Pre-war French Army MAB Model D

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  • mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    -Melnic and I have both been on the hunt for pre-war French pistols. For me I've wanted a MAB Model D Army or Navy issue example. But the survival rate on these, esp. the Navy issue, isn't great. Any example would have to be a GI bring-back. After years of searching I ran across a forlorn MAB D with broken right grip in a recent auction. I was high bidder at $225 when the auction went live only to find someone online, a dealer who's my nemesis, bid me up to my $550 max. But lucky me he stopped there and nobody in the room wanted it at that price other than me. Got it!
    -The auction description stated there was a holster included but no photos so that was a mystery. Hoped for either a French Army or German issue as I figured there would be a good chance this MAB would have changed hands at the French surrender. The postman ran his route early today in advance of the storm and caught me just before I headed out to work. Another victory as I don't have to muck about the post office during the run-up to Christmas.
    -The holster turned out to be German issue and in great shape but for the initials carved into the flap. But it's like free money so I'll take it. The MAB fits perfectly. Here are some photos I snappped in a rush. Will fill in later after work tonight...
     

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    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,282
    HoCo
    Now that is Awesome!
    Congrats.
    Glad you snagged it.
    I'll get mine some day!
     

    mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    It's crazy that acquisitions always come in waves for me. Leading up to the holidays I've been either on the sidelines, paying for a new ride, or getting shelled at auction. So in the last two weeks I snagged two MAB Ds and a WW2 German issue Llama. The Llama was pure chance, wasn't seeking one, just serendipity and a good memory. When I saw it was chambered in 7.62 and had a GECO import mark I knew it was special as I had been going blind looking for a German GECO import marked Astra 200 for many years (no luck on that one!). Somebody here, either somd_mustangs of kh195 had put up a wartime Llama and I managed to remember identifying tidbits. Enough to warrant digging deeper in a knowledge search.
     

    KH195

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 10, 2013
    1,550
    Virginia
    Congrats!! Beautiful condition for a pre-war gun, that’s a great find for sure. You’re not alone on the hunt for a GECO marked Astra 200, pretty sure I’ve checked every Astra listing on Gunbroker almost daily for the last 10yrs hoping one would pop up from an uninformed seller. With your luck though I’m sure you’ll come across one at a steal of a price eventually! Congrats again on the MAB, great addition!
     

    mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    For those looking for one of the French Army examples the SN is the only way to ID them. The range is approx. 31000 to 47000 (where the German occupation examples start). The navy examples are much easier to ID. SN range from 32129 to 33526 and they feature an engraved fouled anchor on the right front of the slide.
     

    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,282
    HoCo
    Thanks to Mawkie my search has ended. Mawkie of course got the better deal with the holster and a lower price. I had bid on a really nice one Mawkie pointed out to me only to lose it in the end. Mawkie then found another that was a tad rougher looking but still a good example in what has been hard for me to even find. So, what is up with the grips. These grips seem to shrink and then crack from the stress of the screws then pushing them out. Removing mine, a small chunk came off the back of the right side, then I found a crack on the inside that led me to be very careful putting it back together. Even so, I can see how a previous owner hogged out the opening to help relieve some stress. I have a better handgun soft case I'll have to use for this one. Compared to the auction pictures, it looks better now than at the auction. I stripped it and gave it a delicious mineral spirits bath to get rid of dried out brown grease.

    One thing interesting, Look a the left side of both Mawkie's and my MAB. The B and V in BRAVETE has a section that is light on the strike then the E at the end of MODELE
    These 2 pistols differ by less than 1500 serial digits. Pre Occupation stopped at 47000. Think they were in a hurry?

    This was the last of the WWII major powers handguns I was looking for after already having USA, England, Russia, Germany, Italy and Japan

    Photos came out a bit bright, it actually has a decent blue on it.

    cf372dabe802f8aca0b95a8de88842ee.jpg

    6968c9a209816fd68d58f059f0c1fa55.jpg
     
    Last edited:

    mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    -It does indeed look much better than what the auction photos represented (when will most auction houses that sell online learn that good photos are worth the effort?). It's rare to find a vintage MAB D that doesn't have shrunken grips so no surprise here. I like that the rest of the pistol looks great, esp. the bluing. Happy that I could assist in striking an item off of the bucket list. -BTW, that "MAB" holster up on Evil Pay that I mentioned, glad that you noticed his listing was wrong. I took a hard look at it in the last couple hours of the listing and realized it wasn't a MAB holster but a French made HSc holster. I tad pricey but I have a fantastic French HSc and hadn't found a proper rig for it so I pulled the trigger. The seller and I chatted online and he shared a photo of a Remington 51 in original box that was beautiful. All of it was from his late Grandfather's collection. Sadly his G'ma had sold most of it, would have loved to see what else he had tucked away.
     

    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,282
    HoCo
    Thx for the info on the grips, makes me feel better about this one.

    Took to indoor range. Shot pretty well. Not a lick of problems.

    TINY sights I tell you!
     

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