View source for MAS-38

{{short description|French submachine gun}}
{{Infobox weapon
|is_ranged=yes|
| image= MAS-38.jpg
| image_size = 300
|caption=
|name=Pistolet Mitrailleur de 7,65mm MAS modèle 38
|type=[[Submachine gun]]
|origin= [[French Third Republic|France]]
|design_date=1938
|production_date=1938—1949
|number= 1,958 (made before May 1940) thousands more made under German occupation and post war
|service= 1938–present
|used_by=See [[#Users| Users]]
|wars=[[World War II]]<br>[[First Indochina War]]<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|pages=14, 41|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]}}</ref><br>[[Algerian War]]<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-12-13-texte-integral|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307165806/http://fr.1001mags.com/parution/gazette-des-armes/numero-220-mars-1992/page-12-13-texte-integral|archive-date=March 7, 2023}}</ref><br>[[Laotian Civil War]]<br>[[Vietnam War]]
|caliber=7.65mm
|part_length=224 mm (8.82 in)
|cartridge=[[7.65mm Longue]]
|feed=32-round detachable [[Magazine (firearms)|box magazine]]
|action=[[Blowback (arms)#Off-axis bolt travel|Off-axis bolt travel blowback]]
|rate=600–700 rounds/min
|velocity=350 m/s (1,148 ft/s)
|weight={{convert|2.87|kg|lb|abbr=on|}} (empty)<ref name="Atlas-fr"/>
|length={{convert|630|mm|in|abbr=on}}<ref name="Atlas-fr"/>
|range=100m<ref name="armesfrancaises">{{Cite web|url=http://armesfrancaises.free.fr/PM%20Mle%2038.html|title=armement reglementaire francais les PM|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513165158/http://armesfrancaises.free.fr/PM%20Mle%2038.html|archive-date=May 13, 2023}}</ref>
|max_range=200m<ref name="armesfrancaises"/>
}}

The '''MAS-38''' is a French [[submachine gun]] designed in the 1930s and used by French and German forces during the [[World War II|Second World War]]. It was derived from a small arms development program that took place between 1918 and 1922 under the control of the Service Technique de l'Armement. A submachine gun, a light machine gun and a semiautomatic rifle were developed to replace all the existing small arms. Budgetary pressures resulting from the building of the [[Maginot Line]] led to the delay of adoption of these new arms except for the [[FM 24/29 light machine gun|LMG 1924]].

==History==
[[File:MAS 1938 submachine gun-IMG 7409-white.jpg|thumb|left|1935 prototype on display at the [[Musée de l'Armée]].]]
The ''Pistolet Mitrailleur MAS modèle 38'' (MAS Model 38 Submachine Gun) was developed from the experimental MAS-35, itself derived from the STA 1922 and the MAS 1924 both in 9&nbsp;mm produced immediately after World War I. Prior to the development of this weapon France used a variety of German and Swiss submachine guns.

MAS, the ''[[Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne (MAS)|Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne]]'' (Saint-Étienne Weapons Factory), was a French supplier of arms that manufactured several firearms for the French military, including the [[MAS-36 rifle]], the [[MAS-49 rifle]], and the [[FAMAS]]. It is now part of [[GIAT Industries|Nexter]]. The [[Minister of Defence (France)|French Ministry of War]] said it had no need for a submachine gun and mass-production did not begin until 1939.<ref name="Atlas-fr"/>

The German army seized the MAS plant in 1940 just as the MAS-38 was entering large-scale production. The Germans accepted the gun as a substitute standard weapon, naming it the 7.65&nbsp;mm '''MP722(f)'''. They continued production of the gun for their own armed forces and supplied some to the [[Vichy France|Vichy French]].

On April 28, 1945, one was used by [[Italian resistance movement|Italian partisans]] to execute the former [[Fascism|Fascist]] leader [[Benito Mussolini]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3539272.stm|title=Gun that killed Mussolini shown|date=5 August 2004|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516141346/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3539272.stm|archive-date=May 16, 2023}}</ref>

Production ended in 1949.<ref name="Atlas-fr">{{cite encyclopedia|title=MAS 1938|language=fr | encyclopedia =Encyclopédie des armes : Les forces armées du monde|publisher=Atlas|year=1986|pages=26–27|volume=I|number=2. Les pistolets-mitrailleurs 1939-1945}}</ref> By that time 1,958 were manufactured before German occupation, and further production is unknown. The French police continued to use the MAS-38 after World War II until it was replaced in the 1950s by the [[MAT-49]] submachine gun.

