After the end of the First World War, the French army was armed with a variety of small arms of various classes. The troops had rifles and machine guns of various types, but there were no submachine guns at that time. In the early twenties, the command realized the need for such weapons, and initiated its development. A few years later, the first French STA 1922 submachine gun appeared.
Since 1919, the French command has been analyzing the experience of recent battles, and also studied captured weapons. Research has shown all the advantages of existing submachine guns and weapons of some other classes. On May 11, 1921, the military department issued an order to develop a number of new types of weapons, including several machine guns, automatic pistols and submachine guns. Shortly before the appearance of the order, technical specifications for a promising weapon were formed.
STA 1924 submachine gun equipped with a bipod
The military, having studied the existing samples, demanded the development of an automatic weapon for a pistol cartridge, capable of showing a high density of fire at ranges up to 200 m. It was necessary to ensure the rate of fire at the level of 400-500 rounds per minute. The weapon was supposed to use detachable magazines for 25 rounds of the 9x19 mm "Parabellum" type. The terms of reference also stipulated the required parameters of accuracy and accuracy, the design of the sight, etc. In terms of ergonomics, the submachine gun had to be similar to existing rifles. At the same time, a bipod of the most advantageous design should be used.
Several major organizations in the French arms industry were involved in the work on the submachine gun project. The engineers at the Section Technique de l'Artillerie (STA), the Camp de Satory experimental group and the Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne (MAS) plant were supposed to present their options for the appearance of the new weapon. After comparing several promising projects, the military planned to choose the most successful one. Curiously, the subsequent choice of the army did not remove the "losing" organizations from the project. So, the STA development weapon was planned to be produced at the MAS plant.
It should be noted that French gunsmiths became interested in the topic of submachine guns much earlier than the military wanted to get such a weapon. STA specialists began to study this direction back in 1919, and by the beginning of the new program, they managed to complete some of the preliminary work. Thanks to this, the creation of a new project that met the customer's requirements did not take much time. A prototype for factory tests was assembled in October 1921. In the next 1922, several similar products were transferred to the military for checks in the army.
The first version of the submachine gun received the designation STA Modèle 1922. The modified versions of the project had their own designations, such as STA 1924, STA 1924 M1, etc. Also in the name of the weapon, the manufacturer was often indicated. In this case, the name looked like STA / MAS 1924. The fact that the project at different times offered prototypes of different appearance and with different names, can lead to certain difficulties.
The gunsmiths from the Section Technique de l'Artillerie, starting work in 1919, took the German MP 18 submachine gun as the basis for their promising weapon. Thus, the future STA 1922 was based on borrowed ideas, and also partially repeated the existing design. Nevertheless, almost all new parts were developed from scratch, which does not allow us to consider the French product as just a copy of the German one. Numerous innovations of one kind or another, associated with ergonomics and operating features, further remove the French project from the "basic" German one.
Weapon without bipod
The new submachine gun was to be built according to the traditional scheme for that time. It was proposed to use a simplified receiver mounted on a wooden stock. The weapon was to be equipped with a barrel not equipped with its own protective casing. In this case, a bipod was placed on the trunk. It was proposed to use detachable magazines, the design of which partially repeated one of the foreign products. In the course of the further development of the project, such an architecture was retained, however, individual structural elements were regularly updated.
The STA 1922 submachine gun was equipped with a 215 mm rifled barrel (24 caliber). The barrel had a cylindrical outer surface with a pair of thickenings in the muzzle and breech. The front bulge was intended for front sight and bipod. The rear housed the chamber, and also provided a connection between the barrel and the receiver. Unlike many other samples of its class, the French submachine gun did not have to be equipped with a barrel cover. Any means to facilitate the transfer of heat to atmospheric air were also not provided.
The project proposed the use of the simplest receiver in the form of a tube of sufficient length, closed with a plug from the back. In early versions of the project, the receiver was proposed to be made of duralumin, which made it possible to obtain the required strength with a noticeable reduction in weight. The receiver had several windows and grooves. In front of it there were a magazine receiving window and a window for ejecting cartridges. A long groove for the bolt handle ran along the right wall. The receiver was connected to the stock with a hinge at the front and a lever at the back. To perform incomplete disassembly, the box was folded forward.
