After liberation from occupation, France began to build a new army. The military required a variety of weapons, including submachine guns. It was proposed to solve this problem both with the help of captured German weapons and by launching the production of our own systems. First, the industry resumed the production of one of the pre-war models, and then began to develop a completely new weapon. By the end of the decade, new designs were introduced, including the MAT-49 product.
We will remind, shortly after the end of the war, the French army, in need of small arms, initiated the resumption of production of submachine guns MAS-38. This weapon was created in the late thirties and had certain drawbacks, but in the current situation it was not necessary to choose. The mass production of an old product made it possible to partially cover the needs of the army, but this did not cancel the need to create new projects. The corresponding work started in the near future.
Submachine gun MAT-49. Photo Deactivated-guns.co.uk
All leading French enterprises were involved in the program for creating a promising submachine gun. In accordance with the requirements of the military, the designers had to create a relatively light and compact weapon for a pistol cartridge with the possibility of automatic fire. Taking into account the operating experience of the existing systems, the customer abandoned the 7, 65x20 mm Longue cartridge, instead of which the more common 9x19 mm Parabellum should have been used. As in several previous versions of the technical assignment, there was a requirement for a folding weapon design designed to facilitate portability.
Several companies participated in the program, including the Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Tulle (MAT) in Tulle. Its specialists already had some experience in creating weapons for the army and could use it in the design of the next model. Pierre Montey became the chief designer of the new submachine gun from MAT.
MAT-49 and its creator Pierre Montey. Photo Guns.com
The first prototype of a promising weapon was assembled in 1948, as a result of which it received the working designation MAT-48. Serial production was launched a year later, which was reflected in the name of the final version of the submachine gun - MAT-49. A few years later, a modification of the weapon appeared, intended for use by the gendarmerie. Its name also reflected the year of its appearance - MAT-49/54.
The MAT plant project proposed the use of one's own and others' developments, as well as the experience gained over the years of the last war. This led to the abandonment of some devices and solutions characteristic of pre-war weapons, but at the same time it made it possible to obtain the desired characteristics and capabilities. In addition, some already known ideas were developed, which gave certain advantages over existing samples.
The MAT-48/49 project provided for the assembly of automatic weapons for a pistol cartridge, built according to the traditional scheme. The submachine gun was to be completed with a medium-length barrel with a protective cover. The automation parts were in a simplified rectangular receiver, under which a folding magazine receiver and a pistol grip were placed. Instead of a wooden buttstock, typical of previous projects, it was proposed to use a simple metal part. All the main parts of the weapon were proposed to be made by stamping, which in the most serious way reduced the cost and labor intensity of production.
Incomplete disassembly of weapons. Photo Guns.com
The MAT-49 submachine gun was equipped with a 9 mm rifled barrel. The barrel had a length of 230 mm or 25.5 caliber. The outer surface of the barrel was cylindrical. Next to the muzzle on the barrel was a rack with a front sight. About two-thirds of the barrel was covered with a cylindrical casing. For better cooling of the barrel with atmospheric air, there were numerous round holes in the casing.
The project used a receiver with a slightly unusual design. The shutter and the reciprocating combat spring should have been inside a square-section casing made in the form of a tube open at the back. The front end of such a casing had fastenings for the barrel, the rear was closed with a removable cover. Other submachine guns of that time were often equipped with a round tubular receiver, but P. Montey and his colleagues decided to use a square piece.
Submachine gun in a firing position. Photo Deactivated-guns.co.uk
On the starboard side of the receiver there was a large window for ejection of spent cartridges. In the transport position of the weapon, this window was closed with a rectangular cover. When the shutter was displaced back, the lid was folded back on a hinge using its own spring. In the left wall of the box, a longitudinal groove was provided for the bolt handle. At the bottom, in the rectangular tube, there were windows and slots for feeding cartridges, withdrawing parts of the trigger, etc.
A relatively high piece of smaller width was attached to the tubular casing of the shutter from below, in the front part of which there was a magazine receiving shaft. Behind it there was an integrated trigger bracket, and in the back there was a metal base for the pistol grip.
The weapon used the principle of a free shutter, which made it possible to simplify the design of its internal devices. The shutter was made in the form of a massive rectangular block with several grooves and channels for connection with other parts. At the back, the bolt was propped up by a reciprocating mainspring. The mechanisms were cocked with a handle brought to the left side of the weapon. The handle was rigidly connected to a shutter plate that covered the longitudinal groove of the receiver. When firing, the handle remained in the forward position and did not move with the bolt.
MAT-49 with folded magazine receiver; the store itself is missing. Photo Modernfirearms.net
The shot was fired from an open bolt, and therefore the weapon did not need a complex firing mechanism. All the main parts of the latter were placed inside the pistol grip. Fire control was carried out by a trigger of a traditional design. Initially, the MAT-49 product could only fire in bursts without the possibility of single fire. The safety of handling weapons was ensured by an automatic safety device. Its large key was on the back edge of the pistol grip. To unlock the trigger and firing, the key had to be pressed all the way into the handle.
The use of a folding stock did not allow a dramatic reduction in dimensions in the transport position, and therefore, already in the thirties, folding store receivers were used in new French projects. The new MAT-48/49 project also provided for the use of similar devices.
Folded weapons with a magazine. Photo Deactivated-guns.co.uk
The receiving shaft, which was part of the receiver, had a U-shaped shape in plan and was not equipped with a front wall. Inside it, a rectangular magazine receiver was placed on two semiaxes. The receiver received a front face of a complex "anatomical" shape. In a vertical combat position, he served as a second handle. At the rear of the box shaft there was a latch that fixed the receiver in the working position. The latch holding the store was placed in front.
