Manufacture d'armes de St.-Etienne 1936 MAS

[reddog1962]

I have some repackaged surplus MAS ammo in white foam blocks from Toulouse. I suspect they might be machine gun rounds. Does anyone know of a way to tell for sure? Second silly question-would the 7.5x54 MG round be safe to shoot in the 1936 MAS?

Has anyone heard of the bores being Parkerized in this model? Mine shows no signs of such, but I've seen some noise on the subject.

Thanks in advance to all the MAS experts out there. I'm very excited about this piece as it is unissued and appears to have been only test fired. I understand they have a great rep for accuracy. The French have always been progressive firearms makers and I'm excited to add this to my collection of old Bessies.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Aragorn243]

Probably are machine gun rounds. Pressures should be fine with the MAS as the normal MAS round is well under max and the machine gun rounds are only slightly higher than the normal MAS round. Lots of guys using them with no issues. I have half a dozen boxes of the same stuff and have no concerns using it. Only problem ammo is Syrian made, that's just bad stuff.

Not sure where you heard they have a rep for good accuracy. Accuracy by all reports I've seen is adequate for the intended purpose as a combat arm. They will not do well in any serious target competition.

[reddog1962]

Many thanks for the info and insight. Yeah-I'm not expecting MOA or maybe even 4x+ MOA based on all the other old stuff I shoot from the same era. In doing some more reading, the reviews are certainly mixed on "accuracy" (maybe the eye of the beholder?). The consistent theme seems to be humane recoil. Maybe some folks are confusing quick reacquisition with accuracy. I appreciate your knowledge and hope to build on it first hand at the range over the next few weeks.