From a certain time, the receiver was supplemented with a movable cover that covered the groove of the bolt handle. By moving the bolt forward and moving its handle, the shooter could turn the cover clockwise relative to the axis of the weapon. In this position, the cover protected the longitudinal slot in the wall of the receiver, preventing dirt from getting inside the weapon.
The weapon received the simplest automation based on a free shutter. The shutter itself was a massive steel part, the shape of which was close to cylindrical. A channel for a movable striker was provided inside the shutter. There was a groove near the mirror for installing a spring-loaded extractor. On the right side of the bolt there was a socket for mounting the cocking handle.
Partial disassembly of the serial STA 1924
A movable striker was placed inside the shutter, made in the form of a cylindrical device with a needle striker in the front part. The rear end of the drummer rested against the reciprocating mainspring. The latter was located at the rear of the receiver. To avoid displacement relative to the desired position, the spring was put on the longitudinal guide rod. It was carried out at the same time as the rear cover of the receiver.
The trigger mechanism was extremely simple, and also did not take up much space. The trigger with a sear and its own spring was mounted on a small frame located under the rear of the receiver. Before the shot, the shutter was in the rearmost position and was fixed with a sear. After pressing the trigger, the bolt with the drummer had to move forward, send the cartridge and fire.
The STA 1922 product was protected from accidental firing in the simplest way. The slot for the bolt handle had a small slot in the upper part. By moving the bolt back, the shooter could place his handle in this slot, which excluded a shot. As part of the USM, its own blocking means were not provided.
The detachable magazine for the STA 1922 was developed on the basis of a similar product for the Italian Villar-Perosa Modello 1918 submachine gun. It was curved and held 40 Parabellum rounds. To reduce the mass of the weapon and its ammunition, the store had to be made of duralumin. The store was placed in a small receiving shaft under the front of the receiver.
The first French submachine gun was equipped with an open sight, which made it possible to fire at ranges from 100 to 600 m. The sight was adjusted by moving the rear sight along with its movable base. In the muzzle of the barrel there was a front sight that did not have the ability to adjust to the side wind.
Front part of receiver and magazine receiver
It was proposed to equip the weapon with a wooden stock, which partially repeated the details for rifles. The front section of the box was located immediately behind the magazine receiver and was equipped with metal hinge parts. The stock was equipped with a metal trigger guard. The neck of the butt received a pistol protrusion. The rear cut of the butt had a metal butt pad. On the butt and on the left wall of the receiver, at the level of the magazine receiver, swivels for the belt were placed.
In accordance with the customer's requirements, the Section Technique de l'Artillerie designers equipped their submachine gun with a bipod. A device with a pair of sliding supports was fixed on the muzzle of the barrel. For transportation, the legs of the bipod were brought together, fastened with a lock and laid under the barrel. It was assumed that the presence of a bipod will improve the accuracy and accuracy of fire when firing with an emphasis. At the same time, the folded bipod should not interfere in other situations. It is known about the existence of several prototypes with a one-legged bipod.
The length of the STA 1922 submachine gun was 830 mm with a mass of less than 2.7 kg (without magazine). The technical rate of fire reached 600-650 rounds per minute. The sight allowed shooting at a distance of up to 600 m, but the effective range of fire was three times less.
At the beginning of 1922, several experienced submachine guns developed by the STA organization were presented to the specialists of the military department. Based on the results of the first tests, the developers received several recommendations for modifying the weapon. Duralumin parts did not pay off, being prohibitively expensive and difficult to manufacture. A sight for shooting at 600 m did not make sense. A 40-round magazine was also considered redundant. The rest of the weapons presented, in general, satisfied the customer.
Improvements to the original project took some time, and new prototypes were only put out for testing by 1924. The new submachine gun, designated STA 1924, had a steel receiver and a new scope. Steel magazines for 32 rounds were also made. To control the consumption of ammunition, longitudinal windows were provided in the rear wall of the store. In terms of its characteristics, the new STA 1924 did not differ much from the basic STA 1922.
