Unique L'Aigle
Manufacture d'Armes des Pyrénées Françaises · Pistol · Discontinued · 1928
Also known as: Unique Eagle, Pistolet Unique L'Aigle, MAPF Unique
Overview
The Unique L'Aigle is a French blowback-operated semi-automatic pistol chambered in .32 ACP (7.65mm Browning), produced by the Manufacture d'Armes des Pyrénées Françaises (MAPF) of Hendaye. 'L'Aigle' (French for 'Eagle') is one of the many romantic trade names under which MAPF marketed its widely sold 'Unique' family — a lineage of Browning-derived 'Ruby'-pattern pistols that descended directly from Eibar-made Spanish designs. Built almost entirely of steel, it uses a simple blowback action with a single-action trigger and feeds from a detachable single-stack box magazine. The well-documented Unique Model 17 — the highest-quality member of this family and the standard French pocket sidearm into WWII — was 155mm long with an 82mm barrel and weighed roughly 785g. The L'Aigle was a typical inexpensive interwar European self-defence and police pocket sidearm.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 785 g (27.7 oz) |
| Overall Length | 155 mm (6.10") |
| Barrel Length | 82 mm (3.23") |
| Height | 108 mm (4.25") |
| Width | 28 mm (1.10") |
| Action Type | Blowback |
| Firing Mechanism | Hammer Fired |
| Trigger Type | Single Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 8 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Detachable Box |
| Muzzle Velocity | 300 m/s (984 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 200 J (148 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 25 m (27 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Slide Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- .32 ACP · primary — also known as .32 Automatic, 7.65x17mm Browning SR, 7.65mm Browning
Features
- Firing modes: Semi Automatic
- Feed systems: Detachable Box Magazine
- Safety mechanisms: Manual Safety, Magazine Safety
- Features: Fixed Sights, Checkered Grips, Safety Catch Doubles As Takedown
Production
Production years: 1928-1939
Part of the broad MAPF Unique pocket-pistol output sold under many trade names; per-brand figures are not separately recorded. For scale, roughly 20,000 of the related Unique Model 17 Kriegsmodell were produced under German occupation control (1940-1944).
Origin
Country of origin: France
Designer: José Uría
Notes
MAPF sold its Unique pistols under dozens of brand names and pseudonyms (Armus, Audax, Capital, Le Lion, Le Sans Pareil, Le Tout Acier, Prima, Vindex, etc.); 'L'Aigle' fits this naming pattern but is not separately catalogued in the principal references. Listed specifications therefore reflect the representative MAPF Unique 7.65mm pistol (Model 17 family) of the period, for which weight (~785g), overall length (155mm) and barrel length (82mm) are documented. Capacity for 7.65mm Unique pistols varied between 8 and 9 rounds across production; the Model 17 Kriegsmodell is sometimes listed as 9- or 10-round.
Background
The Unique line traces to Eibar in the Spanish Basque country, where pistols were first made around 1921 by Barrenechea, Gallastegui y Arenas. In 1923 José Uría and the Arenas brothers crossed into French Béhobie to found the Manufacture des Pyrénées Françaises, moving to Hendaye in 1928 as the MAPF. From there they flooded the interwar market with affordable 'Unique' pocket pistols sold under dozens of romantic trade names — Le Lion, Le Sans Pareil, and the Eagle ('L'Aigle') among them — so one basic blowback design reached buyers across Europe under many guises.