Finally, a Nice Score at Cabelas

[Aragorn243]

I made my every couple of weeks trek up to Cabela's hoping to find a milsurp worth using some points on. Past six months have been nothing but beat to crap Mosin Nagants and badly bubba'ed semi-sporters. This evening I spotted some rifles right off the bat and there were not one but three 24/47's in the racks. This is the rifle that I went up to get three weeks ago when they were on sale but mysteriously they didn't have a single one that day. In any case, I was not very happy, they were back up to $399 which is a joke.

Just getting ready to leave when I decided to scan again and an odd sight caught my eye in the semi-auto rack. WOOD. I said to myself, it can't be but it was, a French MAS 49/56 in original 7.5. This was not on my official "list" as it is post WWII but it is one I've been admiring for a couple of years and being disappointed over and over by that 308 stamp on the side. Price was good for Cabelas, and since I had enough points, it came home free and clear.

I told the wife it didn't even need a bayonet as it didn't take one. To my chagrin, I quickly learned it did indeed take a bayonet when I looked it up on the net. Ugly thing I seemed to recall having in the pile upstairs. Sure enough, bayonet came before the rifle. All I need now is a sling. Two salesmen handled it on the way through processing. First said, wow, good price, this just got put out. Second also said good price. They listed it at $399.00. Not super but below book.

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.

[Mikesm44]

Good job. I too have been admiring those. I had the misfortune of buying a MAS 36 in .308. The stock fell off the first time I fired it. With just one round.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

I paid more than that for mine. Extra clips are quite common. Liberty tree has the bayos for $85 (not much more than I paid). You need a night site as well (also avaliable and cheap). The slings are all over in new condition. Mag pouches and letther belts and suspenders are out there if you want a complete ensamble.
Pictures forth comming?
I am keeping an eye out for the scope and mount which are quite pricey.

[Aragorn243]

Here are the photos. The metal is in excellent shape, just a few handling marks here and there. It's been used but not abused. Bore is excellent. Manufactured between 1958-1960 and refurbished in 1982. All the serials that I've found match. The wood is not new wood and looks to be original to the rifle or it saw service after the refurbishment which doesn't seem likely given the condition of the metal.

The sun play havoc with most of my full rifle shots so I included a lot of the closeups instead to show the more interesting parts and how the bayonet connects etc.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

Excellent example & photos! I guess I need a Butt pad as well. I find these to be very interesting arms of quality manufacture. I would like to find a functional example in 7.62x51 making it more practical to fire regularly. The design if the scope mount is facinating I only wish the originals were not so high and the aftermarkets so high above the bore axis.That bayonet is an odd duck.

[Aragorn243]

The butt pad is technically to fire the grenade launcher. I guess they were designed in 1962 to make the recoil a bit more manageable. It came with and as they seem to sell for about $20, I'm glad it did. I put an order in for a night sight. The scopes scare me off at the moment. Need to pay off the mortgage first I believe. What impresses me is it has a SAFETY. Not the world's greatest safety as it seems incredibly easy to knock off by accident but better than what all preceeding French rifles have.

I've heard a lot of horror stories about the conversions which is why I've steered clear of them. Guys that have them say they hate them or they spent another $100 or so to get them done correctly.

[Mikesm44]

Yeah, I hate my conversion. I'd willingly just give it to someone at this point.

This rifle however is beautiful and fills me with awe and jealousy. LOL.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

Yeah, I hate my conversion. I'd willingly just give it to someone at this point.

This rifle however is beautiful and fills me with awe and jealousy. LOL.

I read somewhere that a bit of chamber work(Cleaning up the lousy machine work Century did on the rechamber) can render the conversions functional.

[LukeTheDrifter]

Good job. I too have been admiring those. I had the misfortune of buying a MAS 36 in .308. The stock fell off the first time I fired it. With just one round.

That is both awful AND hilarious!! So sorry for your trouble, of course, but it reminds me of one time when I was looking for disassembly instructions for a very cheap pistol (I had offered to help smooth out the feeding on it, for a friend). I finally found one site where a poster said something along the lines of "In my experience, if you just shoot it, the pistol will fall apart in your hands"!!

I almost picked up one of the .308 conversions a month or two ago. Very glad I didn't now. However, great find on your unconverted rifle, sir!!

[Aragorn243]

After getting this, I did a lot of looking on the net for discussions on them. A lot revolved around the conversions. For every one who was happy with theirs, there were 5 that were not. There was some discussion about cleaning up the machine work and additional work with the springs and possibly the gas tube. It seems that the 7.5 round and 308 round are not close enough for them to work the same equipment the same way. Guys that got theirs fixed say they spent another hundred or so to get them working correctly. There is also the potential for slam fires with commercial primers to make matters worse although this can also occur with commercial 7.5 rounds. There is an easy fix for this, a machined firing pin with a spring. It's a similar situation to the SKS. I've also found "308" magazines for sale on ebay. Why they would need a specific magazine I do not know as they are about the same size and magazines for other rifles that I have will work with different calibers so long as the case is the same or close.