MAS 49/56, Any Canaidan source for one that may have seen North African service?

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smurf123

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First time poster,

I'm searching for an original condition MAS 49/56, preferably one that may have seen service in Algeria during its life.

My father fought for the French, he had been conscripted into service and grown up in Algeria. My family goes back a few generations on my paternal side there. Their roots trace further back to southern Spain but they integrated with the French when they migrated to Algeria in the 1800's.

I've never considered owning or trying to acquire a surplus rifle before and any insight some of you may have would be appreciated. Are there things I should look for when assessing one?

My apologies if this is not the appropriate place to post, I'm pretty new to the forums.
 
Hey :)

Glad you are interested in the French rifles.

MAS 49/56's were available on the US surplus market for quite some time. They are very well built and are extremely reliable and tough.

Every single MAS 49/56 on the surplus market/private collections etc are refurbished. You will not find a 49/56 that has not gone through a rebuilt of some sort, if by some miracle you did it would have been stolen from the military/lost in combat.

The refurbishment process varied in terms of what they did from a simple furniture swap, or GL ring swap, to full rebuild.

I have a few examples that are "light refurbs" where nothing much was done, actually nothing replaced other than perhaps the firing pin. Soldier grafiti is still present on the stock along with a photo of a loved one under the buttplate of the other. But either way, it went through the rebuild and is marked as such. (PXX markings where the XX is the date.) They must have missed those hidden gems.

Some guns received multiple refurbs, I have one with 4. P60, P64, P68, P80 meaning it was refurbished all those years. What you can find sometimes, and I suspect this would be what your looking for, are refurbished guns that were the first ones to market. They are generally old imports and may be very worn in some cases, as these particular ones were refurbed, then issued, saw combat/military use and rather than go through another program, they went direct to surplus.

The downside is these guns (regardless of condition) are now rare in Canada and quickly disappearing in the USA. People now know how good these rifles are and that for the longest time they were selling for less than they are worth. Keep an eye on the EE or import one yourself from the USA is your best bet.

Still, don't expect them to be cheap, but they are well worth it. Hope that helped a bit.

500px-La_legion_saute_sur_Kolwezi-MAS49-2.jpg

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MAS_InActionZaire1978.jpg

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Thank you for your insights, my father doesn't talk much about the war but he became best friends with his Sargent, they are still friends to this day. I only hear story's of when they were goofing off and got caught or some of the funny characters in the regiment. Neither of them have ever talked about the combat they experienced or the atrocities I'm sure they witnessed. My fathers opinion was that it was an unnecessary war and that France should have come to terms with Algeria independence rather than waste so many lives. Charles de Gaulle might be a hero to many in France but what he did in Algeria was criminal. It was a war to save "face" and show the world that France would not just let go of the last of its colonial empire without a fight.

When they inevitably lost the war, my family was sent to France only to face discrimination because they were viewed as a burden to the state. Fortunately, my grandfather was industrious and managed to start a business in France. My father immigrated to Canada and was followed by my uncle and aunt a few years later. They all succeeded in Canada due to their hard work and valued the fact Canada was a nation of migrants from all over the world. They of course still faced racism here but nothing like the classicism and racism that exists in France even to this day. Don't get me wrong, I love France, it's history, the culture, food and way of life, but it's a love hate relationship. In Canada we are Canadians, in France, no mater how well I speak French or conform to the cultural norms, I would never be considered French.

If anyone is willing to part with with a MAS 49/56 that is in decent shape I would be interested in getting in contact. I'm not looking for a "good deal", I know these are not like an SKS or some other surplus type stuff. This is more about obtaining something that is part of my family's heritage that I might be able to pass on to my children should they be interested in obtaining their PAL down the road. I'm located in SW Ontario if that helps.

Many thanks...
 
Love that FR F1 rifle in the last picture! Sadly I doubt they will ever see the civilian market.
 
Robbs said:
Love that FR F1 rifle in the last picture! Sadly I doubt they will ever see the civilian market.
Click to expand...

Me too :) There are a few in France in civilian hands and in the USA too, although very uncommon.

Do you like older French firearms, say semi auto's from WW1?
 
MILARM in Edmonton had a batch of them after International moved to the US. your best bet would be to keep an eye on the EE. and put an ad saying you want one.
 
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