In practice, the Modele 1917 proved a long, awkward rifle to wield and was not favored by its users. Its mechanical action also proved unreliable when pressed into the battlefield environment full of debris, dirt, dust, and mud. Production quality was also not up to par for the discerning, experienced soldier whose life depending on a faultless weapon. Nevertheless, French factories churned out some 86,000 of these guns though a large portion were never officially issued to French troops. Those that did see the light of day were typically in the hands of the surest shot in the group or commanding personnel and used as specialist rifles instead of general issue. The last guns came off of the assembly line in November of 1918.
Before the end of the war, work had begun on a shortened form of the Modele 1917 and this became the Modele 1918. These were noted for their extended length barrel guards (now meeting the forend nose cap), a manual "hold-open" featured added, a debris guard installed near the cocking handle, and support for the standardized French rifle cartridge clip - all changes intended to promote better compactness and field reliability. However, these guns arrived only after the Armistice was achieved in November of 1918, leaving the new variants in limbo. About 4,000 of the Modele 1918 were manufactured, these by Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Etienne (MAS). Earlier production for the Modele 1917 was from Manufacture d'Armes de Tulle (MAT).
In 1935, the rifles were addressed by instituting a manual straight-pull bolt-action feature, their gas ports being blocked and the semi-automatic fire function removed. In this form, the weapons went on to see some extended service with issue to French colonial troops overseas - mainly in Africa. Modified Modele 1917 and Modele 1918s became recognized under the new designations of Modele 1917/35 and Modele 1918/35 respectively.
By the time of German invasion of France in May of 1940 (the "Battle of France"), the weapon was still in play - some having been reworked back to their original semi-automatic mode forms. Captured examples were reconstituted by the Germans and issued to the Volkssturm under the designation of Selbstlade-Gewehr 310(f) - the small "f" to indicate their French origins. The Volkssturm served as a paramilitary "people's army" for the Third Reich.
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