French MAB 32acp

[Tallball]

Does anyone around here know anything much about these pistols? Or maybe someone does or did own one? I would enjoy hearing comments.

I've been wanting a longish barreled 32acp with decent sights. I love my Colt 1903, but the sights are tiny and my eyes aren't what they used to be.

I have seen these French MAB Model D's here and there. They look kind of like an FN 1910/22. I made a winning bid on one today. Hopefully I will have it to the range soon. I am hoping for a 32acp that I can shoot decently out to 15 yards. The vast majority of them seemed designed for shorter ranges.

 

[PRM]

I owned one about 30 years ago. It was a really well made gun and functioned great. The sights left a lot to be desired, but were pretty typical of that era. I was young at the time and didn't really have a gun collection. If I wanted another gun, something else had to go. It's one I wished I had kept.

 

[Jim K]

They are pretty good guns, but that "target" sight and "target" grips are not original. They were put on by the importer in order to get enough "points" for import, so it is unlikely that the pistol will shoot to point of aim.

Jim

 

[kBob]

I must admit never having fired one, but did handle a few back in the 1980s when they were coming in a in a couple of models. They seemed nice guns and I would not have turned my nose up at one. I saw several however that where missing a rear sight and when asked about it owners said the rear sight it came with was plastic and broke. Still they were at attractive prices, but I had "plenty" of handguns (oh foolish youth) and was on a beginning teacher's pay at the time having just given up my even less well paying magazine job.

If those sights work or you can find a decent set of rear sights I would bet that would be a fun .32.

Edit:

Just had to know so went over to Numerich and they listed parts for and Had a diagram for the Model D which I think that is. Original rear sight drift adjustable is available about $8 and .32 Magazines at about $25. Bunch of other parts still available for the D model at least.

-kBob

 

[Tallball]

Thanks kBob! I had to send a usps money order, so I probably won't get the pistol until next week. I am looking forward to shooting it. As soon as I know that it functions correctly I am going to order some of those magazines!

 

[gotboostvr]

That seems like an incredibly wise investment. I can all but guarantee the price on those will never be lower (or as easy to find) as right now.

Kinda the flip side as to why I'm holding onto a few Romanian PSL magazines leftover from when I had the rifle to match despite not particularly wanting another PSL.

 

[bainter1212]

Interesting pistol.

Are these all C&Rs?

 

[Jim K]

AFAIK, the MAB Modele D was not made after WWII, so they would all be C&R as over 50 years old.

The original rear sight is steel, in a dovetail. If a plastic sight was used, it was to meet import requirements.

Jim

 

[dastardly-D]

French .32

I thought the French .32 was not acp but of a different size .32 ? Could anybody verify that for me ? Thank you !

 

[Jim K]

You are probably thinking of the 7.65 French Long (aka the 7.65mm MAS), which was used in their M1935A and 1935S service pistols and the M1938 SMG. It is a more powerful round and those pistols are locked breech, using a Browning type link, like the 1911. The 7.65 French Long, which some importers called the ".32 Magnum", was never imported in quantity. It is NOT the same as the 7.65 Browning, which we call the .32 ACP; the MAB Model D is chambered for the latter round.

FWIW, the 7.65 French Long cartridge case is identical to that of the cartridge made for the WWI Pedersen Device. Apparently the U.S. shipped millions of rounds of that ammunition to France then, after the war just left it there. The French liked the general idea but the round they adopted has a much longer and heavier bullet and (in case you need to know) won't fit in the Pedersen Device magazine.

Jim

 

[dastardly-D]

.32

Thanks Jim for setting that straight with me, I didn't realize the French had 2 different 32's .

 

[kBob]

According to Ezell, MAB started Model D production in September 1933.

Keep in mind that the French used TONS of Spanish built "Ruby" .32 ACP pistols in World War I. The .32 ACP/7.65 Browning was very popular in France as a result.

WhHen the Germans came in 1940 they took control of Bayonne ( the B in MAB) and put the workers to making Model Ds for the German Army through 1942 they made upwards of 54,000 for the Germans. Not sure if they were Waffen Amt marked or not, but would look for such marks. Rather than a cryptic code number the Germans called these "Pistole MAB Kaliber 7,65mm"

As someone mentioned the 1935 series and its unique ammunition, it is interesting to note that despite the fact that the French had "improved" the 1935A with a newer easier to make design the 1935S and just begun production of such that when the Germans took over they only produced the 1935A. After the War BOTH went back in production to Arm the French Army. I personally think the 19355A is the nicer looking and better feeling of those guns. I want one....and a reliable source of ammunition. Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?

Back to the MAB Model D. It is basically a Browning model 1910 with an extended barrel and slide ( so no bayonet mount slide extension re the improved Browning.) The Model C has the shorter Browning 1910 barrel and slide.

BTW the French were still using the .32 ACP Manhurian made PPK and PP into the '80s at least as a Police weapon as were most German city level police departments.

-kBob

 

[jmace57]

I have 2 of these. Both came with the awful grips and sight. As was mentioned before get new sights at numrich. If you are going to replace the grips, don't even try to find original ones. They have all shrunk to the point of unusability. Somebody like vintage gun grips will have replacements that look original. I thoroughly enjoy mine. Pleasant to shoot.

 

[kBob]

I was going to suggest a wood rasp and some sand paper to get rid of the thumb swell, if he does not like it.

I once knew someone with odd grips on a Ruger MarkI, actual Mark I not just an RST4 or RST6. Seems he took a rasp and paper to his original thumb swell grips. It was of course an early model frame......and I heard a million voices call out in distress and despair.

Nice slab sided semi auto might be just the thing to try one's hand at grip making on. "The rare MAB Model D with unfinished white pine smooth grips" comes to mind.

-kBob

 

[Tallball]

Thank you to everyone for your kind comments.

Coincidentally, I was given a French Model 1935s by a relative many years ago. He thought that another relative had brought it home from the war, but I later discovered that it was manufactured afterwards. It was a nice little gun, much like a small 1911. If ammo were available I would have kept it, but I eventually traded it for a Chinese Tokarev in 9mm. The 1935s was probably worth more, but the Norinco is a sweet shooter and I don't regret the trade.

I picked up the MAB Model D from my FFL/LGS about an hour ago. I like it. The sights are unusual, but seem to have the potential to let me shoot it with decent accuracy at my usual range of 15 yards. (I love my 1903, but its sights are too small for that.) I REALLY like the grips. I have huge hands, and most handguns don't fit me very well. The gigantic left grip on this thing gives me something to hang onto. The thumb swell also makes it impossible to reach the magazine release easily, but this is a range toy, so that really doesn't matter. (I enjoy shooting 32acp, but don't feel comfortable with it as a SD round.)

It is in great shape. It looks like it was barely fired at all. It has the adjustable sights and "target" grips that seem to be added on to make it importable to the US under the 1968 law. And it has "Made in France" engraved on the slide. But there is no stamp or marking to indicate the importer. I thought that imported guns were supposed to have that. Maybe someone can explain that to me.

I am going to the shooting range with my FiL tomorrow morning. It will be very interesting to see how well this thing shoots. I am guessing that it will shoot pretty well. I'll let y'all know about that tomorrow when I get home.