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MAS 49\56

Joseph04
Gentlemen:

I bought a modified French 7.5 Mas 49\56 several years ago. This item was modified to fire the .308 cartridge. I have heard and read various reports on the viability of this rifle modification. Does anyone out there have any personal experience firing this converted model?

Joe
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • 1KYDSTR
    There were 2 major conversions of this rifle done. One was from Century Arms and the quality of their conversions has been called into question. From personal experience, the main issue seemed to be with feeding and extracting, and on one occasion I saw an overbored chamber that made a pretty serious mess out of the brass that came out in one piece. The other conversions were done at MAS (St Etienne arsenal)and seemed to be of universally better quality. I picked up my first one from SOG for around $250 unissued. It has appreciated some, although I enjoy loading for it and shooting it too much to ever part with it or the same condition 36/51 I acquired about the same time for $100. The guns perform exreemly well if left in their original 7.5 French chambering.

    "When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
    "When I was 14 I used to marvel at how ignorant my old man was...by the time I was 21 I was truelly amazed at how much the old bugger had learned in the intervening 7 years!" Samuel Clemens
    "History is written by winners"(Patton)
    "You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
    "There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)
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  • Joseph04
    So what I hear is, good luck and see what happens, right?

    Joe
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  • toolman9mm
    well i can only say from my experience...i bought three and one blew up on my friend after the third round..i shot the first two rounds and he shot the last...it blew the frame outward and the bolt out of the gun...very bad situation...century took all three back with no questions asked..my friend only recieved a few gas burns but he did not purchase the rifle from me...lol...stick with the 7.5 they are great rifles..
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  • Wehrmacht_45
    If you want go to Surplusrifle.com. They have an article relating to a 1916 spanish mauser conversion that contains a link to a company that has a small conversion kit that is relatively cheap that allows you to shoot 7.62 rounds in a 7.5 french gun. They put a similar kit in this spanish mauser to shoot 7.62x39 in a 7.62x51 NATO gun. But on the companies website they have a multitude of chamber inserts and kits.
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  • Hangfire
    Bill[Kydster] described the two versions as I learned it as well. The French arsenals wanted a true conversion to .308. They addressed the gas system in addition to just rechambering. Their conversions functioned fine. Century simply rechambered and let the chips fall .Some worked, some didn't...you couldn't give me a Century conversion.Unfortuneatley it is almost impossible to tell a Century conversion from an authentic arsenal conversion that was imported by Century...Good luck!!

    Love them Pre-64's!!!!-Bob
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  • Joseph04
    Thanks for all the info. I guess when I go out to fire it I'll make sure that I'm wearing my Kevlar.

    Joe
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  • jonk
    If it is a century comversion, it should be possible to remove the .308 chamber insert with a broken shell extractor and restore to 7.5 French.

    "...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf
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  • toolman9mm
    all mine were century and they were not sleeved...hey your kelvar vest will not help.. it blows out the top and bottom of the rifle...you will know it when you feel the heat from the GAS ...where a helmet and good saftey glasses...if you would like pic's i only have the blown out mag from the gun and the round where it let loose...thats alot of psi comming out fast...BE CAREFULL!!!
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  • BT3
    [8D] How about the modified 31/56's in .308 ? I have one of those. Bolt Action - any problems ?
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  • 1KYDSTR
    BT3...Mine3 is also still in the 7.5 chambering, but I can tell you that I have not heard of the same problem with the 36/51's which were converted to .308. As Bob noted, the French arsenals were fairly careful to re-do the gas porting on the 49/56's so their .308 conversions worked well. The bolt gun HAS no gas system, so the conversion would have to be much better/simpler I would think!

    "When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
    "When I was 14 I used to marvel at how ignorant my old man was...by the time I was 21 I was truelly amazed at how much the old bugger had learned in the intervening 7 years!" Samuel Clemens
    "History is written by winners"(Patton)
    "You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
    "There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)
    0

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