The M.A.B. Model R Para

by Ed Buffaloe

The Model R received very little attention in U.S. gun magazines or anywhere else.  I have never seen a parts diagram or a schematic for a Model R in any magazine or on any website.  The first listing I could find for it in Gun Digest was in the 1958 edition, which I presume was prepared the year before.  Josserand says the R Series was made for 12 years, which would mean production ended in 1963 or 1964.  However, I possess an M.A.B. catalog for 1966 which still lists the Model R 22.  The Model R series guns were imported into the United States by the Western Arms Company of Los Angeles (later known as the Winfield Arms Corporation), and most were stamped “Made in France for W.A.C.,” with the “WAC” logo on the grips.  Late model R Para imports into the U.S. were called “Le Militaire,” though the one pictured in the 1963 Gun Digest is clearly marked “Modele R” on the left side and has MAB on the grips.

Some new design influence was afoot in the M.A.B. factory in the early ‘50s, but the inside story has yet to be told.  I would very much like to contact someone who worked at the Manufacture d’Armes de Bayonne factory to find out who the designer for the R Series guns was.  I can only presume that the goal of the company, after being freed from German wartime control, was to return to profitability, and one part of that plan must have been to market their guns in the United States.  Hence, the contract with W.A.C. to distribute M.A.B.s.

One of only two ads I have located for the R 9. This one is from the January 1954 issue of American Rifleman.

Josserand states that each each model in the R Series (.32 ACP, .32 French Long, .380, and 9mm) came in a different barrel length and the Model R 22 was available in three barrel lengths:  4 -1/2”, 6-3/4”, and 7-3/16”.  He doesn’t say if the frame size differs on the various models, nor does he give the number of rounds each magazine holds, though Huon does give some of this information.  The R 32 is 4mm longer than a Model D due to its enlarged grip tang--otherwise the two guns would be identical in size.  The R Para is 30mm longer than the Model D.  Both the R 32 and the R Para have the same military-style lanyard as the Model D.

The R Para has a small spring in the frame directly behind the barrel step which pushes the barrel forward against the retaining pin.  During recoil, the barrel is able to move with the slide against this spring for about 1/4 inch before it is stopped by the frame and the slide continues rearward by itself.  The barrel is not locked in any way to the slide, but the extra spring serves as a recoil buffer.

At the range, the R Para exhibited the same stiff trigger I have found on other early M.A.B.s--it has almost identical lockwork.  By concentrating, I was able to put a few rounds from each magazine in the bullseye at 30 feet, but inevitably the rest were flyers.  The barrel is very closely fitted in the slide, so I think the gun has the potential to be quite accurate, but is limited by its less-than-optimal trigger.  The recoil was not unreasonable--certainly less than a .357.  The first time I inserted a loaded magazine, the slide did not close--I simply pulled back and released and it chambered the first round.  Subsequently , the breech closed automatically each time I inserted a magazine.  When I cleaned the gun, I discovered that the screw holding the slide lock mechanism was a bit loose, so I tightened it.  The R Para fed and ejected standard hardball 9mm ammunition with no problems.

MAB R Para MAB R Para Experimental

Field Stripping:

1. Clear the breech, close the slide (by reinserting an empty magazine), and remove the magazine.
2. Twist the barrel bushing approximately 1/4 turn counterclockwise (as you face the front of the gun) and ease it off the front of the gun.  Be careful!  The spring is quite stiff and powerful.
3. Remove the recoil spring and barrel bushing.
4. Move the slide backward on the frame about 1/4 inch until the takedown notch on the right side of the gun lines up with the retaining pin.
5. Push the pin in on the left side of the gun and pull it out the right side.
6. Remove the barrel and slide from the frame.
7. The barrel will lift out of the slide.

As on earlier M.A.B. pistols, the grip screws come in two lengths--the shorter screw goes on top.  During reassembly, you must push the barrel back against the spring in the frame in order to insert the retaining pin.

The R Para Experimental

Sometime in the 1950s a different version of the R Para was produced, which has become known informally as the R Para Experimental because it was a radical departure from MAB’s other guns.  I had originally assumed that the R Para Experimental was produced after the production version of the R Para, but a close reading of Jean Huon’s book leads me to believe that the experimental version may have come first.  The experimental version featured a rotating barrel system similar to that of the Savage Automatic Pistol which was based on Elbert Searle’s patent of  1905, and the recoil spring was placed beneath the barrel rather than around it.  Huon states that this gun was produced in October of 1951.  It was marked identically to the R Para.  This is the gun that eventually became the PA-8 and led to the development of the PA-15.  Most experts agree that less than 100 of the R Para Experimental pistols were made.

Copyright 2008 by Ed Buffaloe.  All rights reserved.
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