French MAS 49 7.5mm rifle

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x westie

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Just curious if anybody on CGN has a French MAS 7.5mm semi auto rifle,...Guns and Ammo had a page on this rifle sometime ago,...never hear much about these rifles,...ugly looking but reliable,...Foreign Legion NCO was quoted as saying it was a very simple but reliable rifle with a potent cartridge,.....though surplus ammo can be a b**tch to get hold of .

Never see them even in Shotgun news either.
 
I have a MAS 49. Built like a tank and highly reliable with factory ammo. Sights are easy to use and has accuracy on par with a service grade Garand. Field strips in about 5 seconds.
 
I traded a MAS 49 for a something else, and lucked into a MAS 1944. The book to buy is Proud Promise by Huon. It will change all your notions about semiautomatic rifle conception and execution. The French had been making semis from before WWI and through to the FAMAS, without telling too many English language writers. No wonder these fine rifles are so unappreciated.

Century sold 7.5x54 ammo for a while, but is mostly gone downrange. I'm fireforming mine from commercial .308, but Swedish 6.5 brass is even closer.
 
Mas49/56

I have one of these also and have found the ammo difficult to obtain. There was a boatload of these brought into the US about 7-8 years ago if I recall correctly-for ~$250 US you got the rifle, 4 x10 round mags, bayonet, night sight, and 4 power scope. Of course I waited a few years and paid considerably more. I was able to secure some GRAF headstamped brass (Made by PRVI PARTIZAN), but erred in using Federal primers. The 49/56 is one of those rifles with no firing pin return spring and it requires hard primers. I had this rifle go auto for 2 and 3 round bursts with these primers. I am now shooting it as a single shot until I get some MILspec primers. The other fixes include taking a few grams off the firing pin or purchasing a $90 titanium firing pin.
Its kind of neat in a distinctly French way (like a Citroen 2 cv)
Regards, DocAitch
 
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