FAMAS

The FAMAS ( or "Assault rifle of the Saint-Étienne weapon factory") is a bullpup-styled assault rifle designed and manufactured in France by MAS located in Saint-Étienne, which is now a member of the French government-owned Nexter group. It is the service rifle of the French military.

History

The first French bullpup rifles were developed between 1946 and 1950 at the AME (Atelier Mécanique de Mulhouse) and MAS, testing rounds such as .30 US Carbine, 7.92x33mm Kurz, 7.65x38mm (Made by Cartoucherie de Valence) and some other intermediate calibers. Since France was engaged in the First Indochina War at the time, and was also the second-largest contributor to NATO, the budgets for new types of weapons were reduced and priority was given to the modernisation and production of existing service weapons. Nevertheless, approximately forty different prototypes were developed between 1952 and 1962, most of which were designed for the 7.62x51mm NATO round, however, the round was not found to be suitable for any bullpup designs, and consequently, none were adopted, and the ideas were set aside. MAS then began to manufacture under licence the H&K; G3 and the H&K; 33 in the 1960s and studies were reactivated to produce a weapon using the new .223/5.56mm round. But the idea to develop and use German weapons was out of question for many members of the French high command. General Marcel Bigeard, against the idea to use German weapons, visited the Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne and asked the engineers to present him the different prototypes developed. He then chose, amongst different prototypes, what will become the FAMAS.

The FAMAS project began in 1967 under the direction of Paul Tellie and the first prototype was completed in 1971, with French military evaluation of the rifle beginning in 1972. The barrel of the G2 uses a 1/9 rifling, which enables it to use the SS109 or the M193 interchangeably.

During training with blank ammunition, a plug is added to the muzzle of the FAMAS. This plug is necessary for automatic or semi-automatic operation, which it allows by blocking part of the gas.

The FAMAS can use a variety of rifle grenades up to 500 grammes. Notable examples are the antipersonal APAV40 and the antitank AC58. It can also fire some hand grenades designed for this alternative purpose, notably the F2 grenade that includes a bullet trap. The FAMAS can accommodate an external grenade launcher as an add-on module under the hand guard; the US M203 grenade launcher is sometimes used.

[[File:FAMAS-F1 parts assembled.svg|thumb|center|upright=2.0|

1. Rubber buttpad
2. Removable stock
3. Cheek rest. Can be reversed for right or left-handed shooter.
4. Mobile assembly and ejection port
5. Pins
6. Bipod
7. Handguard
8. Charging Handle
9. Grenade launcher sight
10. Grenade support
11. Muzzle brake/22 mm rifle grenade launcher
12. Barrel
13. Fire control selector: Safety, single shot, automatic
14. Trigger
15. Magazine release
16. Magazine
17. Serial number
18. (right): 3-round burst or full automatic selector (left): Sling ring
19. ]]

    Service

    The FAMAS first saw service in Chad during Operation Manta and again in desert operations in Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm and in other various peacekeeping missions. Officially, operational conditions proved the weapon to be reliable and trustworthy under combat conditions. Also, the weapon is known to be not reliable in harsh conditions and too fragile for combat conditions. It happened on several occasions that French soldiers, especially French Foreign Legion, preferred to use captured weapons or foreign weapons. The FAMAS is affectionately known as le Clairon ("the Bugle") because of its shape by French-speaking troops. But it is also known as l'arme de stand de tir ("shooting range rifle"), meaning the weapon is only reliable in shooting ranges. An improved version of the FAMAS G2 is integrated in the Félin system.

    Senegal and the United Arab Emirates received a small number of FAMAS F1 rifles from France, though it was unknown when they received them. Djibouti uses this weapon in its military as the standard infantry weapon. The Philippines also received a limited number and is used by the Philippine National Police Special Action Force.

    Users

    : Used by the French Armed Forces since 1979, with over 700,000 rifles purchased. Also used by several law enforcement agencies such as the Gendarmerie Nationale.

    Sources and references

    External links

20. Official Nexter FAMAS page
21. FELIN article, with FAMAS pictured as part of FELIN system
22. Modern Firearms
23. REMTEK

Manual

24. Nazarian's Gun's Recognition Guide (MANUAL) FAMAS .223 Manual (.pdf)

Category:5.56 mm firearms Category:Assault rifles Category:Cold War rifles Category:Modern French weapons Category:French rifles Category:Bullpup firearms Category:Delayed blowback firearms Category:Nexter