MAS SE 1935 SMG: Emblematic of French Interwar Gun Development

Submachine guns made their entrance into military thinking during World War One. The French military saw this and decided to adopt one in the years after the war, although they saw it in a bit of a different light than other countries. For France, the SMG was to be a weapon for junior officers, really more of a personal defense weapon than a combat arm. For this reason, they emphasized light and handy designs, and this is exactly what MAS produced.

The first iteration of the weapon came about in 1924, but it would take more than ten years of slow trials and modification before it was actually adopted into service. In fact, the final decision was actually to adopt the SMG design by Charles Petter and the SACM company, as MAS was expected to be working at full capacity building MAS36 rifles. However, when SACM proved unable to produce guns in a timely manner and war was clearly imminent, the MAS was retroactively designated MAS38 and ordered into emergency production.

What we are looking at today is one of the MAS SE (Section d’Etude; Study Department) 1935 trials guns. It included a manual safety lever that was rejected after testing but is otherwise essentially identical to the final version. Mass production of the MAS SE 1935 began in November 1939, with the first actual deliveries in April 1940. Concurrently, the MAS38 production line was set up, with its first gun completed on June 6, 1940. In total 1,958 MAS SMGs (or the two models combined) were produced before the armistice on June 23, but logistic chaos made it essentially impossible to get any into the fighting. A small number are documented in use near the St Etienne factory, and these were probably taken directly from the production line.

Two groups of MAS SE 1935 guns exist; the initial trials guns (approximately 100 in number) and the later mass production run. The first batch have two-digit serial numbers, and include early features. The production guns are nearly identical to the MAS38 and are serialized in the F series. The MAS38 remained in production during the war for use by the Vichy government, and was used in Indochina after World War Two as well as remaining a police service weapon well after the war.

Many thanks to the French National Forensic Police Department for allowing me access to film this prototype example for you!