Manufacture d'Armes de Chatellerault 1950

The Model 1950 pistol (also designated as Mle.1950 or M1950) replaced Model 1935 line of pistols in French army and was adopted as standard pistol of the French army in 1950. It was the standard sidearm toward the end of of the First Indochina War between France and the Viet Minh in Vietnam. It was manufactured by two French state owned arms factories. MAC (Manufacture d'Armes de Chatellerault) was made Model 1950 from 1950 to 1963, and later MAS (Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Etienne) was made Model 1950 from 1961 to 1978. Approximately 341,000 modele 1950's were produced. It was based on the Modele 1935S, although it shares some characteristics with the Modele 1935A. The Model 1950 is short-recoil operated with a Browning style swinging link beneath the barrel, locked-breech pistol, single action trigger, with an exposed hammer and a manual safety mounted on the slide. Manual safety is lever at the left side of the slide, next to the hammer. It is now superseded by the PAMAS.