View source for FM 24/29 light machine gun

{{more citations needed|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name               = FM 24/29
| image              = LMG 24 29 2.JPG
| image_size         = 300
| caption            = LMG 24/29
| origin             = France
| type               = [[Light machine gun]]
<!-- Type selection -->| is_ranged          = YES
<!-- Service history -->| service            = 1925–1979 ([[French Army]])<br>1956–2008 ([[Gendarmerie nationale]])
| used_by            = See [[#Users|Users]]
| wars               = [[Rif War]]<br>[[Spanish Civil War]]<br>[[World War II]]<br>[[First Indochina War]]<br>[[1948 Arab–Israeli War]]<br>[[Algerian War]]<br>[[Suez Crisis]]<br>[[1958 Lebanon crisis]]<br>[[Vietnam War]]<br>[[Cambodian Civil War]]<br>[[Laotian Civil War]]<br>[[Portuguese Colonial War]]<br>[[Lebanese Civil War]]
|<!-- Production history -->
| designer           = Lt col. Reibel assisted by Chief Armorer Chosse
| design_date        = 1920-1924
| manufacturer       = Manufacture d'Armes de Châtellerault
| unit_cost          = 
| production_date    = 1925-1960s (232,942 units)
| number             = 190,400
| variants           = M1924-M29D<br>M1931|<!-- General specifications -->
| weight             = 8.9 kg (19.7 lb)
| length             = 1080 mm (42.5 in)
| part_length        = 500 mm (19.5 in)|<!-- Operational specifications -->
| cartridge          = [[7.5×54mm French]]
| cartridge_weight   = 
| caliber            = 7.5mm
| barrels            = 1
| action             = [[Gas-operated reloading|Gas-operated]]<br/>[[Bolt-link]]
| rate               = 450 rpm
| velocity           = 830 m/s (2,722.4 ft/s)
| range              = 1250 m (3,937 ft)
| max_range          = 3950 m (12,959 ft)
| feed               = 25 round detachable box magazine
| sights             = [[Iron sight]]s
}}

The '''Fusil-mitrailleur Modèle 1924 M29''' (or '''MAC 24/29'''), designed in 1924 by the [[Manufacture d'armes de Châtellerault]], is a [[7.5×54mm French]] [[light machine gun]], which was the standard issue machine gun of the [[French Army]] from 1925 until the 1960s and was in use until 2000–2006 with the [[National Gendarmerie]].

== History ==
The [[Chauchat]] machine gun, hastily developed under the pressure of the events of the First World War, gave way around 1925 to the new "FM MAC 1924" which fired the brand new [[7.5×57mm MAS]] (7.5x58mm) cartridge. After a series of accidents with reused captured German weapons during training, chambering the 7.92x57, too close to the new [[ammunition]], the FM MAC 1924 was adapted in 1929 to fire a new [[7.5×54mm French|7.5x54mm 1929C]] ammunition after some modifications (a change of [[Magazine (firearms)|magazine]] and barrel) to become the MAC 1924/29. This model would be called FM 24/29 in service by the French infantry. The FM24/29 was gradually replaced in the early 1960s by the [[AA-52 machine gun|AA-52]].

==Development==
After the end of World War I, the French Army sought to replace the problematic ''Fusil-mitrailleur mle 1915 CSRG'' light machine rifle (better known as the [[Chauchat]]). French commanders considered standardising on the American [[M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle|Browning Automatic Rifle]] (BAR), but eventually required the development of a locally built weapon. MAS ([[Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne (MAS)|Manufacture d'Armes de St. Etienne]] - one of several government-owned arms factories in France) proposed a direct derivative of the BAR known as FM MAS 1922, the Army also trialled the [[Hotchkiss M1922 machine gun|Hotchkiss Model 1922]], [[Lewis gun|Lewis Mark I]] and [[M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle|Browning BAR M1918]] but the ''Manufacture d'Armes de Châtellerault'' (MAC) won the bid with its weapon, which was partly derived from the BAR action. It had been formulated and designed by a Lieutenant Colonel Reibel assisted by Chief Armorer Chosse.

