mawkie
C&R Whisperer
-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.
-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.