MODEL 1936 M.A.S. RIFLE 7.5 FRENCH
1. model 1936 MAS bolt action rifle
2. 7.5x54 FRENCH MAS
3. blued finish (not parkerized)
4. all parts correct. all the serial numbers match, even on the spike bayonet and the magazine floorplate.
5. perfect bore, perfect muzzle crown, perfect lands, grooves, and rifling.
6. the furniture is intact, with no cracks, repairs, or major checks and dings.
7. LEFT OF RECIEVER: "MAS" "Mle 1936" "STYLIZED CURSIVE E 71416"
8. cartouche RIGHT SIDE STOCK: circuler cartouche / AOUT 1939(IN THE BORDER) / MA(IN THE CENTER)
the gun is in NRA EXCELLANT condition. the bluing has rubbed/worn on some of the sherp edges, and it shows the normal handling wear you would expect from a 64 year old battle rifle. the gun has not been re-arsenaled. it does not have the parkerized finish / grenade launcher add ons that would mark it as a colonial service rebuild. the gun is very accurate at 50 and 100 yds with new production ammo.
two of my referance books indicate that very few of the MODEL 1936 rifles were made before france was over-run and occupied by the german armed forces. they state that production ceased until 6 months after the liberation of france by allied forces. as indicated above, this piece in from 1939, making it one of the odd, early pre occupation rifles.
what is it worth??? does the early 1939 production date increase the value??? is it of intrest to collectors??? how comon are these guns with all the numbers matching??? other than NUMRICH ARMS is there a scource for parts and accesories???
does anyone own one of these rifles??? what is your opinion on the gun??? any history, info, personal experiance, etc... would be appreciated. best regards, mike.
What other dungeon is so dark as ones own heart, what jailer so inexorable as ones own mind.
2. 7.5x54 FRENCH MAS
3. blued finish (not parkerized)
4. all parts correct. all the serial numbers match, even on the spike bayonet and the magazine floorplate.
5. perfect bore, perfect muzzle crown, perfect lands, grooves, and rifling.
6. the furniture is intact, with no cracks, repairs, or major checks and dings.
7. LEFT OF RECIEVER: "MAS" "Mle 1936" "STYLIZED CURSIVE E 71416"
8. cartouche RIGHT SIDE STOCK: circuler cartouche / AOUT 1939(IN THE BORDER) / MA(IN THE CENTER)
the gun is in NRA EXCELLANT condition. the bluing has rubbed/worn on some of the sherp edges, and it shows the normal handling wear you would expect from a 64 year old battle rifle. the gun has not been re-arsenaled. it does not have the parkerized finish / grenade launcher add ons that would mark it as a colonial service rebuild. the gun is very accurate at 50 and 100 yds with new production ammo.
two of my referance books indicate that very few of the MODEL 1936 rifles were made before france was over-run and occupied by the german armed forces. they state that production ceased until 6 months after the liberation of france by allied forces. as indicated above, this piece in from 1939, making it one of the odd, early pre occupation rifles.
what is it worth??? does the early 1939 production date increase the value??? is it of intrest to collectors??? how comon are these guns with all the numbers matching??? other than NUMRICH ARMS is there a scource for parts and accesories???
does anyone own one of these rifles??? what is your opinion on the gun??? any history, info, personal experiance, etc... would be appreciated. best regards, mike.
What other dungeon is so dark as ones own heart, what jailer so inexorable as ones own mind.
0
-
O.K.--you asked for personal experience and opinions--I've got one of these, exactly as described, except that the numbers do not all match. Truthfully, I've never fired it because, until fairly recently, ammo was hard to come by and the rifle doesn't look too promising. Like most French weapons it is clunky and ugly, but strong and practical. There might be some collector interest for an advanced military arms collector if you pushed the pre-W.W. II aspect of it's manufacture, but as recently as two years ago the M-36 was available "new, unissued, in the original wrapper" and quite a few were sold. Frankly, I thought about acquiring one at the time as an upgrade, but decided the money would be better spent on a VZ-24. In this part of the woods your rifle would probably fetch $100-150 at a gun show, but I would not expect a quick sale. 0 -
I have one of these that I have shot. Mine is one of the ones that was purchased in the wrappers but it does not have matching numbers. It shoots fine. The bolt is a little stiff to work, but the rifle was either nearly new or I suspect re-finished. The one thing I don't like is that if there is a windage adjustment I haven't figured it out. I bought a set of dies and am reloading for it. I bought some of the FNM Portugese ammo that is boxer primed and have reloaded that brass. 0 -
we had a few of the "in wrapper" parkerized(green)/grenade launcher colonial models in the shop last year. condition was excellant, but the numbers did not match up, the finish was not appealing, and we could not remove the grenade launcher. at that time, i passed up buying one, i just was not interested.
