French Mas 49/56

[Greasemonkey]

I had one of these out today, I thought for those who had never seen one apart, it may be of some interest. These were made by Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne in France, same as the Mas 36. These rifles, with the way they are designed, they were found to be very durable weapons and with the correct scope were used as designated marksman rifles at ranges of over 600 meters. They pulled service in several countries, Indochina and French Guiana to name a few. The action is a cross between an M-16 gas system with an SKS style bolt and carrier. The French military was the first to experiment with this style gas system on the MAS-38/39, 4 years later the Swedes adapted it for the AG-42 Ljungman. The receiver is machined from a solid block of steel and that is where the rifle balances. Its a very comfortable rifle to shoot, even though the 7.5 French round is close to the 7.62 Nato the recoil is slight. The front sight is elevation adjustable, rear sight is windage adjustable and the grenade sight acts as the gas shut off for grenade launching. When the rifle is fired it has a total of 6 moving parts, the bolt carrier, then the rear locking tilting bolt which carries the extractor, the ejector and the firing pin, and lastly the recoil spring.

This one was refurb in '69 and the bore looks new, I managed to find one that had all the accessories, including night sight, bayonet and the rubber launching boot.

Ok I'll be quiet here are the photos.
Just beware of the Century 7.62 conversions

[Greasemonkey]

Here is the complete rifle, Enjoy

[Junk Yard Dog]

The French always have their own way of doing things when they come up with weapons. They tend to be different and innovative, both smokeless powder and the spitzer bullet are of French origin, took the Germans all of half a year to steal the ideas Mas Mas 49/56

[desdem12]

Sweet I have been looking at these alot lately. I missed out on one for $350. My candy store has 2 of them but they start at $575.

[Greasemonkey]

Here is my first 49/56, this one was refurbed in '78 and was a greasy mess when I got it. They all have the scope rail, but the original scope price is at times way higher than the rifle. They were known to use an APX L 806 scope, when these were pressed for the sniper role.

[desdem12]

That one is just pretty

[pacanis]

I've seen one of these somewhere... now ya got me wondering where.

Very nice read and pics

[Greasemonkey]

desdem12- 350 would be an excellent price for one, like you stated most of the 7.5 French chambered are pushing $600, my first one with the sling and several boxes of French ammo was $300 about 6 yrs ago. The conversion by Century seem to run less, possibly due to the known issues. I've only seen and fired one that ran well with no issues, but it was very picky with ammo.

One other thing of note, is burst fire from commercial ammo with soft primers . The first one I bought, I ended up putting the titanium aftermarket firing pin in it(hard to find now). I learned real quick on it. the second Mas has a slightly shortened, more blunted tip firing pin, no issues from it yet with the Prvi ammo. I do have a bunch of the 7.5 French military ammo, but do to rarity I won't shoot it and keep stocking it up when found. The Syrian stuff floating around is crap , I have a milk crate full of it, one out of every eight rounds might go off the first time. I even use the original heavy firing pin for that ammo. Thinking of tearing it down for components, from my understanding it a primer issue with Syrian ammo, and I save the Prvi brass anyway.

Much like an SKS Carbine, the firing pin is free floating and the channel must be cleaned. Very easy to do, separate the bolt and carrier and the pin falls right in your hand.

[MN Fan]

Very cool GM. I haven't seen any in this area, but I'll be looking harder now. Sweet rifles!

[Dragunov sniper 777]

strange beast , but very nice

[sharpie443]

I have always liked the look of those guns. I just wish they weren't in such a goofy caliber.

[desdem12]

There are some in .308 but i wouldn't touch one. The changed ones are hit and miss. I have found a place for 7.5 french here, not to bad..yet.

[etprescottazusa91]

Your Mas 49/56 is a sweet looking rifle

[avenger]

I like the way they look... very nice... expensive to pop off some rounds though eh?

[Greasemonkey]

I like the way they look... very nice... expensive to pop off some rounds though eh?

They are a great handling, easy shooting rifle
The ammo is not really much more than any other full size rifle round price wise. The bad thing is finding a consistent source of it. I have a bunch of French surplus(I won't use-expensive, very hard to get), Syrian stuff (can't use-IT SUCKS-wont go off) and a bunch of Prvi that I replace as I use(saving the brass).

[avenger]

I like the way they look... very nice... expensive to pop off some rounds though eh?

They are a great handling, easy shooting rifle
The ammo is not really much more than any other full size rifle round price wise. The bad thing is finding a consistent source of it. I have a bunch of French surplus(I won't use-expensive, very hard to get), Syrian stuff (can't use-IT SUCKS-wont go off) and a bunch of Prvi that I replace as I use(saving the brass).

Sounds good

[Bern]

I have one in .308 and I love it. Never had any problems. Came with four magazines and a cleaning kit. It is one of my favorite shooters. Shot a variety of 7.62 (.308) and it is reliable and great fun to shoot. Solid, tough rifle, easy to break down, etc. Would have been a good "M14" if we didn't already have M14s.

just my 2 cents.

Bern

[Junk Yard Dog]

The M14 is the child of the M1 Garand, the legendary rifle of GI Joe, no rifle comes close to it. .7.62x51mm or 7.5 French, either way you are paying well for ammo. Who did the conversion on these? Century? Century builds are known for problems, and then some will be just fine, it's a crapshoot when you buy one.

[Bern]

Yep, Century did the conversion. There were some problems with the variable pressures of .308 and there is no gas adjustment on the conversion. There are (were) a couple of guys who added gas adjustments to help.
I qualified on the M14 in the 1960s and for sure, it's the best gun. The MAS is a little handier and simpler to deal with.
B

[Junk Yard Dog]

I have a couple of their FAL builds with the Imbel receivers, fortunately there were no problems, bought them back in the 90's before we had the Internet to warn us of possible difficulties. The Mas saw most of it's action with the French Foreign Legion in such garden spots as French Indochina, unfortunately for them it did not end well. The M14 was there some years later, but not for long.