Manufacture d'armes de Châtellerault, Châtellerault

The Manufacture d'Armes de Châtellerault, often abbreviated to MAC, was a French state-owned weapons manufacturer in the town of Châtellerault, Vienne. It was created by a royal decree of 14 July 1819 to manufacture swords, then firearms and cannons. Antoine Treuille de Beaulieu in 1840 began to develop the concept of rifled artillery at Châtellerault for the French Army. The Lebel Model 1886 rifle, the first military firearm to use smokeless powder ammunition and the primary French infantry weapon during World War I, was developed and produced here. ()