Le-Francais .32"/ 7.65mm TIP-UP Pistol:

For some time - I've rather fancied getting a tidy little Beretta 3032 Tomcat Inox 'Tip-Up'.

- despite it being almost completely useless here in NZ - because it's short barrel would not be licensed for shooting (.. and despite it's reputation for frame cracks with poor service from Beretta USA).

BUT this model is a truly neat wee thing for use anywhere people actually are allowed to defend themselves from criminals ..

So I was interested to find images of the Manufrance Le-Francais .32" ACP that was made - guess where? (in France possibly 😆) from 1950 to 1965 - because there are some quiet similar design features .. plus a lot of differences too eh.

Le-Francais St. Etienne (MAS) .32" ACP.

This French maker has a very long history of military and Law Enforcement Firearms manufacture plus sales to the public of  "non-military caliber" handguns. I can't do better really than to only point you to a very full story here - LINK:

http://unblinkingeye.com/Guns/Francais/francais.html

It is a cleverly designed double-action-only striker-fired auto-pistol - one that I'd also love to own out of interest - should I ever have the spare cash. It takes an 8 round magazine plus the one up-the-spout.

Both the Beretta Tomcat and the Le-Francais use similar(ish) verticle 'bell-crank lever' recoil spring systems to function their blow-back operation but the 'Ooh La-la chic'  pops-up it's 83 mm. (3.27 inches) barrel automatically for chambering a round when the magazine is removed.. Clever eh.

Forgotten weapons Ian McCollum does his usual excellent review of this little known piece - Link:

https://www.forgottenweapons.com/le-francais-32acp-pistol-video/https://www.forgottenweapons.com/le-francais-32acp-pistol-video/

No John M Browning Influences Here Then.

Cute as .. but I do get a little annoyed that most 'thirty-two' pistols seem to have barrels shorter than the pointless New Zealand police 'B' Category stipulation of a minimum of four inches.

Marty K.

After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it?

https://www.patreon.com/posts/24075745