Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne (MAS)
| Government-owned corporation (Subsidiary of Nexter defense conglomerate) | |
| Industry | Weapons |
| Fate | Annexed |
| Successor | Nexter |
| Founded | 1764 in Charleville, Ardennes, France |
| Defunct | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Saint-Étienne, France |
| Products | Rifles, Pistols, Tanks, Weapon Systems |
| Website | http://www.nexter-group.fr |
The Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne (MAS) was a French state-owned manufacturing company located in the town of Saint-Étienne. It has since been merged into the state-owned Nexter defence conglomerate.
Saint-Étienne was well known as a center of swords and knives manufacturing beginning in the Middle Ages. In 1665, a Royal Arms Depot was created in Paris to store military weapons made in Saint-Étienne. The Royal Arms Manufacture was created in 1764 under the supervision of the General Inspector of the Royal Arms Manufacture of Charleville.
12,000 weapons were being produced each year when the French Revolution began. The city was renamed Armsville during the revolutionary period and production increased to arm the Revolutionary Army.
Subsequently, the French Empire required a threefold increase in production to meet the needs of the Napoleonic Army in its conquest of Europe. In 1838, the annual production was well over 30,000 firearms.
In 1864, the modern factory was built, new steam-powered machines were installed and the first military standardized bolt-action rifle, the Chassepot, was produced from 1866 on, then the Gras rifle after 1874.
The MAC-designed Lebel rifle entered production in 1886. MAS later designed and manufactured the family of French 7.5 mm rifles, from the MAS 36 through the FSA MAS 49/56, then later the FAMAS (which uses the 5.56×45mm NATO round) .
In 2001, the production was ceased and the site was re-established in residential, commercial and research sites.
...
Wikipedia