Vietnam Bring Back French 1935-S

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  • mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,337
    Catonsville
    -Rumor has it I'm a picky b*stard who will circle the Earth in search of a unicorn. The most recent example is my seemly endless search for the right French 1935-S pistol. I got it in my mind that I wanted a SAGEM built example with original stoved black enamel finish. Not easy to find as many of these on the market were arsenal refinished at some point with the stoving going by the wayside. I also believe many owners removed the not-so-fetching black enamel.
    -So years go by with me not finding anything that met my search criteria. Then I run across a tiny grouping of five firearms, two pisols and three rifles, in a Wisconsin auction, buried among furniture, pottery and other housewares. Hello Mr SAGEM! Pitter patter goes my old heart (flash backs to How The Grinch Stole Christmas). Called the auctioneer and he was kind enough to take my absentee bid and agree to drop it off at a local gunsmith/shop for shipping should I be successful. Then I get a scary follow-up call from him warning me that the consignee told him the gun "doesn't shoot". He wanted to give me fair warning. I was skeptical of this news and had him shoot a few more detailed photos. Fragile safety was OK as well as the FP. I then deduced that the previous owner tried shooting it with the wrong ammo, probably .32 ACP. So I plowed on with my original bid hoping the "it won't shoot" report would scare away other bidders.
    -Post auction I got a phone call from the auctioneer and was gobsmacked to learn I got it for exactly half of my absentee bid with $40 more going to the gunshop to process and ship (very reasonable)
    -So what you see looks rough but it's beautiful to me. The original finish on most SAGEM examples are black enamel over parkerizing but you'll also find them with plain parkerizing and blued finishes. SAGEM produced approx 9500 pistols starting in late '45 and wrapping up in the early '50. So a very small run. All of them have the post-war M1 safety modification that has the safety swinging clear of the slide when engaged. You'll see the "M1" stamp near the muzzle on the right side of the slide. The SN on this example is low, it's one of the earliest I've ever seen. All SAGEM SNs start with an "A" prefix. No import mark in sight, just like my bringback MAC 1950. Both sights are fixed but are very easy to acquire. There is a magazine safety on the 1935-S and while marked 1935-S magazines are interchangeable with the earlier 1935A.
    -Did a quick function check and it's all as it should be so the "it doesn't shoot" report was indeed bogus (tested FP & extractor function w. a piece of new Starline brass). Shot a couple of photos showing the simple safety that blocks the FP. With new brass I'm excited to work up a load and take both the 1935A and 1935-S to the range when spring arrives.
     

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    mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,337
    Catonsville
    The French 1935a and 1935-s have languished over the years without a supply of ammo. What little original French ammo from the 40s and 50s that's on the market has a well deserved reputation for being click bang. Essentially worthless. Many have tried machining S&W.32 Long to work with sketchy results. Rumors that Starline was going to make brass have been floating in the French collectors community for over a decade. Me, I had given up hope. Then fellow collector Hugh Long manages to get Starline going and voila we have brass and I'm now pushing even harder to find a 1935-S because I'm seeing prices spike. You used to be able to get a nice 1935a or -S for between $250 and $350 for the longest time. Only the German issue 1935a was bringing more, twice that of a French example on average. Last year I got into a bidding war over an early post war, pre-M1 mod MAC produced 1935-S that was not only rare and immaculate but featured in Eugne Medlin's reference book. I dropped out at $800, easily the most I'd ever seen a French issue 1935 sell for. It sucked to let that one go but in hindsight I'm OK with it. Can't count the times I've ended up second bidder on items. Usually in the hunt but nearly always trying to be disciplined enough to not overpay. And investing in the hope that a better deal is on the horizon.
    Occasionally I have to heed my heart and put discipline on the sidelines. My recent Spreewerke P38 acquisition was a good example of deciding to pay market price for an solid example that made my heart happy. Can't always expect to pay Mawkie pricing(TM)!
     

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