Introduced in 1928 and manufactured until 1939, the Model 1928 Armee is a straight blowback double action only semi-automatic pistol in 9mm Browning Long. While using a spring loaded slide like most 20th century automatic pistols, the 28's slide was not meant to be pulled back by the operator; instead a lever on the right side operates the flip-up barrel to either hand-load the first round or manually extract the cartridge to clear the weapon, with a spring-loaded carrier mounted to the magazine floor plate to store said cartridge. Fixed sights, with a smooth ribbed barrel, the one-line Saint-Etienne address on the left of the slide, "FRANCO" on top, and "FABRICATION FRANCAISE" on the right. The barrel latch and trigger are casehardened, with a set of smooth brass medallions on the checkered grips and a full blue magazine equipped with a cartridge loop.