MAS 49 - Opinion? Value?

sledge

sledge

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
142   0   0
Location
Ottawa
Had a chance to view a MAS-49/56 and was quite impressed. I was surprised to know the 49/56 was in service till 1990 and it was only replaced as the French service rifle by the FAMAS. It appears the be the equivalent of the Brit/Aus/Canadian FN FAL in terms of period of use. But while the FAL is prohib 12.5, these MAS 49s are non restricted. Fantastic!
The owner won't part with it but I was wondering what they are worth? Both the more common 49/56 and the rarer 49, which both seem extremely rare in Canada.
For those owners past and present - how did you acquire it, how often do you shoot it, are they safe queens, what is your opinion regarding accuracy, use, and collectability?



Cheers,
 
Actually, the rare one in Canada is the 49/56 since very few were imported. A few hundred MAS 49 came in from Syria about 25 years ago, so you see those once in while. The majority of 49's & 49/56's went to the USA and the rifles (36,49,49/56) left in France were melted down a few years ago.
 
Weird, I was thinking of starting the exact same thread. We went shooting with a neighbor yesterday and he pulled out his MAS 49 fir us to play with.

We put 3 boxes of shells through it yesterday.

I woke up this morning thinking I may need a MAS 49 one day.
 
Was it fun to shoot?

I have to admit a soft spot for my FN-49 and Ljungman. Always have a blast shooting them. The swedes being incredibly under valued IMHO. But both of those are common. I see them at the ranges and on the EE all the time. However MAS is truly a rare bird.
 
It's a very nice rifle to shoot!

Its every bit as powerful as an svt but it's way tamer to shoot. I'd also say it's a bit more accurate. The mag is easy to load and slips into the rifle quickly and easily.

One thing that I dislike is the front sight. It's giant and makes it very difficult to get a good sight picture. It's pretty much a 6 o' clock hold gun, use that hold and it's easy to shoot.

The MAS49 is a strange bird that's for sure!! The screw heads are all proprietary to the rifle and that bayo is pure French!

I must say though that it's one of the only none bolt action rifles that I go a little goo goo over!!

I'll have to see if I can get some pictures of it next time I'm over there so I can post them here.
 
I picked up a Syrian 49, locally, last year with a FrankenBubbaed butt stock on it.
Through a little digging I managed to find a proper stock in France, but need to color match it somehow.
Have yet to shoot it, but very impressed with the robust quality of the gun.
Bought to fit into my semi-auto milsurp collection and have around $800 into it :redface: :(

Before





After

 
Last edited:
The Mas 49s are much better handling than the FN FAL.

As far as the large front sight, it works very well for what it was intended to do. It's very easy to acquire in low light conditions and when speed of acquisition is necessary.

The trigger is as good or better than most of its bolt action predecessors and the safety is very positive and easy to get at. It gobbles up dirt, and crud, rather than jamming and was very well loved by those who used them.

It's just to bad they weren't in 7.62x51. The 7.5x54 cartridge is every bit as powerful though.

What I really liked about it, was that it is SHORT and HANDY. Unlike the FN FAL and the Svt38/40 or the Swede M42 rifles.

It's about 4 inches shorter than a Garand as well.

Its balance point is almost right on the mag. This makes it a bit awkward to carry in one hand but it rests between a two hand hold like a dream.

There was a very good reason they served France until after 1990. They are robust, user friendly and perfectly adequate for their purposes.

Many of them still soldier on in Africa and I'll bet all through the Middle East in one capacity or another.

The two piece stock can get loose if it is allowed to get to dry but if it's maintained properly, no issues.

As you can tell, I liked the Mas 49 and 49/56. I sold both of the rifles I had before I succumbed to the desire to rebarrel one to 7.62x51. I have one of the Mas 36 rifles that was rebarreled by International Firearms out of Montreal. I don't know who did the job but it was one of those that came into Canada from the US and has been laser etched with CIA, Virginia and has had a very unsatisfactory safety attached. It shoots very well though.
 
Really, the only fault I can give the MAS-49 is the cartridge. There's nothing inherently wrong with 7.5x54 at all, and it's actually quite neat, but it's a reloaders round. I'm sure there's a lot of MAS-49's out there that don't get shot as much as they should due to ammo cost. With that said, you can't really fault the rifle all that much for it's cartridge provided it worked for the army issuing, which it very much did.

I wish there were more of these things around, there should be.
 
I would like to get one sometime. I tend to like to study the technology of various semi-auto milsurps, so that is what I collect.
A MAS 49/56 and a Rasheed are what I am interested in grabbing.
 
I have wanted one for my collection for years but the prices up here tend to run 2x what they are asking in the US. I watch US auctions constantly and they don't sell asking for $400.00 to $500.00 and tend to get relisted multiple timesbefore finally selling or being withdrawn. While we tend to want the US market seems to care less. They should ship them up and sell them to us and they would all go ! I am still looking, sad to say !
 
JimDO said:
On a similar topic... what are the Mas 36s worth? More common im guessing?
Click to expand...

My excellent condition all matching MAS36 1945 dated cost me $500.

Ellwood Epps has a 36/51 with grenade launcher right now for $450. It doesn't say all matching so it's probably not but you can ask them.
 
I have one of the earlier MAS 44s that were unissued and imported by Century back in the 80s along with an unissued MAS 36/51. Sadly they spend their time in the vault so should probably find a new home.
 
Anyway, got a newish wood furniture set in. Took great lengths to obtain it...

IMG_3145_zpsd60536a7.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom