FAMAS
Fusil d’Assaut de la Manufacture d’Armes de Saint-Étienne
Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne1975–2000Late Cold War
Also known as Le Clairon, FAMAS F1
Image credit
- Title
- File:10th Marine Regiment French Bilateral Visit- FAMAS Familiarization Range (6919449).jpg
- Author
- U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Akeel Austin
- Licence
- Public domain
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:10th_Marine_Regiment_French_Bilateral_Visit-_FAMAS_Familiarization_Range_(6919449).jpg
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How Muzzle energy is calculated
E = ½ · m · v²
Inputs
- m4.018 g62.01 grverifiedsource62 gr as published, converted to grams.
- v939.2 m/s3,081 fpsestimatedInterpolated between sourced measurements at 368.3 mm and 508 mm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Muzzle velocity is calculated
linear interpolation between the two nearest sourced barrel lengths
Inputs
- v at 368.3 mm905.3 m/s2,970 fpsverifiedsourceTable 2-1, muzzle velocity for the M4: 2,970 fps.
- v at 508 mm944.9 m/s3,100 fpsverifiedsourceTable 2-1, muzzle velocity for the M16A2: 3,100 fps. The M855 is the manual's service round for that rifle.
Assumptions
- Velocity is assumed to vary linearly between the two measurements. Over a short span that is a reasonable reading of the data; it is not a law.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Loaded mass is calculated
m_loaded = m_empty + m_magazine + n · m_cartridge
Not calculated: m_magazine has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- One magazine, filled to the stated capacity. Spare magazines, optics, slings and lights are the owner’s, not the arm’s.
3 of 4 inputs link to their source.
How Free recoil is calculated
E_recoil = ½ · m_firearm · v_recoil²
Inputs
- m_firearm3.61 kg7.959 lbverifiedsourceF1. The G2 is published at 3.8 kg.
- v_recoil1.045 m/s3.430 fpsestimated
Assumptions
- Propellant gas momentum is excluded: ARMAG does not record charge weights (SPEC.md §14). This is therefore a lower bound on the real free recoil, consistent between entries but smaller than a figure that includes the gas term.
- Free recoil: the arm is unrestrained. Stock design, muzzle devices, stance and shooter mass are not modelled, because none of them is a property of the arm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Capacity is calculated
as published for the primary chambering
Inputs
- capacity25verifiedsourceProprietary 25-round magazine on the F1; the G2 takes STANAG 30-round magazines.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
Derived figures
Computed from the sourced values above. Open ƒ on any figure for the formula, its inputs, and the assumptions it makes.
How Momentum is calculated
p = m · v
Inputs
- m4.018 g62.01 grverifiedsource62 gr as published, converted to grams.
- v939.2 m/s3,081 fpsestimatedInterpolated between sourced measurements at 368.3 mm and 508 mm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sectional density is calculated
SD = mass(gr) / (7000 · diameter(in)²)
Inputs
- mass4.018 g62.01 grverifiedsource62 gr as published, converted to grams.
- diameter5.7 mm0.2244 inestimatedsourceNo free NATO dimensional standard is published. The C.I.P. datasheet for the .223 Remington, which shares this bullet, gives a cartridge-maximum bullet diameter of 5.70 mm.
Assumptions
- Reported in the conventional lb/in² so it is directly comparable with published figures.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Power factor is calculated
PF = mass(gr) · velocity(fps) / 1000
Inputs
- mass4.018 g62.01 grverifiedsource62 gr as published, converted to grams.
- velocity939.2 m/s3,081 fpsestimatedInterpolated between sourced measurements at 368.3 mm and 508 mm.
Assumptions
- A competition classification defined by the IPSC and USPSA rulebooks, stated in their units. It describes a scoring category, not an effect.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Magazine dump is calculated
t = (n − 1) / (rpm / 60)
Inputs
- n25verifiedsourceProprietary 25-round magazine on the F1; the G2 takes STANAG 30-round magazines.
- rpm1,000 rpmestimatedsourceThe article publishes 900–1,100 rounds/min. Recorded as the midpoint of that range; it is among the highest of any service rifle.
Assumptions
- Cyclic rate held for the whole magazine, no stoppages, trigger held down. A theoretical figure for comparing mechanisms, not a measured one.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sight error at 1 mm is calculated
θ = atan(misalignment / sight radius)
Not calculated: sight radius has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Shows what a stated aiming error costs. The misalignment is the reader’s figure; the site does not claim how well anyone aims.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
Specifications
Every row here is generated from the schema, so a figure recorded on this entry cannot be missing from the table — and the same rows, read the same way, are what the comparison shows.
Identity
- Type
- Rifle
- Action
- Self-loading
- Fire modes
- Semi-automatic
- Burst
- Fully automatic
- Operating system
- Blowback, lever-delayed
- Designed in
- France
- Produced in
- Introduced
- 1978
- Production
- 1975–2000
Dimensions and mass
Sights and rifling
- Sight radius
- not recorded
- Sight height over bore
- not recorded
- Rifling twist
- not recorded
- Twist direction
- not recorded
- Grooves
- not recorded
- Sight graduation
- not recorded
Operation
- Cyclic rate
The article publishes 900–1,100 rounds/min. Recorded as the midpoint of that range; it is among the highest of any service rifle.
- Trigger pull
- not recorded
- Effective range
- 300 m328.1 ydsource
F1; 450 m is published for the G2.
- Units produced
- 400,000source
F1 production. The G2 is given as 10,000–15,000.
- Launch price
- not recorded
Chamberings
- 5.56x45mm NATOprimary25 rounds
Scale
A to-scale outline against family siblings. The dimensions are sourced; the shape is a representative outline for the type, and says so.
- FAMAS757 mm29.80 inheight not recorded
Representative outline — the dimensions are sourced, the shape is not. Overall length, and barrel length where recorded, are drawn from this entry's own figures; the profile is a generic one for the firearm type and says nothing about this arm's actual contours. FAMAS records no height, so its outline is drawn at the type's proportion — that height is part of the shape, not a measurement.
Detail
The only service rifle in general issue to use lever-delayed blowback. There is no gas system: a two-armed lever in the bolt bears against a shoulder in the receiver, and the light bolt head can only move back by driving the heavier bolt body back several times faster through that lever. The geometry does the work that a gas piston does elsewhere, which means fewer parts and no gas tube — and a rifle that is fussy about chamber condition and needs fluting to help the case release.
That mechanism, plus a bullpup layout, gives a 488 mm barrel inside a rifle 757 mm long. It also gives a cyclic rate around a thousand rounds a minute, roughly a third faster than an M16, which is why the F1 has a three-round burst setting and why French conscripts learned to use it.
France adopted it in 1978 and replaced it with the HK416F from 2017, mainly because production had ended in 2000 and the remaining rifles could not easily take modern optics or the standard NATO magazine.
The image on this page shows a US Marine firing a FAMAS on a familiarisation range rather than a specimen photograph; no freely licensed studio image of the rifle exists on Wikimedia Commons.
References
This entry's own bibliography. Every citation key on this page resolves into this list.
- FAMAS · Wikipedia · 1369344722 · read 2026-08-31 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Last verified 2026-08-31 · review status: agent-populated