Le Français
In 1912 Etienne Mimard began to design a new self-loading pistol. His pistol, unlike most others of the period, owed nothing to John M. Browning’s designs, but was quite original. It was patented on 6 August 1913 (French patent 472,505) and first appeared in the Manufrance catalogue of 1914. Proudly named “The French” pistol, or le Français, it remained in production until the company’s demise.
Le Français is one of the simplest pistols ever produced. It has a minimum of moving parts, and several parts perform two functions. The primary components are the frame, slide, and barrel. The gun is blowback operated, double action only, with no extractor--the empty brass shell being ejected by residual gas pressure in the breech. Le Française has a tip-up barrel that opens automatically when the magazine is removed and will only close when a magazine is inserted. The round in the chamber is loaded by hand when the barrel is tipped up, as there are no serrations on the slide for retraction. There is a lever on the right side to open the barrel manually. The spring that works the barrel latch serves also to tension the magazine, and when the magazine is removed the spring relaxes and forces the latch lever down to release the barrel.
Le Français Recoil Spring & Lever
The trigger guard serves as a spring that raises the barrel when the barrel release lever is engaged. When the barrel is open, if it is tipped further forward a lip on its underside lifts the front of the slide up so that it can be easily removed.
Le Français has the most unusual recoil spring design of any pistol. The spring itself is positioned vertically in front of the magazine well. Two L-shaped bell crank levers, one on each side of the gun beneath the grips, connect the recoil spring to the slide, providing a negative mechanical advantage of approximately 5 to 1, so the recoil spring is compressed only a very short distance compared to the movement of the slide. Originally, the pivot screws for the two levers also served as grip screws, a laudable dual use, but their position was not ideal and eventually separate grip screws were provided nearer the center of the grips. The screws that hold the bell-crank levers extend outward from the grips, and the grip plates are hollowed to accommodate them--so the screws help keep the grip plates properly positioned on the grip.
The trigger, connector bar, and sear form a single unit. The stirrup-shaped connector extends on both sides of the magazine. The unit moves freely in slots in the frame and is tensioned by a spring at the rear. Originally this was an S-shaped leaf spring, but after 1924 the leaf spring was replaced by a coil spring around a guide. When the trigger is pressed the sear moves to the rear, pulling the firing pin back with it, and the angle of the slots in the frame is such that as the sear reaches its rearmost position it is cammed downward, releasing the firing pin. Hence, the gun is never cocked except when the trigger is pulled and no further safety mechanism is required.
The magazine is held in place by two short wings that extend laterally from the base, which fit into notches in the bottom of the grip. The magazine is tensioned to the rear of the magazine well by the spring which also operates the barrel release lever. The two short wings are checkered on their ends, and the magazine is removed by grasping these wings, pressing the magazine forward in the grip, and pulling down. This method of retention was replaced in 1935 with a conventional magazine release at the bottom rear of the grip. The wings were retained in a slightly different form as a means of grasping the magazine for removal.
Catalogue advertisements for the Le Français asserted, first, that most automatic pistols have serious drawbacks. If you carry them cocked, they are dangerous. If you don’t carry them cocked, they aren’t ready to fire when you need them. If they have a safety, you have to remember to disengage it. Most automatic weapons are weapons of attack rather than defense, and the person who is attacking has plenty of time to make his weapon ready, whereas the person defending must be ready instantly. Secondly, the advertisements assert that most automatic pistols are dangerous in that you can remove the magazine and easily forget to remove the cartridge in the chamber. This can’t happen with the Le Français because when you remove the magazine the barrel tips open.
Prior to 1939, some guns in 6.35mm and 9mm were sold under the Franco brand by Manumodèle, the wholesale subsidiary of Manufrance. Total production of all types of Le Français pistols is estimated at about 250,000.
Modèle de Poche
Le Français de Poche
The 6.35mm poche or pocket model was the original Le Français design, introduced in 1914, with a 60mm (2.36 inch) barrel. With an overall length of 112mm (4.4 inch), it was easily concealable in pocket or purse. The magazine held seven rounds. The firing pin was held in by a plug at the rear of the breech with a hole in its center through which the back of the firing pin protruded when the trigger was pulled. The plug was retained by bayonette-type lugs. Early plugs had a flat rear surface that was checkered; later plugs were rounded and polished. The front sight was integral with the barrel, and the rear sight was integral with the slide.
Early Poche models were available in four grades, from No.1 to No.4, with number 1 being the low-end unengraved model, and numbers 2 through 4 featuring increasingly elaborate engraving. All were blued. Later, with the advent of other models, each grade was given its own model number: 802, the standard model; 808, with improved finish, polished trigger guard, and minor engraving; 814, with nickel trigger guard, finely checkered grips, deluxe brilliant blue-black finish, and luxury engraving; and 820, the same as 814 but with further artistic decoration. In later years the model 802 was also offered in nickel finish.
In 1939 a number 812 extra light model (modèle extra-léger) was introduced with an aluminum alloy frame. The barrel, barrel latch, slide, trigger guard and magazine release were chromed steel. The grips were mother of pearl. The extra light model weighed 245 grams (the standard model weighed 320 grams). Production was halted by the war, so this model is extremely scarce.
In 1965 four cooling fins were added to the breech of the Modèle de Poche. The plug in the end of the breech was enlarged slightly, but still retained the hole for the firing pin. The magazine was provided with a ring at the base to hold a spare cartridge to go in the chamber (like the type Armée--see below). The Poche with these features only appeared in the catalogue for two years.
According to Cadiou and Richard, the Le Français was a standard issue sidearm for some officers of the French Criminal Investigation Department.
