In the realm of modern revolvers, the French-made Manurhin MR-73 .357 Magnum double-action revolver has one of the more-interesting origin stories. Not only does this revolver’s creation spring from two independent historical 20th century events, but there’s a level of exoticness that’s uniquely anchored to this French revolver.
Don’t get me wrong, anything involving modern European revolvers is already exotic enough, but unlike the great German-made sport revolvers such as Korths, Janzs and Spohrs, the French Manurhin MR-73 was born out of tactical necessity.
The first event in the Manurhin MR-73’s genesis was the continued refinement of Smith & Wesson’s K-frame revolver with the launch of the Model of 1905, the revolver that laid the foundation for what many medium-frame duty revolvers would look like for the duration of the 20th century. Much like the Taurus revolvers I’ve previously written about, the Manurhin MR-73 also carries ancestral DNA from the classic Smith & Wesson double-action, swingout-cylinder design. Its cylinder even turns in the proper counterclockwise direction.
The GIGN’s Revolver
The second event, and arguably the catalyst that directly led to its design and creation, was the aftermath of the 1972 Munich Olympic terrorist attack. Though the incident took place in Germany, French authorities recognized the risks and dangers to their own country. Thus, the French developed and organized their own national level elite counter-terror and hostage rescue unit, the GIGN (Groupe d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale). Being the early 1970s, the GIGN very deliberately and methodically chose a double-action .357 Magnum revolver as its primary sidearm. The GIGN collaborated with Manurhin in Mulhouse, France and the MR-73 was the revolver that ended up in their holsters.
The GIGN also considered the Smith & Wesson Model 19, which was the quintessential service revolver during the golden age of the wheelgun. However, original Model 19s had their own well-known Achilles’ heels: forcing cones were rumored to weaken after shooting excessive full-power .357 Magnum round counts. The GIGN was quite insistent on having a service revolver that could specifically withstand higher .357 Magnum round counts due to how it conducted its handgun training and how frequently its operators fired their revolvers.
Why did an elite counter-terror unit insist on a six-shot revolver? The GIGN opted for a .357 Magnum revolver in the early 1970s because it wanted a sidearm that could accurately and reliably fire jacketed soft-point bullets. By this point in time, the American .357 Magnum round had more than proven itself and thus fit the bill nicely.
The Manurhin MR-73 Now
Given the GIGN’s needs, tactics and doctrines that resulted in the design and production of the MR-73, this revolver is best summarized as a duty-grade target revolver built on a medium-sized frame.
The Manurhin MR-73 offerings that Beretta USA is importing to the US consist of Sport, Match and Gendarmerie variants with differing barrel lengths. All revolvers are built on the same size frame and chambered for .357 Magnum.
The primary difference between the three revolvers lies in the sights. Sport and Match models have a more traditional Patridge style front sight, whereas the Gendarmerie models have a ramped front sight commonly seen on service revolvers. Every Manurhin MR-73 revolver is equipped with fully adjustable LPA-style rear sights. While the classic wooden stocks that came with the 5.25 and 3 inch GIGN duty models are still available, the majority of modern-produced MR-73 revolvers ship with rubber Trausch target grips designed for the gun.
Manurhin is an abbreviation for “Manufacture du Haut-Rhin”, the original mechanical works that manufactured the MR-73 in the far eastern French town of Mulhouse. Chapuis Armes, a French company that manufactures high-end sporting firearms, took over MR-73 production in 1998. Although the original 1973 has undergone some minor tweaks and revisions, the overall design of the MR-73 family remains virtually unchanged.
It’s All In The Details
While the MR-73 borrows from Smith & Wesson’s archetypical double-action revolver pattern, it is no clone. Manurhin tweaked certain elements of the MR-73’s lockwork that made it different.
What sets the Manurhin MR-73 apart from most other revolvers is how they are manufactured. This isn’t just in terms of the quality of the steel and materials used, but the hand-fitting and attention to detail that goes into the guns. Chapuis doesn’t even finish the cylinders until after they’ve been test-fired and proof to avoid marking their guns with turn-lines before the customer gets to shoot it.
Calling the Manurhin MR-73 “accurate” is an understatement. Again, it’s not just that they’re all true target-grade duty revolvers, but their closely-fit hand-assembled parts lend themselves to this. The small details such as the tolerances between the frame, cylinder and forcing cone matter when it comes to revolver accuracy.
Current-production MR-73s are manufactured with slightly undersized .356-inch diameter bores which help obturate (squeeze for better bore engagement) .357 Magnum or .38 Special bullets which typically measure to a nominal caliber of .357-.358 inches. Additionally, Chapuis takes special care to machine each charge hole in every cylinder. It even goes as far as milling out the charge hole simultaneously as the corresponding edges of each ejector star. This mates the ejector to that specific cylinder from the onset of their actual manufacture.
