Original French MAT-49 Display Submachine Gun Serial 22097 with Sling Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. The French MAT-49 submachine gun was developed by French arms factory Manufacture Nationale d’Armes de Tulle (MAT), for use by the French Army and was first produced in 1949. The design features a short, retractable wire stock, which when extended gave the weapon a length of 720 mm (28 in). The most innovative feature however was the magazine well, which could be folded forward parallel to the barrel for parachute jump, or with a 45° angle hence allowing a safe carry until the magazine well is brought back to vertical position before opening fire.

Barrel length is 230 mm (9.1 in), with the MAT-49/54 manufactured with extended barrels and non-retractable wooden stocks. As issued, the MAT-49 fires a 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge, using a single-column 20-round magazine for desert use or 32-round similar to the Sten magazine.

This is a fantastic French MAT-49 Display Submachine gun, constructed using a non-firing BATF compliant original reassembled receiver. With 35% of the receiver that has been completely severed and replaced with solid steel bar stock, as per BATF guidance. This is the first time that we have been able to offer a MAT-49 display gun, and it’s a fantastic piece!

The markings on the top of the receiver are mostly retained, indicating that this example was one of the earlier examples manufactured at Tulle Arsenal. The serial number looks to be 22097, and is marked on both the receiver and butt cap of the trigger group. There are some additional markings on other parts of the display gun, which has a lovely oxide finish. The right side of the receiver still has the ejection port, however the folding cover is missing. The barrel is not original, and was fabricated from a deactivated UZI barrel. The front sight is a replacement and the rear sight is static. The trigger still pulls, and the grip safety is fully functional.

The shoulder stock can still correctly be changed between the long and short positions, and also can be closed up near the rear for maximum space savings. Most importantly, the magazine well can still be swiveled into the safety position when the release catch to the rear of the magazine well is pressed. The magazine well catch is also functional, however we unfortunately did not have any MAT-49 magazines available, so a sten magazine has been substituted, and will be deactivated where required. The included leather sling is in very good condition, and both sling attachment points are still present.

A very nice inert deactivated example of an innovated French Submachine gun design, ready to display!

More on the MAT-49
In 1949, after evaluating several prototypes (including a collapsible design from Hotchkiss), the French MAT factory began production of the MAT-49 9 mm submachine gun. The MAT-49 used a machine stamping process which allowed the economical production of large numbers of submachine guns, then urgently required by the French Government for use by Army, French Foreign Legion as well as airborne and colonial forces to meet the need of a compact weapon.

The MAT-49 is blowback-operated and box magazine-fed, with a rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute on full auto. The MAT 49/54, a modified MAT-49s manufactured for police forces, had two triggers, allowing use of full-auto fire or single shots, but most were manufactured as full-auto only. Minus magazine, the MAT-49 weighs about 3.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds), which is heavy for a submachine gun. The weapon incorporates a grip safety which is located on the backside of the pistol grip. The rear sights are flip-up and “L”-shaped, and marked for a range of 50 and 100 meters (55 and 109 yd). Production ceased before the introduction of the FAMAS assault rifle in 1979.

Production continued at Tulle until the mid-1960s, then switched to the Manufacture d’armes de Saint-Étienne plant (MAS), where the weapon was produced until 1973. In 1979, the French armed forces adopted the FAMAS 5.56 mm NATO assault rifle, and the MAT-49 was gradually phased out of service.

The MAT-49 saw widespread combat use during the First Indochina War and the Algerian War, as well as the 1956 Suez Crisis. The weapon found considerable favor with airborne and mechanized troops, who prized it for its simplicity, ruggedness, firepower and compactness.

After French forces left Indochina, the People’s Army of Vietnam and Viet Minh converted many captured MAT-49s to the Soviet 7.62 mm Tokarev pistol cartridge, then available in large quantities from the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China. These converted versions could be distinguished by a longer barrel and a higher rate of fire at 900 rpm.

North Vietnam covertly provided MAT-49s to anti-French occupation groups during the Algerian War after the French left Indochina.