The FM Mle 1924 entered production in late July 1925 and saw first operational use in Morocco in May 1926. It was immediately well-received and even favorably compared in performance with the much heavier [[Hotchkiss machine gun]]. However, problems created by the new 7.5mm ammunition did appear. In particular, [[7.92×57mm Mauser|8×57mm Mauser]] ammunition which was used in captured [[Mauser]] rifles carried by auxiliaries in Morocco during the [[Rif War]] from 1920 to 1926, could be chambered and fired with disastrous results. This situation led to the development of a slightly shorter [[7.5×54mm French|7.5×54mm]] round, which was retained in 1929 as the standard ammunition for all future rifles and light machine guns in French service. The modified ''fusil-mitrailleur modèle 1924 modifié 1929'' (FM Mle 1924 M29) was mass-manufactured (187,412), beginning in 1930. In addition to these newly manufactured guns some 45,530 older FM Mle 1924s, already in service after phasing out the Chauchat, were rebarreled in order to accept the newer 7.5×54mm ammunition.

Both the original ''fusil-mitrailleur Mle 1924'' (''rifle machine gun, model of 1924'') as well as the modified Mle 1924 M29 have the same overall features: a folding bipod and can accommodate a small levelling stand under the buttstock, an in-line wooden stock, a pistol grip and a top-mounted 25-round detachable magazine. The top mounted magazine necessitates shifting the rear and front sights to the left, which forces the weapon to be fired right handed. The bolt is held open after the magazine's last round had been fired. There are two separate triggers:  the trigger in front for using semi-automatic fire only and the rear trigger for firing on full automatic.  Protection of all the openings against mud and dust proved excellent. It could be mounted on a motorcycle sidecar or in vehicle weapon ports using a mounting set in the handguard. The leather carrying strap, robust and efficient, has a metal hook allowing the user to switch from the carrying position to a hip firing position. The cyclic rate was controlled at 450 rounds per minute, thus allowing more continuous firing without overheating. In general, this new weapon was accurate and reliable but the barrel was screwed well into the receiver, as in the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), and thus it could not be separated quickly and easily in the field as for the Czech [[ZB vz. 26]] and its British variant, the [[Bren light machine gun|Bren gun]]. The French Army instruction manual (July 1925) recommends not to go beyond 400 rounds of uninterrupted firing since at that point the gun needs to be given a pause of ten to fifteen minutes in order to cool off. But instead, the French instruction manual recommends the following routine for the FM 1924: fire 4 to 5 detachable magazines (100 to 125 rounds), take a short pause, then keep repeating that same restrained fire plus short pause routine which permits steady performance and very extensive firing periods.

The book ''La Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Châtellerault'', a technical history of all the military firearms developed and manufactured at Châtellerault, includes a highly detailed technical chapter dealing with the FM Mle 1924 and Mle 1924-M29.

==Operational use==
[[File:French indochina 1953 12 1.png|300px|thumb|[[French Foreign Legion]] [[paratrooper]]s of the [[1st Foreign Parachute Regiment|1e BEP]] firing an FM 24/29 during a [[Viet Minh]] ambush (1952).]]

This weapon was well liked by the soldiers of the French army who would use it for the first time in combat on May 11, 1926, during the [[Rif War]]. The FM 24/29 was the standard [[Squad automatic weapon|squad-level automatic weapon]] of the French infantry and cavalry at the start of [[World War II]]. After the French surrender in 1940, the Germans captured large quantities of this weapon, which they used operationally until the end of the war, under the designations of MG 115(f) and MG 116(f).

Those weapons were used on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Russian front]] by supplementary units of the German army which were partially equipped with them. Some examples of the FM 24/29 are displayed in the ex-Soviet museums devoted to the [[Great Patriotic War]]. The MAC 24/29 was also used in limited numbers by the [[Finnish Defence Forces]] during the [[Winter War]] and the "Continuation War".

From 1943 on, as the French army was re-equipped and reorganized in North Africa with Allied support, the FM 24/29 was kept in service, as French troops considered it superior to the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR).

The FM 24/29 was the workhorse in the [[First Indochina War]], as the infantry squad weapon and mounted in jeeps in the SAS style. The FM 24/29 served in the armed forces until after the end of the [[Algerian War|war in Algeria]].<ref name="Algeria">{{cite magazine|language=fr|magazine=Gazette des Armes|issue=220|date=March 1992|title=L'armement français en A.F.N.|pages=12–16|url=http://fr.1001mags.com/parution/gazette-des-armes/numero-220-mars-1992/page-14-15-texte-integral|access-date=2018-10-08|archive-date=2022-12-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217220157/http://fr.1001mags.com/parution/gazette-des-armes/numero-220-mars-1992/page-14-15-texte-integral|url-status=dead}}</ref> The FM 24/29 was replaced by the [[AA-52 machine gun|AA-52]] [[general-purpose machine gun]] in the 1960s in frontline service, but would remain for a long time as the squad weapon for the regiments of the General Reserve of the French Army, stored in the Mobilizing Centres across the country until the mid-1980s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|date=2007|title=Le FM 24/29|journal=Les Dossiers de la 2e Guerre Mondiale|number=7|pages=64–65}}</ref> The FM 24/29 was still in use with the National Gendarmerie regional brigades until 2000–2006.<ref name=":0" />

