C&R · IV · 062

Model 37 50mm mortar

Section IV: still an NFA firearm, also a curio or relic

Official wording

ATF P 5300.11 · APRIL 2025 EDITION · SECTION IV · VERBATIM · PDF P. 83 ↗

French, Model 37, cal. 50mm (1.97 in.), mortar - also designated as a German, Model 203(f), 5cm (1.97 in.) mortar.

INFOATF states no date; production was about 1939–1944.
INFOStill an NFA firearm; only registered examples transfer, with ATF approval (26 U.S.C. 5812, 5861).

Official wording

ATF P 5300.11, April 2025 edition · Section IV · PDF p. 83 ↗ · ATF original ↗

Entries

1 line

Verbatim check

Checked against the PDF text before every release

Editorial facts

Confidence: Medium · Last revised 18 October 2026 (Evidence pass) · How we rate confidence

References

1. Wikipedia, “Lance Grenades de 50 mm modèle 37” ↗, years (estimate: partly supports it): infobox production date 1939; 'only 2,900 had been produced by June 1940'; 'Production ceased after the French surrender in 1940 and wasn't resumed until 1944'; end of the resumed production not stated

Fact tags

ATF the ATF wording states it.
REF ¹ an outside reference supports it; the number points to the list of references.
ESTIMATE an approximate or indirect reading, for example the production range of the base model.
NO CITATION we haven’t attached a reference for this fact; it’s our editorial reading, not ATF’s.

Source checked

20 October 2026: ATF’s page still lists the April 2025 edition

Corrections

1 change · see below

18 October 2026Evidence passYears: 1937–1940 → 1939–1944. Wikipedia: production began 1939 (1937 = testing), stopped 1940 and resumed in 1944

Image: Wikimedia Commons, “Lance Grenades de 50 mm modèle 37.jpg” by Snowdawg, CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved October 2026.

Summary: Wikipedia, “Lance Grenades de 50 mm modèle 37”. Text CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Lance Grenades de 50 mm modèle 37 was a French light infantry mortar designed and produced shortly before the Second World War.