Original German WWII German Armed Forces Heereswaffenamt Technical Manual For The French MAS-38 – Maschinenpistole 722(f) Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. Before the war began the German armed forces Heereswaffenamt compiled a list of known foreign equipment and assigned a unique number to each weapon. These weapons were called Fremdgerät or Beutegerät (“foreign device” or “captured device”) and their technical details were recorded in a fourteen-volume set that was periodically updated. The Germans also captured large amounts of foreign equipment during WWII (for example, over 11 million rifles by the end of 1944) that they tested and cataloged using the same system. The Germans sometimes referred to these weapons as Kriegsbeute (“war booty”) and the Fremdgerät numbers are sometimes referred to as Beute Nummers (“booty numbers”).

This example is one of those books for a Fremdgerät. The front cover is titled with Maschinenpistole 722 (F) which is the German designation for the French MAS-38. The German designation of the type of firearm, model/year number or unique identification number and lastly its country code. The country codes like (f) for Französisch (French) follows the same pattern with all other countries, using the first letter of the name.

The booklet is in excellent condition and is dated 1944. There is age toning present but all text is still able to be read without fault. There are 8 pages which contain everything you would need to know about the weapon it is based off of. There are diagrams, accessories, capabilities, limitations and more.

This is a must have for the German document collector! Comes more than ready for display.

MAS-38
The MAS-38 is a French submachine gun designed in the 1930s and used by French and German forces during the Second World War. It was derived from a small arms development program that took place between 1918 and 1922 under the control of the Service Technique de l’Armement. A submachine gun, a light machine gun and a semiautomatic rifle were developed to replace all the existing small arms. Budgetary pressures resulting from the building of the Maginot Line led to the delay of adoption of these new arms except for the LMG 1924.

The Pistolet Mitrailleur MAS modèle 38 (MAS Model 38 Submachine Gun) was developed from the experimental MAS-35, itself derived from the STA 1922 and the MAS 1924 both in 9 mm produced immediately after World War I. Prior to the development of this weapon France used a variety of German and Swiss submachine guns.

MAS, the Manufacture d’Armes de Saint-Étienne (Weapons Industry of Saint-Étienne), was a French supplier of arms that manufactured several firearms for the French military, including the MAS-36 rifle, the MAS-49 rifle, and the FAMAS. It is now part of Nexter. The French Ministry of War said it had no need for a submachine gun and mass-production did not begin until 1939.

The German army seized the MAS plant in 1940 just as the MAS-38 was entering large-scale production. The Germans accepted the gun as a substitute standard weapon, naming it the 7.65 mm MP722(f). They continued production of the gun for their own armed forces and supplied some to the Vichy French.

On April 28, 1945, one was used by Italian partisans to execute the former Fascist leader Benito Mussolini.

Production ended in 1949. By that time 1,958 were manufactured before German occupation, and further production is unknown. The French police continued to use the MAS-38 after World War II until it was replaced in the 1950s by the MAT-49 submachine gun.