C&R · IV · 065
MAS 38 submachinegun
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 MAS 1938, submachinegun, cal. 7.65mm Long.
What this entry requires
- INFOATF states no date; production was about 1938–1949.
- INFOStill an NFA firearm; only registered examples transfer, with ATF approval (26 U.S.C. 5812, 5861).
Editorial facts · Our research
- Country
FranceBasis: the ATF wording - Manufacturer
- Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne (MAS)Basis: outside reference ¹
- Type
- SMGBasis: the ATF wording
- Action
- Select-fire / autoBasis: the ATF wording
- Caliber
- 7.65mm LongBasis: the ATF wording
- Made
- 1938–1949production; ATF states no dateBasis: outside reference ²
- Service
- Military
Source
- 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: High · Last revised 18 October 2026 (Evidence pass) · How we rate confidence
- References
- 1. Wikipedia, “MAS-38” ↗, maker: MAS, the Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne; the Germans seized the MAS plant in 1940 and continued production
- 2. Wikipedia, “MAS-38” ↗, years: infobox production date 1938—1949; 'Production ended in 1949'
- 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
- None
Historical context
Image: Wikimedia Commons, “MAS-38.jpg” by Springfield Armoury, Public domain. Retrieved October 2026.
Summary: Wikipedia, “MAS-38”. Text CC BY-SA 4.0.
FROM WIKIPEDIA
The MAS-38 is a French submachine gun designed in the 1930s and used by French and German forces during the Second World War. It was derived from a small arms development program that took place between 1918 and 1922 under the control of the Service Technique de l'Armement. A submachine gun, a light machine gun and a semiautomatic rifle were developed to replace all the existing small arms. Budgetary pressures resulting from the building of the Maginot Line led to the delay of adoption of these new arms except for the LMG 1924.