FAMAS bullpup assault rifles: le ‘Bugle’
In warfare, France has always kinda gone their own way—not necessarily the wrong way, but definitely a way all their own. General “Stormin” Norman Schwarzkopf once said, “Going to war without France is like going hunting without an accordion.” Well, oddly enough, the current French service rife, the famous FAMAS, was seen as something of an accordion—or at least a bugle.
In the 1960s, the French military was very dated. The standard infantry weapon was the locally designed and built MAS49/56 rifle. This 7.5mm semi-auto only battle rifle had serious handicaps namely a 10-round magazine and 9-pound weight. The MAT-49 submachine gun that augmented it was handy, but fired low-powered 9mm pistol ammo. When facing potential enemies armed with AK-47 style assault rifles, the French were up merde creek.
This is why in 1967 the state weapons arsenal at Saint-Etienne started looking at a new rifle to replace the MAS and the MAT.
Read the rest in my column at Guns.com