Withdrawn from active military service around 1965, the FM 24/29 became the squad support weapon in the general reserve, as it did in the [[National Police (France)|National Police]] (mainly [[Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité|CRS]]) and the [[National Gendarmerie]]. Thus all the [[Departmental Gendarmerie|departmental gendarmerie]] brigades were to be equipped with the FM 24/29 at the rate of one weapon per 10 to 15 non-commissioned officers, and its withdrawal from service with them would only take place in 2006 (the 7.5 MAS ammunition no longer being supplied), including in the reserves of the [[Mobile Gendarmerie]] squadrons.
[[File:Allied Forces in North Africa 1942 E8400.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of the [[Troupes coloniales|colonial troops]] of the [[Free France|Free French Forces]] in February 1942 with a MAC 24/29.]]
Large numbers of MAC 24/29 would be ceded to former French colonies in Africa during the decolonization process ([[Algeria]], [[Benin]], [[Cameroon]], [[Central African Republic]], [[Comoros]], [[Republic of the Congo|Congo]], [[Ivory Coast]], [[Djibouti]], [[Gabon]], [[Guinea]], [[Guinea-Bissau]], [[Madagascar]], [[Morocco]], [[Mauritania]], [[Niger]], [[Senegal]], [[Seychelles]] and [[Chad]]). At least 200 examples were used by the [[Israel Defense Forces|Israeli Defense Forces]] in the [[1947–1949 Palestine war]].

Likewise, it was supplied to the auxiliaries raised in [[Cambodia]], [[Laos]] and in the [[State of Vietnam]] during the Indochina War. It thus found itself in the hands of the [[Viet Minh]]. During the [[Vietnam War]], the MAC 24/29 continued its Indochinese military career in the ranks of its former enemies of the [[Viet Cong]] and the [[People's Army of Vietnam]], as well as with the [[Army of the Republic of Vietnam]] (ARVN) and its paramilitary units. The FM 24/29 kept soldiering on during the [[Cambodian–Vietnamese War|Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia]] up to 1989.

==Variants==
===Model 1924/1929D machine gun===
{{main|Model 1924/1929D machine gun}}
[[Image:Fm maginot.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Model 1924/1929D mounted in a firing port of the Maginot Line.]]
The [[Model 1924/1929D machine gun|FM 24/29D]], with a longer, thicker barrel, fired a heavy bullet variant (7.5mm 1933D cartridge) of its original ammunition. It was intended for the [[casemate]]s of the [[Maginot Line]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=armement reglementaire francais les fusils mitrailleurs|url=http://armesfrancaises.free.fr/FM%20Mle%2024-29%20(D).html|access-date=2020-12-25|website=armesfrancaises.free.fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Kaufmann|first=J. E.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/971032695|title=The Maginot Line : history and guide|year=2017|isbn=978-1-5267-1151-9|publisher=Pen & Sword Military|location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire|oclc=971032695}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Allcorn|first=William|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/56538717|title=The Maginot Line, 1928-45|publisher=Osprey|others=Vanelle, Jeff., Boulanger, Vincent.|year=2003|isbn=1-84176-646-1|location=Oxford|oclc=56538717}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Romanych|first=Marc|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/320186975|title=Maginot Line 1940 : battles on the French frontier|publisher=Osprey|others=Rupp, Martin., White, John|year=2010|isbn=978-1-84603-499-2|location=Oxford|oclc=320186975}}</ref> where it was quickly replaced in this role by the [[Reibel machine gun]]. After the armistice of June 1940, the German occupiers recycled a good number of examples on the [[Atlantic Wall]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Williams|first=Paul R.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/854876661|title=Atlantic Wall : Pas de Calais|publisher=Pen & Sword Military|year=2013|isbn=978-1-78303-666-0|location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire|oclc=854876661}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Zaloga|first=Steve|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/61529026|title=D-Day fortifications in Normandy|publisher=Osprey|others=Johnson, Hugh|year=2005|isbn=1-84176-876-6|location=Oxford|oclc=61529026}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Zaloga|first=Steve|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/84151448|title=The Atlantic Wall|date=2007–2015|publisher=Osprey Pub|others=Johnson, Hugh, 1971-, Hook, Adam.|isbn=978-1-84603-129-8|location=Oxford, UK|oclc=84151448}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Zaloga|first=Steve|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/645484351|title=The Atlantic Wall. 2, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway|publisher=Osprey Pub|others=Johnson, Hugh, 1971-, Hook, Adam.|year=2009|isbn=978-1-84908-125-2|location=Oxford|oclc=645484351}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Zaloga|first=Steve|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/828488810|title=The devil's garden : Rommel's desperate defense of Omaha Beach on D-Day|year=2013|isbn=978-0-8117-1228-6|publisher=Stackpole Books|location=Mechanicsburg, PA|oclc=828488810}}</ref>

