In order to offer the market a pistol with a more accurate shooting, the Manufacture Francaise d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne in 1922 the company released a new model called the "Policeman" (Le Fran? Ais Type Policeman). This weapon differed from the "pocketmodel" only by the longer 88mm barrel and the characteristic entry valve at the rear of the bolt.
The pistol had the same caliber as the previous model - Browning 6, 35 × 15, 5 HR (later pistols chambered for Browning caliber 7, 65 mm were produced), the overall dimensions of the weapon were 24 × 94x155 mm, weight without cartridges was 370 g.
The capacity of the weapon was determined by the ratio: 7-8 rounds in the magazine (magazines for weapons of 6, 35 mm caliber hold 7 rounds, magazines for weapons of other calibers - 8 rounds), 1 in the chamber and 1 cartridge in the holder of the lower part of the magazine. The fired cartridges are thrown out of the barrel due to the pressure of the powder gases when firing, to remove unfired cartridges and equip the pistol with the first cartridge, the barrel was hinged upwards with the breech end, for which a lever is located on the frame on the right above the trigger. Sights consist of a pointed front sight, which is made integral with the barrel and sight.
On the side surface of the pistol frame there is a characteristic marking: "Le Fran? Ais Type Policeman", on the handle the abbreviation "MF".
The "police" pistol was officially put into service with the gendarmerie (that's why it is sometimes called "lezhandarme") and the city police, especially the employees of the criminal police. In the literature there is information that the pistol was also used by employees of the National Forestry Department of France. Since the 6.35 mm caliber does not quite correspond to the purpose for the law enforcement forces, from about the end of the 20s this weapon was produced with a 7.65 mm caliber chambered for the Browning cartridge. The barrel of this pistol had several cooling grooves.
Model "Policeman" was produced mainly with a standard finish under # 826 (bluing, plastic handles), but there were other models: # 832 Modele ameliore (reinforced), # 838 Model deluxe and # 844Grand Luxe.
Pistol "Policeman" (Le Fran? Ais Type Policeman) enjoyed quite a lot of success and was produced after both world wars, until the end of the 60s.
In 1928, the most powerful and largest pistol of the Le Fran? Ais family appeared, the Le Français Type Armee pistol chambered for the 9 mm Browning Long (9 × 20 Browning SR). The barrel of a pistol of 9 mm caliber has numerous grooves for cooling.
The pistol cheeks were made of black plastic and were attached to the handle with screws. On the cheeks of the pistol, there was not always a marking in the form of the manufacturer's abbreviation.
The pistol was created in the hope that it would be adopted by the army, however, despite the fact that the French army still bought a small batch of pistols, the pistol was not adopted for service due to insufficient penetration. In addition, the practical rate of fire of the weapon turned out to be low. The force that had to be applied to the trigger for firing a shot, and the free travel of the trigger, were not entirely adequate to the requirements and amounted to 4 kg and 7 mm, respectively, which affected the accuracy of shooting. The pistol was used as an additional personal weapon of military officers.
After World War II, the 9mm army pistol was no longer produced, and in 1950 Manufrance released a version of the Le Fran? Ais pistol chambered for 7.65mm Browning (7.65x17mm Browning SR).
In this pistol, it has already become possible to reload the weapon by pulling back the bolt, which in this model had a notch for easy holding. The pistol had an external extractor for extracting an unfired cartridge. The release of this version of the pistol continued almost until the end of the 60s of the twentieth century.
