French
Guns
AA52
History
AA 52 (mod 52) History
The machine gun AA 52 was conceived and developed because of direct consequences(fall-out) of the campaigns of Indochina of the beginning of the fifties. In this time, the French army was equipped with an ill-assorted material resulting from English and American arsenals, as well as German weapons of the Second World war.
The supply in ammunitions and in spare parts was an almost insoluble task and the army decided to adopt a standard machine gun. The result was the AA52 conceived for an easy production. The construction appeals in of numerous detail(room) in stamped sheet steel welded. The AA 52 makes(does) exception among the modern machine guns by its differential system of rearmament into which the force applied to the cartridge at the time of the shot is used(employed) to send back(dismiss) the breech in position of armament and introduce a new cartridge. This system works well perfectly with cartridges of pistol on pistols machine gunners, but the use of cartridge of rifle in rifles machine gunners asks for something more consequent if one wants to keep(preserve) a certain safety(security). The AA 52 uses a breech-block in two parts(parties): a control lever amplifier of slowness maintains the part(party) before of the block while the back part(party) begins to move. When cam crossed(went through) a certain distance, the block before is sent towards the back. To facilitate the ejection of the collided cartridges, the room(chamber) possesses grooves allowing gases to get between the room(chamber) and the cartridge and to avoid the blocking of the cartridge. That is why a cartridge pulled(fired) by an AA 52 recognizes easily in the superior destruction of the part(party) of the cartridge. The AA 52 can fire with a bipied or a stand, but, when the stand is used for a continuous shot, the machine gun is equipped with a heavy standard(cannon). In its version machine gun, the AA 52 is a relatively heavy weapon to carry(wear), and specially if the box of ammunitions of 50 cartridges is carried(worn) by the other hand. Therefore, the box is often left aside and the bands(strips) of cartridges pendent freely. An unusual detail of the AA 52 for a machine gun lives(lies) in the presence of a strap fixed under the butt; what maybe embarrassing at the certain moments. Another annoying point lives(lies) in the change of the standard(cannon): normally rather fast, the bipied fixed permanently to the tube can return the very difficult dismantling, especially since the standard(cannon) arranges no treatment of the room(chamber) allowing to reduce the temperature of the tube. The AA (é was conceived originally to pull(fire) cartridges of 7,5 mm used(employed) by the machine gun model 1929. This cartridge is powerful enough, but the passage of the NATO in the cartridge of 7,62 mm left the French army with one not standard ammunitions, and reduced the possibilities of exports. The basic version was however adapted to pull(fire) the cartridge NATO under the naming of NF-1, and certain number of this new version was introduced into the units of the French army. But the expectations of export did not materialize.
Nevertheless the AA 52 is an effective machine gun, but it possesses numerous points (of whom(which) some are considered as little sure by the other countries) which(who) are at least unwanted. The weapon is not any more in production, but always offered to the export.