 1954 and later in 1956, and none of them were given any further consideration after that....

Less known than the Martini-Henry but just as active around the globe at the time was the single shot Gras rifle in all its varients. It was chambered for the 11x59R cartridge, one of the many 11mm-ish cartridges of the era and quite close to the 45-70. In 1878 the French navy adopt a Kopatschek ...

The Portative was an attempt by the Hotchkiss company to make a light machine gun companion to their heavy model (which had found significant commercial success). The Portative used the same feed strips, albeit loaded upside down, and the same gas piston operation, but a very different locking sy...

The “Guycot” is a rocket ball chain rifle system named for its two creators, Paulin Gay (the designer) and Henri Guénot (the financier). They patented the idea in 1879, and manufactured it in both rifle and pistol form - I have a previous video on one of the pistols and today we are looking at tw...

Gevarm was the gun-making subsidiary of Gevelot, a long-standing French ammunition manufacturer. In 1956 they brought a simple new submachine gun to market. It was chambered for 9mm Parabellum, with a simple blowback action. The construction was very basic, a combination of a tube receiver, stamp...

Following on from the presentation of France's first rifled musket, this vid focuses on the musketry training that conscripts underwent on a yearly basis. See how trigger control was trained, and also, how do you aim at targets at 400m and 600m if your only means of aiming is a fixe 200m notch?

A combatant in Ukraine shared recently photographs of himself with a French FR F2 sniper rifle. The 7.62x51mm rifles have only been sighted in theatre once before in March 2022. There has also recently been a sighting of a single FAMAS. While individual sightings aren't indicative if a substantia...

While the British rapidly adopt a rifled musket for their infantry relatively quickly, it is a different story for most continental european militaries, notably France, who's massive conscript armies cannot be easily and economically equipped and effectively trained in marksmanship to make it wor...

In this live fire episode Matt gets behind a Hotchkiss ‘Portative’ light machine gun. The Hotchkiss was one of the earliest light machine guns to see general service. It was used in action by a number of countries during the First World War, the example we’re examining today is a British Mk1 Hotc...

In this live fire episode Matt gets his hands on a French Modèle 1950. The Modèle 1950 replaced the earlier Modèles 1935A & S pistols in 1951. Chambered in 9x19mm it remained in service throughout the Cold War until it was replaced by a licensed copy of the Beretta 92. The Modèle 1950 is a simple...

In 1946 the French military began the search for a new submachine gun. They were looking for a compact 9x19mm weapon and examined submissions from the French state-owned arsenals and private companies. Today, we're looking at Hotchkiss' entry - the 'Type Universel', a unique weapon with a folding...

The Hotchkiss Type Universel has a unique folding stock and telescoping barrel - here's how it works. Be sure to check out our full video & the accompanying article on the Hotchkiss here - http://armourersbench.com/2020/04/27/hotchkiss-type-universal If you enjoy our work please consider supporti...

By the mid-19th century many major militaries were beginning the hunt for a reliable and robust breechloading system. France was no exception with a number of systems trialled during the 1850s, following the Prussian adoption of the Dreyse rifle. Today we’re lucky enough to be examining one of Fr...

On 7 November, Alexander Borodai, the former leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic now a member of the Russian Duma for the separatist region, was seen in a video showing a near miss with a French HPD 2A2 anti-vehicle mine. Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this ...

Watch latest videos, sometimes even early releases! Sign up for the newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/9HoleReviews or https://tinyurl.com/SlateBlack The FR F1 is one of the least understood sniper variants in the U.S. due to it's rarity, but the rifle has been the champion for French soldiers using...

Watch latest videos, sometimes even early releases! Sign up for the newsletter 🗞️https://tinyurl.com/9HoleReviews or https://tinyurl.com/SlateBlack The French FR-F2 sniper rifle was a further advancement of the FR-F1 sniper rifle. Much like it's predecessor, the FR-F2 was incredibly well-balanced...

Watch latest videos, sometimes even early releases! Sign up for the newsletter 🗞️https://tinyurl.com/9HoleReviews or https://tinyurl.com/SlateBlack The FR F2 is unlike any bolt-action sniper rifle of it's era. Capable of shooting from a multitude of complex terrain and equipped with a fast cyclin...

The Chauchat is a machine gun with a reputation for being unreliable - a reputation that is only partially deserved. But what the Chauchat does completely deserve is its reputation for being notoriously difficult to shoot well. The grip design, stock design, sight placement, trigger, and the dyna...

The Chauchat is a machine gun with a reputation for being unreliable - a reputation that is only partially deserved. But what the Chauchat does completely deserve is its reputation for being notoriously difficult to shoot well. The grip design, stock design, sight placement, trigger, and the dyna...

When France decided to adopt a new 9x19mm submachine gun after World War Two, all three of the main French arsenals (St Etienne/MAS, Chatellerault/MAC, and Tulle/MAT) developed designs to compete for adoption. Tulle would eventually win and their design became the MAT-49, but the other lines of d...

Chappie demonstrates a really easy way to make M1866 Chassepot needlefire rifle cartridges.

When France decided to adopt a new 9x19mm submachine gun after World War Two, all three of the main French arsenals (St Etienne/MAS, Chatellerault/MAC, and Tulle/MAT) developed designs to compete for adoption. Tulle would eventually win and their design became the MAT-49, but the other lines of d...