(This is a combined reissue of two earlier volumes dating to the early 1990s, so does not include the latest information (the ability to easily share firearm information and photos over the internet has generated a huge expansion of knowledge). Jean Huon: 'Les Pistolets Automatiques Francais: 1890-1990' (2002) If you are familiar with the Ruby-types, and with the Browning 19, or the MAB C and D, you should have no problem with the Unique 19.įor French pistols in general, the best books I can suggest are : The good news with Unique pistols is that all their pistols from 1925 through the post-WWII years are either the usual Ruby-type designs or, less frequently, the Browning 1910 design, with the model 18, 19, and 20 being the latter. Even worse, many of their models are variants of a design, and since Unique rarely marked model names or numbers on pistols until after WWII, there is often a lot of confusion about which model is which. In addition, in its 60 or years of existence, Unique produced a vast array of models, primarily pistols but also rifles, and I don't know of any complete list of its firearms. The bad news is that, AFAIK, as of yet no one has produced a history of it or its pistols. There is good news and bad news about Unique pistols. For example, MAB model Ds (like Unique, in 1939 all MAB production was diverted to producing the MAB model D for the French military) used by the French army can only be identified by whether their serial numbers fall in a certain range.įor a book that will 'ID all the parts, date of manufacture, etc.' for the Unique 19 - well, I wish I could recommend such a book, but AFAIK none exists. Unfortuantely, other than most of those made under German control during the occupation, and a small number of French Navy pistols, these will not normally have any special markings indicating their use during the war. On the other hand, just about any commercial or police pistol, as well as those already in military stocks (including reserve WW I pistols) could end up used by the French military (Free French or Vichy), German military, French resistance, etc, during WWII. The Germans kept the model 17 in production during the German occupation of France, evenually redesigning it into the Kriegsmodel, but produced no other Unique pistols. Production ended in 1939 when the French government diverted Unique's entire production to the model 17 in preparation for WW II. The Unique model 19 was not one of the pistols produced for the French military. Wow, 'used or likely to have been used in WWII' casts a pretty wide net! It probably includes about every European pistol made after 1900, and a lot of others.

Mab model d serial numbers