Origin: France
Year: 1924
Type: Light machine gun
Caliber: 7.5x54mm French
Weight: 8.9 kg (19.7 lb)
Length: 1080 mm (42.5 in)
Barrel Length: 600 mm (23.6 in)
Capacity: 25 rds

Influenced by the Browning Automatic Rifle, the FM 24/29 light machine gun was created by Manufacture d'armes de Châtellerault (MAC) as a replacement for the French military's aging Chauchat machine guns during the early 1920s. Despite lacking a quick-change barrel and thus suffering from a limited sustained rate of fire, the FM 24/29 proved to be an excellent machine gun. The weapon's fire mode was determined by its two triggers: the front trigger allowed for semi automatic fire while the rear trigger allowed fully automatic fire at a rate of ~450 rounds per minute. Proving itself to be a rugged and dependable firearm, the design would see use through World War II and into France's post-war colonial conflicts such as the French Indochina War. The FM 24/29 would continue to serve the French military into the 1960s when it was finally replaced with the belt-fed AA-52 general purpose machine gun.