while i agree that the gun does not have the most visualy appealing lines, i am impressed with it. the design it strong, and simple. the bolt and magazine floorplate are easily removed for cleaning and maintenance. the design of the spike / rondel style bayonet, and the integral storage feature built into the gun is nice.
this piece caught my eye because it was blued. further inspection revealed the numbers matched, and that the bore was perfect. the price was also rather low. it did take some amount of time and effort to understand how to adjust the elevation on the rear battle sight.
we stock the ammunition at the shop. i passed on the mil surplus and brought home the "MUNICOES DE ARMAS LIGEIRAS" current production cartridges made in portugal. its a 139 grain copper jacketed boattail ball style round. the gun handles well while while firing. it quickly becomes evident why the bolt is turned down and forward as you work the action.
i was impressed buy the guns accuracy and action. sometimes you get a good gun for a good price. i still prefer the earlier BERTHIER-LEBEL design, but the MAS 1936 is a good gun. best regards, mike.
What other dungeon is so dark as ones own heart, what jailer so inexorable as ones own mind.0 -
Der Gebirgsjager and all:
I thought all of those "unissued in the wrapper" guns were arsenal rebuilds; was I just not paying enough attention? I don't think I have ever seen one that wasn't a parkerized re-arsenal. When I read the first post, I thought it was a hard to find item, especially a blue completely matching gun. Are they that easy to find in this condition?
redcedars0 -
I purchased A MAS 36 (made in 1939) from Southern Ohio Gun in September, 1995 for $90. This rifle appeared new and unfired in the wrap and all the parts appeared to match. Information I've come across indicates that all pre WWII production was phosphate finished--except for a few which were painted black to speed distribution to troops before France threw in the towel. Rifles intended for naval and marine issue were supposed to be blued/browned in the conventional way...I've never seen an example.
I loaded my rifle with some surplus 7.5mm which I think came from Lebanon??? The rifle worked fine but had a VERY HEAVY trigger pull! I guess the notion of an accidental discharge would be unknown in the French military with triggers like that (of course they were probably never planning on firing these guns in anger anyway...just surrender them). I found nothing really wrong with the rifle, but nothing really great about it either. Most militaries on the European mainland in pre WWII chose a variation of the Mauser. The French always looked for a native design and the MAS was the result. SOG offered these rifles for years after I bought and sold my example (doubled my money) and I think the price eventually dropped to around $75. Ammunition is more available now so the rifle would be more shootable than when I had mine.
Mark T. Christian0 -
the BBL and reciever are definitly blued. some other parts like the trigger gaurd, and the BBL bands appear to have been painted. i am positive that this is the original finish. i, to, have never seen a blued example. i thought that the original guns were blued when produced, and later refinished and arsenal rebuilt for use by colonial garrisons and as a last resort issue to conscripts during a general call up / mobilization.
i do not know how to discriminate between an army infantry issue, and that of a naval or marine rifle. perhaps the stock cartouche would be a unit designator, but having handled and being the owner of several french marshall arms, i thought they were the marks of the arms manufacturers.
the trigger on this gun is fair. its a typicle two stage creep, stop, break military style trigger. the break is about 7 lbs, and crisp.
best regards, mike.
What other dungeon is so dark as ones own heart, what jailer so inexorable as ones own mind.0 -
One thing that is lacking is there is no safety on them.I guess the designer thought that if the rifle does not get picked up and loaded,it does not need one.
EvilDr235
Two types of people drive old cars.Rich people because they want to and poor people because they have to.0 -
I believe some of these rifles were converted to 308 by the importer once they arrived state side. I remember seeing them advertised in Shotgun News.
If you ain't got a sense of humor you got no business bein here!0 -
i have one that was sporterized and a safty added but it is still in 7.5...nice shooters....tom 0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
10 comments