Receiver, sight and butt neck
Working on the development of an existing project, the designers from STA came up with several new ideas. The weapon could be equipped with a protective cover for the magazine receiver, a trigger with a choice of fire mode, a bayonet and updated fittings. Upon receipt of customer approval, these innovations could be introduced into the design of the weapon. However, the military was not interested in such a proposal, and the serial STA 1924 had to repeat the design of the prototypes.
In 1924, according to the results of comparative tests of several submitted samples, the Section Technique de l'Artillerie project was recognized as the most successful. The consequence of this was an order for the production of a relatively large batch of weapons intended for military trials. The Manufacture d'armes plant in Saint-Etienne was ordered to produce 300 submachine guns. Half of it was planned to be transferred to the infantry for trial operation. 80 units were intended for artillery, 40 for cavalry and 10 for armored forces. Another 10 products had to go through rigorous tests at the test site, and a dozen of the remaining STA 1924 were reserved.
Submachine guns, now also referred to as STA / MAS 1924, passed all the necessary checks, as a result of which engineers again received recommendations in the context of finalizing the project. The product needed to improve some details and improve ergonomics. After such modifications, the weapon could be put into service and enter the series.
In 1925, the STA Modèle 1924 modifié 1 or STA 1924 M1 submachine gun was brought into testing. He fully met all the requirements, and was recommended for adoption. This decision was confirmed by an order dated 11 August. Soon, the MAS plant received an order for the production of 8250 new model submachine guns. The first batch of serial publications was to go to the troops in the very near future. In the meantime, the manufacturing plant was engaged in setting up production and preparing production facilities.
Designers from STA and employees of the MAS plant continued the technological improvement of weapons, which, however, led to a delay in work. By March 1926, only 10 serial products were assembled, after which production was stopped. As it became clear later, the assembly of weapons was stopped forever. In early July, the command launched a new program for the development of small arms, in which there was no room for the existing STA 1924. According to other sources, before the appearance of the new order, the plant from Saint-Etienne managed to assemble several hundred submachine guns and bring the total number of the entire family to 1000 s extra units.
On the muzzle of the barrel, a block with a front sight and a bipod leg support was placed
For a number of reasons, the military changed one of the basic requirements for a promising submachine gun. Now weapons of this class had to use cartridges of 7, 65 mm caliber of one of the two proposed types. The 9mm submachine gun from Section Technique de l'Artillerie and Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne did not meet these requirements. Rapid reworking of the project for a new cartridge was excluded. As a result, the batch of STA / MAS 1924 M1 products, produced by the spring of 1926, was the last one.
For several years, at least 320 submachine guns were assembled according to the STA / MAS 1922/1924 projects. Products STA 1922 and STA 1924 M1 were the smallest - about a dozen of each type. The largest number of such weapons was collected according to the STA / MAS 1924 project, and it was intended for military trials. Serial products of the "M1" type, which most fully met the customer's requirements, could not become mass-produced.
According to known data, more than three hundred submachine guns of several models remained in service for a certain time, but could not claim a leading role in their niche. The advent of newer weapons later took them out of the game. Nevertheless, a number of STA 1924 submachine guns were able to make it to the front. In 1926-27, these weapons were used by French soldiers during the Reef War in Northern Morocco.
According to some reports, part of the STA / MAS 1924 products remained at least until the beginning of the forties. There are known references to the use of this weapon by units of the French Resistance. Nevertheless, such exploitation was not massive, although it made a certain contribution to the fight against the occupation.
As far as is known, all produced submachine guns of the first French projects were eventually destroyed. Some of these products were disposed of as unnecessary, while others were lost during the fighting. One way or another, not a single such product has survived to our time. It can be assumed that with a different development of events, now the STA / MAS 1922/1924 submachine guns would be of particular interest to museums and collectors.
As a result of the first program for the development of submachine guns, the French military department decided to abandon existing projects and in the future build similar weapons chambered for 7.62 mm bullets. Soon the development of new projects began, but their real results appeared with a great delay - only in the second half of the thirties.
