Today I want to start taking a look at some of the now obscure and rare accessories that were originally issued with each pistol. They were designed to work with both the 1935A and the 1935S pistols but I'm only going to be looking at them in relation to the S model. Many of the pistols have survived these almost 90 years since being first issued but very few of the early accessories or maintenance/cleaning kits are still around. So, I want to document the items that I've gathered in order to hopefully expand the online knowledge base a little bit. As you should know about me by now. I love all the little bits as much or maybe even more than the firearms themselves. Because of the large number of posts, this is going to take a few posts spread out over a number of days but please feel free to chime in between my posts and share your knowledge and pictures of your little treasures. I'd love to hear what everyone has to offer.
We'll start by taking a look at the cleaning rods and a few examples of the maintenance kit:
First up are the rods:
The lower one is the first model and it's made of brass. In the provisional manual dated December of 1939 (which strangely doesn't seem to have actually been printed until 1947) they only refer to a brass rod. There is no mention of a steel one. It's not until the March of 1951 First Edition manual that a steel rod is included in the text on page 37 "A cleaning rod, 15cm long, in parkerized soft steel or in brass....".
Here is a detail of the slotted end for the patch:
And the handle end which is knurled:
The manual states that the hole is for a string. Why you would attach one is not explained. In my research I've seen slight variation in knurling and slot sizes. I've also seen steel rods that are not drilled for a string and some with a pin punch at the knurled end. Some say that these are also rod variants that were made for the PA 35 ("PA 35" is an French generic term referring to both models of the pistol). That may be but I have found no official documentation of this.
Next are what collectors usually call the "cleaning kit". We're going to be looking at five of them, both marked "PA 1935" and unmarked:
In the 1939 provisional manual text, the kit is simply called the "Complete disassembly and maintenance kit" and is numbered as "2X" to reference it on the fold out illustrations at the end of the manual:
On the nomenclature part of the fold outs, it's not listed at all, only its contents, each with their own number:
2X1 Case
2X2 Double blade screwdriver
2X3 Pin punch
2X4 Articulated brush
On the illustration, it reads, "MAINTENANCE KIT-2X":
By the time of the March 1951 1st Edition Notice/Manual, the name of the kit had changed. On page 37, it reads:
18. Each model 1935-S pistol comes with :
— a model 2X maintenance kit
— a cleaning rod
It then goes on to list the contents of the kit and talks about the cleaning rod:
There are a couple very interesting things to be seen here.
First, the illustration shows the bottom of the case as correctly being marked "P.A. 1935". However the writer has incorrectly type "F.A. 1935" in the text.
Second, as noted above, the text reads, "The bottom of the case is marked : F.A. 1935." However, two of the five kits I have are not marked as PA 1935. I have read where one collector states that these unmarked kits were used between the war generically for both rifles and pistols but he provided no documentation of this. Additionally, the articulated brush is kind of short for use in a rifle barrel and there is no provision for attaching it to the Model 1922 pull through issued with each rifle at that time. In fact, the Model 1874 maintenance kit was issued for use with rifles. The 1874 case is the same, but the contents are different as illustrated below:
So, until I find source documents to the contrary, I'm going with the hypothesis that some "Model 2X Maintenance Kits" simply didn't get marked "PA 1935". All of the evidence points to multiple companies producing these kits and variation is not only to be expected but, as we will see in a bit, it was the norm.
We continue with the kit in the next post.