The MR-73’s design also allows the shooter to adjust not only the hammer’s mainspring tension, but also the trigger pull weight (tensioned by a separate spring) and overtravel on the trigger itself.
Manurhin MR-73 Accuracy
For my review range session, I brought cartridges from three different companies including Federal American Eagle .357 Magnum 158-grain JSP, Fiocchi Defense Dynamics .357 Magnum 125-grain JHP and High Desert Cartridge Company .38 Special 125-grain JHP to try through my 4-inch Manurhin MR-73 Sport. This review session included 160 rounds across the ammunition brands without any issue. Every round went off without a hitch and it was easy to appreciate the Manurhin’s precise lockwork on the firing, both in single and double action. The honing inside each charge hole made for butter smooth case ejection, even with over 100 rounds in the session.
After fitting and assembly are completed, Chapuis both proofs and zeroes every revolver. Out of the box, my 4-inch Sport model was sighted-in at 15 yards with the 125-grain .357 Magnum JHP rounds. The full-house 158-grain Federal JSP printed 1 to 1.5 inches higher and the slower (but brisk for .38 Special) 125-grain High Desert load printed approximately 1.5 inches below the point of aim. I took all shots with a center-hold, which is made simple by MR-73’s superlative iron-sights. Across the three loads, I noticed the windage to be centered.
The beauty about revolvers with adjustable sights is that the shooter isn’t stuck to only one load and bullet weight like with the fixed-sight revolvers of old.
Absent any high-tech mechanical fixture, shooting handguns from rest is a skill in itself. I was amazed at the groups that I produced for the accuracy report below considering the challenging twilight conditions along with an aggressive swarm of mosquitoes on the range. Considering the circumstances, my ability to print accurate and repeatable groups really accentuates this revolver’s precision, accuracy and repeatability.
Shooting Freestyle
There’s no other way to put it, but off the bench, this revolver is so consistent that factors itself out of the equation. The remainder of the equation all hinges on the shooter. The Manurhin makes 10 or 15 yard targets look like they were shot at 5 yards, so as long as the shooter minds their grip and trigger control.
Its recoil impulse is in-line with other medium-sized revolvers. The American Eagle 158-grain JSP load shoots amazingly through this revolver. But, due to simple physics, it still feels rather warm considering that this revolver isn’t too heavy. It may not be the cartridge for novice shooters to shoot, or for extended range sessions for that matter.
While the rubber Trausch grips that were designed for the Manurhin MR-73 do help, especially because of their distinctive beavertail that anchors the revolver to the web of the hand during recoil to prevent the revolver from slipping in the firing hand under recoil, these alone do not overcome physics. I don’t like how the bottom of these grips flares out because I think they interrupt the bottom portion of a proper two-handed firing grip. But alas, revolver stocks and grips are very personal ergonomic choices.
The GIGN wasn’t shy about leveraging the MR-73’s accuracy to take single-action shots, and truthfully this revolver is wonderful in single action. However as I dry-fire, live-fire and work the double-action mechanism more, I can sense it to come alive on its own. It’s not that the double-action was rough out of the box, it just felt stiffer and heavier. The final parts fitting always comes from the revolver’s action working in tandem.
The Takeaway
If it wasn’t obvious, these revolvers aren’t cheap. Due to its laborious building methods, expert hands and very high standards Chapuis only completes about ten of these revolvers per day. I doubt that anyone who’d hold or shoot one of these revolvers would dispute its quality.
But are they worth their price tags?
It depends on who you ask since everyone values things differently. I know plenty of people who’ve happily spent more than this gun’s list price for a double-stack 1911, rifle or even a riflescope itself. Or Superbowl tickets, a vacation, a nice TV, the list goes on.
Personally, the Manurhin MR-73 reminds me of a luxury steel sports watch. In their heyday, some five decades ago, both this revolver and mechanical watches were just the tools of the trade, as it were. As technology and tactics progressed both shifted from the quotidian to the refined. Both became symbols and luxuries. In the case of current GIGN operators who don’t carry revolvers anymore, MR-73s are still highly revered and ceremonial.
Manurhin MR-73 Sport Specifications
- Manufacturer: Chapuis Armes
- Country Of Origin: France
- Importer: Beretta USA
- Action Type: Double-Action revolver
- Caliber: .357 Magnum
- Capacity: 6 rounds
- Frame: Steel
- Cylinder: Steel
- Barrel Length: 4 inches
- Sights: Target Patridge Front Sight, LPA-style adjustable rear target sight
- Trigger Pull Weight: Adjustable by end-user
- Length: 9.17 inches
- Width: 1.75 inches
- Height: 5.5 inches
- Weight: 34.2 ounces
- Accessories: tool bits, documentation/manual and hard-sided carrying case
- MSRP: $4,179
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