When transferring the weapon to the transport position, it was necessary to squeeze the rear latch and turn the receiver with the magazine forward. After that, he took up a horizontal position under the barrel. The fixation was carried out by means of a latch on the front wall of the receiver and a loop under the barrel casing. Before the battle, the weapon devices were returned to their working position.
Two magazines were developed for the MAT-49 submachine gun. Both products had a box-shaped body of the same dimensions with different internal equipment. The first version of the store contained 32 rounds, located in two rows. The second product was distinguished by a single-row arrangement of 20 rounds. The simpler single-row magazine was more resistant to dirt and therefore intended for use in the difficult conditions of the North African deserts.
Barrel casing and magazine. You can consider the receiver latch. Photo Deactivated-guns.co.uk
The submachine gun was equipped with simple sights. On the muzzle of the barrel, a support was placed with a front sight installed inside a protective ring. On the receiver, near its rear cover, there was an open sight with a flip-flop entirely. The latter could be used for aimed fire at a distance of 50 or 100 m.
The weapon was equipped with a butt of the simplest design, which should have been made from several metal rods. The basis of the butt was a pair of parallel horizontal rods, smoothly turning into a curved shoulder rest. The latter included a pair of small transverse elements. The front butt stock entered the tubes mounted on the sides of the receiver. In the unfolded position, the butt was fixed with a simple latch.
Folded submachine gun, right side view. Photo Armory-online.ru
The MAT-48/49 submachine gun had the simplest fittings that ensured acceptable convenience for the shooter. On the metal base of the handle, which contained the parts of the trigger, wooden or plastic overlays were fixed. On the back surface of the fuse protruded. With the second hand, the shooter had to hold the weapon by the metal receiver of the optimized magazine magazine.
The MAT-49 product had a total length (with the stock extended) of 660 mm. The folded stock reduced this parameter to 404 mm. The folding design of the magazine receiver made it possible to sharply reduce the vertical dimension of the weapon, after which it was determined only by a rigidly fixed pistol grip. In the transport position, the submachine gun had a height of no more than 150 mm and a width of less than 50 mm. The weapon weighed 3.6 kg without a magazine.
Automation based on a free shutter, using a cartridge 9x19 mm "Parabellum", showed a rate of fire at 600 rounds per minute. The effective firing range reached 150-200 m. In this parameter, the new submachine gun was superior to previous products of its class, which used a less powerful cartridge.
Butt close-up. Photo Deactivated-guns.co.uk
In the late forties, several samples of promising small arms of French design passed the necessary tests, and some of them managed to get a recommendation for adoption. One of the most successful samples was the MAT-48 from Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Tulle. Soon, the latter received an order for the full-scale mass production of new weapons. The submachine gun was adopted in 1949, which was reflected in its official designation.
Serial weapons were supplied to various units of the French army and gradually filled their arsenals. Over time, the production of MAT-49 submachine guns made it possible to reduce the proportion of obsolete samples, and then abandon them. By the end of the fifties, the Tulle plant and other enterprises involved in the production of weapons completed the rearmament of the army. According to reports, in the course of mass production, the submachine gun for the army did not undergo major changes. The only exceptions were small-scale products that had a threaded barrel for installing a silent firing device.
French soldier with a MAT-49 submachine gun. Photo Sassik.livejournal.com
In the early fifties, the French National Gendarmerie became interested in the new weapon. Soon, on her order, a specialized version of the submachine gun was created. The MAT-49/54, which was put into service in 1954, differed from the basic modification by a wooden butt, an elongated barrel, a fully closed casing, and a modified firing mechanism. As part of the latter, there were two triggers: one was responsible for firing single, the second for automatic fire. The rest of the MAT-49/54 repeated the design of the base sample.
Since a certain time, MAT-49 submachine guns have been produced not only for domestic customers. Simple, effective and inexpensive weapons interested the military and law enforcement officers from third countries. Subsequently, a significant number of orders appeared for the supply of weapons to three dozen armies of Asia and Africa. In view of the specific military-political situation in these regions, French submachine guns were often “adopted” by various armed formations and were used against their former owners.
Of particular interest are the MAT-49 submachine guns, which in the recent past were in service with Vietnam. In the middle of the 20th century, France tried to keep its colonies in Southeast Asia under control, which led to the outbreak of war. French weapons often became a trophy of the Vietnamese, and they used them in subsequent battles. From a certain time, Vietnamese military workshops began to remake French submachine guns and install new barrels on them. For logistic reasons, this weapon was transferred to the Soviet cartridge 7, 62x25 mm TT. Such samples were actively used during all subsequent conflicts, up to the final liberation of Vietnam.
MAT-49/54 for the gendarmerie. Photo Sassik.livejournal.com
The serial production of MAT-49 submachine guns continued in France until the end of the seventies and was phased out due to the emergence of new weapons. The process of replacing outdated systems with new ones soon began. The place of MAT-49 in the troops was taken by the newest automatic rifle FAMAS. Over the years, the no longer needed submachine guns were sent for storage; some of them were subsequently disposed of as unnecessary.
The use of MAT-49 products in other countries lasted longer. Lacking access to newer weapons, the poor states of Africa and Asia were forced to keep their existing submachine guns. At the same time, by now, many of these countries have been able to find opportunities to upgrade their arsenals. Nevertheless, according to various sources, the French post-war MAT-49 is still used by some armies and law enforcement agencies.
After the end of World War II, France launched a major rearmament program, one of the elements of which was to release promising submachine guns. The MAT-48/49 product was supposed to replace outdated pre-war weapons and bring the combat performance of troops to the required level. This task was successfully accomplished, and the army received new weapons. In addition, the successful project allowed the French industry to take an advantageous position in the international small arms market.
