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Thoughts on the MAS 49/56

jonkjonk Member Posts: 10,121
edited October 2001 in General Discussion
Took my "new" toy out to the range for the first time the other day and here are my impressions. First, as I've learned before, surplus Syrian ammo is useless; 6 misfires out of a box of 15. Second, surplus French ammo worked perfectly as did my reloads. However, using reloads is a pain as one then has to go searching for the brass- as with any semi auto- and I never did find all of them. So far as the gun itself goes, I was quite pleased with accuracy and handling, though I'm not entirely sold on the idea of direct gas operation of the mechanism; I got quite a bit of fouling through the gas tube. All in all, give the gun an 8 out of 10. Which prompts me to comment on french rifles in general. French military prowess has been lacking since Napolean. Why? I mean, they invented smokeless powder small bore rifles. The Lebel was a serviceable, if not outstanding gun, which was far ahead of its time when introduced. They french MAS series, while it looks a bit odd, has fewer moving parts than its contemporaries, is strong, uses a good cartridge, and appears to be easier to make than many other guns of the era. I have found them all to be reliable and accurate when 7.5 ammo was used. So the lesson to me is that just because the men in the military didn't do much, their guns were quite nice, if ugly.
"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conference in 1899.
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Comments

  • .250Savage.250Savage Member Posts: 812 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    It seems the French in general have a real problem with engineering. During WWI, they stuck us with the Shosho(?) light machine gun, apparently couldn't get a full mag thru the thing before it jammed, then had to completely disassemble & clean, parts wouldn't interchange, awful. Use a bullpup rifle now, looks like a horn, called "le clarion", can't be fired left-handed around barricade, haven't heard much good about it. Suspect it is famous French arrogance, think their (liberal) don't stink, won't listen to anyone. IMHO.
    I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.--Voltare~Secret Select Society Of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets~
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  • jonkjonk Member Posts: 10,121
    edited November -1
    From what I understand about the chauchaut machine gun, there was nothing wrong with the gun per se, but rather the ammo and clip. Firing a very bottlenecked, rimmed round like 8mm Lebel from a moon shaped clip is hardly ideal; in fact, difficulty in machine guns is one reason the french did away with the cartridge. Secondly, the clip had slots cut in it, allowing all sorts of dirt in, messing up an already dubious mechanism. When we tried to fire some rebored to 30-06, it was too much power for the gun and failure occurred as a result. I contend however, that had the same action been used with a rimless round of moderate power and a sensible magazine, the gun would have been a great success; the problem lay in the stupid clip and ammo. Thoughts?
    "...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conference in 1899.
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