===M1931===
{{main|Reibel machine gun}}
A derivative of the gun, the ''MAC Modèle 1931'', with a heavier barrel and 150-round side-mounted pan magazine, was produced as a [[heavy machine gun]] for installation in tanks and fortified emplacements, particularly the [[Maginot Line]].  It is also sometimes known as the JM Reibel, which actually stands for Jumelage de mitrailleuses Reibel (Reibel twin-mounted machine guns). The Reibel was mounted in jeeps in the SAS style during the Indochina War.

==Users==
<!--READ FIRST: This section is for cited entries only. Please do not add entries into this list without a citation from a reliable source. All entries without a citation will be removed. Thank you.-->
* {{flag|Algeria}}: Captured weapons<ref>{{cite book|title=The Algerian War, 1954-62|series= Men-at Arms 312|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|place= London |year=1997|isbn=978-1-85532-658-3|first= Martin |last=Windrow|page=22}}</ref>
*{{flag|Benin}}<ref name="jones2002"/>
* {{CAF}}<ref name="jones2002">{{cite book |editor1-first=Terry J.|editor1-last=Gander|editor2-first=Charles Q. |editor2-last=Cutshaw|title=Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001/2002 |date=2001 |edition=27th |publisher=Jane's Information Group |location=Coulsdon |isbn=9780710623171}}</ref>
*{{flag|Republic of the Congo}}<ref name="jones2002"/>
*{{flag|Djibouti}}<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124203909/http://sites.google.com/site/worldinventory/wiw_af_djibouti|archive-date=24 November 2016|url=http://sites.google.com/site/worldinventory/wiw_af_djibouti|date=2007–2015|title=World Infantry Weapons: Djibouti|access-date=21 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Finland}}: 100 received from France and used during the [[Winter War]]<ref name="Finland">{{cite book|title=Finland at War 1939–45|series=Elite 141|first1=Philip |last1=Jowett|first2= Brent|last2= Snodgrass|date= 5 Jul 2006|isbn=9781841769691|publisher=Osprey Publishing|page=50}}</ref> and the [[Continuation War]].
* {{flag|France}}: First adopted by French Army in 1924.<ref name="WG">{{Cite web|url=http://world.guns.ru/machine/fr/mac-m1924-e.html|title=Mac M1924/29|date=27 October 2010}}</ref> Also saw service with the [[National Gendarmerie]].<ref>armesfrancaises.free.fr/FM Mle 24-29.html</ref>
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Philippe Pétain, Chief of State of Vichy France.svg}} [[Vichy France]] 
[[File:Misgav Am.jpg|thumb|[[Yiftach Brigade]] outpost at Kibbutz [[Misgav Am]] on the Lebanese border. 1948]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Italian Committee of National Liberation.svg}} [[Italian resistance movement|Italian Partisans]]: Examples captured by Fascist Italy following the fall of France were later captured and used by partisans.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gianluigi |first1=Usai |last2=Riccio |first2=Ralph |title=Italian partisan weapons in WWII |date=January 28, 2017 |publisher=Schiffer Military History |isbn=978-0764352102 |page=224}}</ref>
* {{flag|Ivory Coast}}<ref name="jones2002"/>
* {{flag|Kingdom of Laos}}: Received by French Government during [[First Indochina War]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The War in Laos 1960–75|series=Men-at-Arms 217|first=Kenneth |last=Conboy|date=23 Nov 1989 |publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=9780850459388|page=15}}</ref>
*{{flag|Lebanon}}<ref name="jones2002"/>
