Maybe Doing Research isn't Always Good

[Wolf308]

Well, I thought it over real good. No matter what mods I do, I'm never going to trust this rifle enough to shoot it. So it's heading back to the shop on Tuesday when they're open again. There's a nice little SMLE dated 1926 waiting for me to make the right choice. And if things go well, I might get a Mosin out of it, too. LOL!

Information

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[vintage hunter]

Wolf, I don't think your fully understanding what you've been reading. The rifle isn't going to blow up, the warnings pertain to slam-fires. A slam-fire is the firing of a cartridge caused by the closing of the bolt as the round is fed into the chamber.Some causes of slam-fires are 1. sensitive primers, 2. Minimum chamber,minimum headspace, 3. Inadequate case sizing, 4. Hammer following the bolt, 5. Frozen firing pin, and/or 6. Fouled bolt face. This problem can happen with any semi-auto firearm, not just the MAS 49/56. I have a 49/56 that I've shot both factory ammo(PRVI Brand) and handloads in with no problems. I've also shot the tar out of my M-1 Garand, M-1 Carbine and M-1a with factory ammo and handloads without a slamfire but I regularly disassemble the bolt to clean the face and firing pin. Also I clean the primer pockets, check that the primers are fully seated and full length size the cases so theres no resistance when the round chambers. The only slam-fire I've ever witnessed happened with an SKS, don't recall the ammo but believe it was commercial stuff.

[bigduke6]

There's a nice little SMLE dated 1926 waiting for me to make the right choice.

You cant go wrong with the SMLE, interesting to see the make (maybe a 1926 Lithgow).

[Wolf308]

You cant go wrong with the SMLE, interesting to see the make (maybe a 1926 Lithgow).

You pegged it.

---------- Post added at 10:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:58 PM ----------

It's over, folks. The MAS has been turned in and I got a 1926 Enfield SMLE and a 1943 Mosin Nagant, plus some ammo for it.

I'm much happier. I understand the MAS can be fixed, or maybe nothing is wrong, but when I lifted the case this evening with the SMLE and the Mosin inside and proceeded to pull my shoulder out of the socket, I realized maybe I really DID make the right choice. I'm not your "average" female and can handle a rifle with some punch (K31, anyone?), but over the years my right arm hasn't been what it should be. Between a shoulder that has taken too much recoil from sighting in safari rifles for people to a broken wrist thanks to a small revolver with a massive load, I just don't think taking the chance of an unexpected slam fire pushing the rifle into my shoulder unexpectedly is worth it. If that MAS had cut down on my K31 time I would have been very upset. Besides, I seem to go very "old fashioned" anyway. I always take a bolt over semi, pump over semi, and wheel gun over semi. I have semis, but they don't make me as happy. And when I brought home that SMLE tonight... the buyer's remorse was gone. So I think I did good.

The MAS is back up for sale for a nice price and will make someone else very happy.