FRENCH M1935A 7.65MM LONG

MIKE’S SHOOTIN’ SHACK

- Mike Venturino

Modern folks might ask, “Why would anyone give a handgun to a preteen?” My father did just that for me when I was about age 12. He had three reasons: The first was because I wanted a “real” handgun badly. The second reason was because I was trustworthy. He ordered me not to take it out of my room or show it to friends without his permission. I never did. The third reason, and probably most important, was that there was no ammunition available for my very first pistol.

How Dad knew there was no ammunition available for it I’ll never know, nor could I find out how that pistol came to our small West Virginia town. I do know that our chief of police gave it to my father, and I believe contributing factors were that both men were part of the sizeable Italian community there, and that Dad was a bill collector.

Regardless, I was happy with my very first real handgun and probably handled it for hundreds of hours, although I had no idea as to what it actually was. It sort of resembled a Colt 1911 but its bore was obviously much smaller. Even then, I knew that most handguns had blueing or nickel-plating to protect its steel finishes. My semiauto looked painted. Its checkered grips were black plastic. I did figure out that its safety was engaged when its lever was pointed straight up. Later, I learned that it was called a “hammer-block” safety, because it rotated a barrier of steel in front of the firing pin when turned upward. Also discovered along the way was that it had a magazine disconnect; its trigger could not trip the hammer if the magazine was out.