MAS M1892
| MAS M1892 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| general information | |
| Civil name: | Lebel revolver |
| Military designation: | Revolver d'Ordonnance 1892 |
| Country of operation: | France, Romania |
| Developer / Manufacturer: | Manufacture nationale d'armes de St-Etienne (MAS), as well as other state arsenals |
| Manufacturer country: | France |
| Production time: | 1892 to 1924 |
| Weapon Category: | revolver |
| Furnishing | |
| Overall length: | 254 mm |
| Weight: (unloaded) | 0.84 kg |
| Barrel length : | 117 mm |
| Technical specifications | |
| Caliber : | 8 × 27 mm R Lebel |
| Possible magazine fillings : | 6 cartridges |
| Ammunition supply : | Revolver drum |
| Number of trains : | 4th |
| Twist : | Left |
| Lists on the subject | |
The MAS M1892 was a French revolver. It served as the standard handgun in the French army during the First World War .
technology
The M1892 was introduced with the development of smokeless ammunition along with the Lebel rifle . The French military decreed that rifles should have a uniform small caliber of 8 mm. The barrel of the new revolver thus had the same draw and field dimensions as the Lebel rifle. Because of this, the model is often (incorrectly) referred to as the Lebel revolver , although the namesake of the rifle, Nicolas Lebel, was not involved in the development of this weapon.
To be able to equate the ballistic requirements of long and short weapons in this way turned out to be a fallacy. Even if the ammunition of the weapon had been sufficiently strong, it still lacked stopping power. The caliber was too small for that. In Great Britain, the opposite approach was taken: there, too, black powder was replaced as a propellant, but the caliber of around 11.6 mm was retained. The powder chamber was made smaller by shortening the sleeve, which resulted in significantly better results.
commitment
The revolver drum could be folded out to load the weapon, but only to the right. This unusual arrangement stems from the traditional military mindset that the revolver only played the role of a secondary defensive weapon intended for the left hand. Instead, cutting and stabbing weapons were reserved for the right hand. In reality, however, sabers were already meaningless at the time of their introduction, and the drum that swung out to the right turned out to be a hindrance. The MAS M1892 was very robust and well made, albeit quite complex to manufacture. A total of around 300,000 pieces were produced. Many of them were still in use during the Second World War, as prey weapons in the arsenal of the German Wehrmacht they were carried as Revolver 637 (f) . After 1945 they were part of the equipment of the French armed forces and were used in the Indochina War and the Algerian War . The last copies were finally taken out of service around 1960.
