Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne

[madcratebuilder]

Had a weak moment and a extra C note.

Interesting rifle. No safety but can be carried chambered with the bolt unlocked. This was reported to be common practice. Lucked out on ammo, found a man nearby with a few pallets of French surplus. Cheap enough for this to be a shooter.

I recall seeing a few of these in Nam in groups of captured weapons. They didn't look like this of course.

Information

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[jmoore]

Range report forthcoming, I hope!

When I didn't have ammo, these seemed to be everywhere. Now the opposite.

[Bruce McAskill]

The French never did have a safety on their bolt action rifles from the first Lebel to the 1936. It would seem that you didn't load the chamber till you were ready to fire.

[Patrick Chadwick]

It would seem that you didn't load the chamber till you were ready to fire.

Which is a basic safety rule for target shooting, so you never need a safety. The French seem to have designed the MAS36 on the basic "If you don't build it in, it can't go wrong" principle.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

Nice looking MAS. I just purchased my first one recently. Seems to be built like a tank. The only thing I cannot figure out is why they put a flat sling thru a round sling swivel on the front sling mount.

[Anzac15]

I bought my first '36 recently, a real treat to shoot. There's just something about French military firearms that truly intrigues me. Enjoy it!