[Dgiz]

I decided to post this here as it may be of interest to the German pistol collectors too. A recent addition to my collection is this 1939/1940 French military contract MAB Model D. As WW2 started to unwind, the French were short on handguns and contracted with Manufacture D'Armes Des Bayonne for their Model D pistol. According to E. Medlin and J. Huon from their book, "Military Hanguns of France 1858-1958", the French aquired about 16,000 MAB D's before the armistice. These pistols fall into the 31,000 to 47,000 serial number range. The Germans took control of MAB in June of 1940 and production of the Model D resumed where the French contract ended. In the above title as well as Jan's "Axis Pistols" and Col. Whittington's Volume one, the German production begins in the 47,000 range. The German pistols have either WaAD20 or WaA251 stamps. The serial number of this example is 47,666. The serial number shows this pistol to be part of the last aquired by France just prior to armistice with the Germans.
These French pistols in unaltered condition are tough to find. This pistol shows moderate holster wear but is all matching and period correct.
I would like to hear of any German MAB D pistols in the 47,000 range, lets see how close we can get.
I hope you all enjoy this French pistol from the opening days of WW2!
Dean



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[english]

My s.n. range is 69637 for my MAB D with moderate holster + very poor pistol grips. Is this common to all MAB German marked pistols?

 

[Dgiz]

Joseph,
Its hard to tell. Some were used more than others. The bluing does look thin on some excellent examples and field units were probably harder on theirs than admin units.
This is one I have, serial number 91515, kind of late wartime production. Excellent overall condition with a red/purple tint to the blue.
Dean


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[sauer]

I have MAB-D SN 50645 in my collection. It is in excellent condition, has WaA251 acceptance marks, and a beautiful high polish blue finish. It came with a brown leather holster (French, I think) and a spare magazine. When I bought it, I thought it was in only fair condition with a lot of rust pitting, but it turned out this was dried grease which cleand off easily, with the beautiful, unpitted finish under it. A real gem that I am very proud of.

 

[Dgiz]

Sauer,
Sounds like a very nice piece. The serial number seems off though? 30645 puts it before the French military purchase. It is way before the German occupation. Maybe a commercial gun accepted by the Germans later? I would enjoy seeing some photos of your pistol and hoster.
Dean

 

[Pancho]

Dqiz,
As I understand it, yours has the correctly marked mag.
The German production should correctly have an unmarked base plate.

I would like to see a MAB-C bringback--
without the Made in France logo.
Anyone have one?

Here's a later MAB-D WaAD20:
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[sauer]

Apologies to all! In my haste to post, I misread the serial number on my MAB D. The correct number is 50645. I've given myself a stern talking to and will try to do better in the future. I've corrected the information in the original post.