* {{flag|Nazi Germany}}: Captured weapons. The mle 1924/29 served as Leichtes MG 116(f).<ref name="Bishop2002">{{cite book|author=Chris Bishop|title=The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II|year=2002|publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.|isbn=978-1-58663-762-0|page=241}}</ref> The few surviving Mle 1924 models were given the designation ''Leichtes MG 115(f)''.<ref name="ChamberlainGander1974">{{cite book|author1=Peter Chamberlain|author2=Terry Gander|title=Machine guns|year=1974|publisher=Arco Pub. Co.|isbn=978-0-668-03608-5|page=15}}</ref>
* {{flag|Niger}}<ref>{{cite web|title=World Infantry Weapons: Niger|url=https://sites.google.com/site/worldinventory/wiw_af_niger|date=2007–2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124203932/https://sites.google.com/site/worldinventory/wiw_af_niger|archive-date=24 November 2016}}</ref>
* {{flag|Poland}}
* {{flag|Spanish Republic}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=República - Armas - Infantería - Subfusiles |url=http://www.sbhac.net/Republica/Fuerzas/Armas/Infanteria/Subfusiles/Subfusiles.htm |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=www.sbhac.net}}</ref>
* {{flag|North Vietnam}} ([[Viet Minh]] and [[Viet Cong]]) Captured weapons,<ref name ="Indochina">{{cite book|title=The French Indochina War 1946–54|series=Men-at-Arms 322|first= Martin |last=Windrow|isbn=9781855327894 |date=15 Nov 1998|page=24|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Vital Guide to Combat Guns and Infantry Weapons|page=203|author=Chris Bishop |year=1996|publisher=Airlife |isbn=1853105392}}</ref> known as ''Trung liên Vĩnh Cát'', from the French ''vingt quatre'' (24).<ref>{{cite web|title=Những vũ khí viện trợ đã ra trận cùng QĐVN trong trận Điện Biên Phủ|date=11 November 2014|url=https://tintuc.vn/nhung-vu-khi-vien-tro-da-ra-tran-cung-qdvn-trong-tran-dien-bien-phu-7732|website=tintuc.vn|language=vi}}</ref>
* {{flag|South Vietnam}} ([[Vietnamese National Army]] and [[Army of the Republic of Vietnam]]) Captured weapons.<ref>{{cite book|title=Army of the Republic of Vietnam 1955–75|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|author=Gordon L. Rottman|volume=Men-at-Arms 458 |date=2010|page=43|isbn=9781849081818}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Breda 30]]
*[[Charlton automatic rifle]]
*[[Mendoza C-1934]]
*[[Madsen machine gun]]
*[[Type 96 light machine gun]]
*[[Type 99 light machine gun]]
*[[Degtyaryov machine gun]]
*[[Lahti-Saloranta M/26]]
*[[ZB-26]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* Ferrard, Stéphane. ''France 1940 l'armement terrestre'', ETAI, 1998. {{ISBN|978-2-7268-8380-8}}.
* Philippe Truttman, ''La Muraille de France ou la Ligne Maginot'', Gérard Klopp éditeur, 1985.
*Huon, Jean. ''Les armes françaises en 1939-1940'', Éditions Crépin-Leblond, 1 April 2006.
*Huon, Jean. ''Les armes françaises en Indochine: Tome 1'', Éditions Crépin-Leblond, 13 January 2009. 
*Huon, Jean. ''Les armes françaises en Indochine: Tome 2'', Éditions Crépin-Leblond, 13 January 2009.
* Claude Lombard, ''La Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Chatellerault'', 1987, Editor : Brissaud,162 Grande Rue, Châtellerault. A technical history of all the military firearms developed and manufactured at Chatellerault . This volume includes a highly detailed technical chapter dealing with the FM Mle 1924 and Mle 1924-M29. {{ISBN|2-902170-55-6}}.
* ''"Instruction Provisoire de Juillet 1925 sur le Fusil-Mitrailleur 1924"'', Charles-Lavauzelle & Cie, Paris, 1928.

==External links==
{{commons category|Châtellerault Mle 24}}
*[http://armesfrancaises.free.fr/FM%20Mle%2024-29.html FM mle 24/29]

{{WWIIFrenchInfWeapons}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fm 24 29 Light Machine Gun}}
[[Category:Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1924]]
[[Category:Light machine guns]]
[[Category:Machine guns of France]]
[[Category:World War II infantry weapons of France]]
[[Category:World War II machine guns]]
[[Category:7.5×54mm French firearms]]