==Design details==
[[File:Mitra francese MAS 38 di Michele Moretti, che sparò a Benito Mussolini.JPG|thumb|right|The MAS-38 used by [[Walter Audisio]] to execute Benito Mussolini ([[National Historical Museum (Albania)|National Historical Museum of Albania]])]]
The MAS-38 is 623mm (24.53&nbsp;in) long with a 224&nbsp;mm (8.82&nbsp;in) barrel; it weighs 2.87&nbsp;kg (6.33&nbsp;lb) empty. It uses a 32-round box magazine. The muzzle velocity is 350&nbsp;m/s (1,148&nbsp;ft/s) and it has a rate of fire of 600 to 700 rounds per minute.

The MAS-38 was chambered for the [[7.65mm Longue]] cartridge, which although similar to the [[Pedersen device|.30 Pedersen cartridge]] is not an exact copy. The 7.65 French Longue cartridge is nearly identical to its predecessor used by the Pedersen device, but with slight differences in the groove of the shell. This was also the cartridge used for France's [[Pistolet automatique modèle 1935A|M1935]] series of service pistols, allowing for limited standardization, but with the effect of preventing French soldiers from using captured enemy ammunition.

The MAS-38 is easily recognizable due to its unorthodox receiver layout. This is because the receiver and butt diverge in alignment from the axis of the barrel by several degrees, making the weapon compact as its bolt recoils inside a tube running through the buttstock, while also enabling a lighter bolt to be used by providing mechanical disadvantage to the pressure from the expanding propellant gases. To allow a natural aiming stance, the butt had to drop while the receiver had to remain in alignment. This required that the bolt approach the breech at an angle and the face of the bolt was cut obliquely to allow it to close evenly on the cartridge. The MAS-38 also features an unusual safety catch: the bolt was locked (in either the forward or rear position) by pushing the trigger forward. A valuable feature was that tools were not required for its disassembly.

A very high quality weapon,<ref name="Atlas-fr"/> the MAS-38 was machined from solid steel with only a few stamped parts. It was designed with a buffered sear assembly to prevent wear and increase the life of the internal parts. A dual range sight system was concealed within the receiver so as to be out of sight until it was flipped up for use.

The odd appearance of the MAS-38 did not detract from its accuracy, but its cartridge was underpowered compared to the German [[9mm Luger|9mm]] standard pistol ammunition.<ref name="Atlas-fr"/>

==Users==
* {{flag|Burkina Faso}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=National inventories, Burkina Faso|encyclopedia=Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002|date=22 November 2000|first=Terry J.|last=Gander}}</ref>
*{{flag|Central African Republic}} [[Law enforcement in the Central African Republic|Central African Republic Police]] had 30 MAS-38s in 1963.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Central African Republic and Small Arms: A Regional Tinderbox|first1=Eric G.|last1= Berman |first2=Louisa N. |last2=Lombard|date= December 2008|publisher=[[Small Arms Survey]]|isbn=978-2-8288-0103-8|url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/D-Book-series/book-07-CAR/SAS-Central-African-Republic-and-Small-Arms.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802224632/http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/D-Book-series/book-07-CAR/SAS-Central-African-Republic-and-Small-Arms.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 2, 2014|page=44}}</ref>
*{{flag|France}}: [[French armed forces]].
**{{flagicon|Free French}}: [[French Resistance]] and [[Free French Forces]].
**{{flag|Vichy France}}
*{{flagcountry|Nazi Germany}}: Known as the Maschinenpistole 722(f) in German service.
*{{flagcountry|Poland}}
* {{flag|Senegal}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=National inventories, Senegal|encyclopedia=Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001-2002|date=22 November 2000|first=Terry J.|last=Gander}}</ref>
*{{flag|Vietnam}}
**{{flagicon|North Vietnam|1945}}: [[Viet Minh]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Vital Guide to Combat Guns and Infantry Weapons|page=29|author=Chris Bishop |year=1996|isbn=1853105392}}</ref>
**{{flag|South Vietnam}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Small Arms of the Vietnam War: A Photographic Study |page=22|author=Dale A. Dye|date=18 August 2015|isbn=978-0986195518}}</ref>
*{{flag|Laos}}: [[Lao Issara]] and [[Pathet Lao]].

== References ==
<references/>

== External links ==
* [https://archive.today/20230525143121/https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30033490 French SE MAS 1935 submachine-gun] (catalog no. FIR 6058) at [[Imperial War Museums]]
* [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/xOX21MhEIXo The French MAS-38 Submachine Gun]

{{WWIIFrenchInfWeapons}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mas-38}}
[[Category:.32 ACP submachine guns]] <!-- variant -->
[[Category:.32 Longue firearms]]
[[Category:Submachine guns of France]]
[[Category:World War II submachine guns]]
[[Category:World War II infantry weapons of France]]
[[Category:World War II infantry weapons of Germany]]
[[Category:Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1939]]
[[Category:Off-axis bolt travel blowback firearms]]