MAS caliber

[garra]

I am looking at a MAS at a local sporting store, I have been for the past few months. The serial is 86492 with 2 funny symbols in front of the serial that looks like a script type ff. Caliber marked on the side is .308 and the model is 1936. There is also another one in caliber 7.5 French with bayonet, both are the same price. I am leaning toward the 308 caliber. I did notice that on both guns the trigger guard did not match the serial. I cannot see where the serial is on the bolt. Can someone advise me if the 308 is a late conversion to meet NATO requirements and is it worth adding to the collection. Both are in good condition, the 308 is a light color, the 7.5 is a reddish finish.

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[1886lebel]

The .308 is the Century arms, Inc. conversion from HELL, go get the 7,5x54mm one. The ones Century did are notorious for having bad chambers, the reamers they used to do these conversions were BAD.
Patrick

[arado]

In all probability the .308 is a conversion done by commercial interest. The 7.5 is French issue and is what I would buy. Most conversions are suspect. Regards, I have a deep affection for 7.5 Rifles. French or Swiss.

[garra]

Thanks for steering me away from the 308 conversion. You are correct in stating it was a Century Arms conversion, I remember seeing that information on the receiver. Too bad they hosed it up, it would have been handy not to obtain another set of dies.

So if I do pick up the 7.5, what do you guys use for bullets, I checked the Grafs site and they did not show anything in that caliber. I haven't looking in a reloading book yet so I don't know the exact size I need. I did see a set of dies from Lee that were a decent price, just 2 dies, don't know if I will need additional ones to do everything. Brass is available so it is a possiblity. Now if I just have room in the safe! And I have a 20% discount flyer from Cabelas which will work on firearms. Decisions decisions.....

[bearhunter]

I won't steer you away from the 308 conversion. The one I have functions flawlessly and shoots well. The only thing I don't like about it is the mickey mouse safety they dreamed up.
The 308s are all mixmasters by the way. The bore on mine measures .3078 and is pristine. The rest of the rifle, looks like it has been made up of left over parts, all refinished, including the wood furniture. Bayonet is still intact.

I'm really not sure why there is so much bad mouthing about the CIA conversions. I've only seen a few and all were well done, albeit with 7.62x51 chambers. They are compact, robust rifles with rear locking lugs on a massive bolt. I've heard many complain about the forward leaning bolt handle as well. IMHO the complainers should get out more. If you can afford it buy them both, you won't be sorry. They will both be accurate and reliable. They are ugly ducklings, like Lee Enfields but they grow on you, as you get to trust their capabilities. Feeding and extraction are flawless, the parent cartridge is very similar.

[jmoore]

7.5 French uses 0.308" dia. bullets just fine. Prvi Parisan makes ammo and brass. I've seen quite a few poorly converted 7.62x51 conversions. Would pick a 7.5 as my first, then, maybe, consider getting a 7.62.

[Patrick Chadwick]

From the official German tables of dimensions:
7,5x54 MAS land/groove 7,57/7,85 mm
.308 Win. land/groove 7,62/7,82 mm

Normal .308 bullets are perfectly satisfactory.

Ammo options:
PRVI,as already posted
FNM (Portuguese) if you can find it.
If you are desperate, or just like reforming, then 6.5x55 Swedish cases can be neck-expanded (anneal first) and formed in a MAS die, then trimmed to length.

Original vs. rechambered.
You may not be concerned about this aspect now, but one day you may want to sell it.
I cannot judge the US/Canadian market, but over here a rechambered milsurp has approx. zero value. Hang on long enough and ANY milsurp in ORIGINAL configuration is going to get more valuable. Plus competition rules here usually ban anything but the original caliber!

And finally, the major MAS plus-point:
It is the cheapest milsurp available with a rear peep-sight instead of open sights. The backsight has range notches, but it is not difficult to fiddle in a sliding wedge to override the notches and achieve an effectively continuous adjustment for a specific range. And right/left can be achieved, in small doses, by taking up any slack, gluing in a small washer with a smaller hole than the original, filling and reboring, or just plain bending! BTW, the orginal had alternative backsight leaves, to be fitted as required by the armorer, but even my French friends can't find any these days!

Patrick

[bearhunter]

Please don't take this as a flame, because it isn't.

I've always wondered about the concept that conversions to readily available calibres is undesirable. IMHO, it makes far more sense to convert a mixmaster to a cartridge that is easy to obtain and basically similar in most aspects than it is to shoot out a collectable original.

Go ahead, they're your rifles after all but most of us don't have ready access to the "spares bin". For many of us, the firearms that are in original state are quite hard to come by. Right now there seems to be a plethora of milsurps available. Some are decently priced, some aren't. Most are mixmasters and I suspect the last of what the nations of the world are willing to dispose of.

This is a great time for milsurp enthusiasts. The availability of Mausers, Lee Enfields etc is fantastic. If only the money for these was also available. In Canada, ammunition has been a problem as well but that's just politics and an overly enthusiastic bureaucracy.

A year or so ago, there was an outfit in Canada selling 7.63, Swiss 1906/29 parabellums. The price was on the high side but the pistols were listed as excellent. They are also restricted only and not on our prohib list. So an opportunity for someone without the proper license to obtain a "Luger".

Recently there have been a couple of other outfits selling similar pistols, one is slightly more expensive than the other but quality is the same. I wouldn't shoot one of these pistols. They are just to clean. I would shoot a mixmaster in 9mm though. Where do we draw the line? I guess it's a personal choice.

[Simon P]

Website with pics of an old Arms Dump with various weapons from Enfields to M60s including a field of magazines.


http://www.project-x.org.uk/armsdumpindex.html

Sorry posted in the wrong thread

[coppertales]

will work just fine in your MAS 36. Try to stay close to the original military bullet weight. Other weight bullets may affect accuracy. Both of my MAS36 rifles, in 7.5 French, are outstanding shooters. You would never know by the looks. Both are 41 bucks delivered from Numrich a few years ago.

On the other hand, I have a MAS 49/56 in 308 that is an outstanding shooter. Goes bang 100 percent of the time. I just got lucky....chris3