french mas 49/56

usar1

Anyone have one in 308 cal. I was thinking about getting one, are they any good?

NRA LIFE MEMBER.

usar1

who knows the skinny on this battle rifle---except it was used once then dropped. i saw one in a pawn shop locally, converted to 7.62 NATO. workmanship, accuracy, dependable? any info would be helpful

D@D

Don't get one in 308 most have problems with ejecting and have feeding problems. Get one in the original 7.5 caliber you will be much happier.

Contender Man

MAS converted to 308 is not a place you want to go. As suggested above stick with the 7.5, even if the ammo can be a little scarce you can get it, and you can get dies for reloading too. Of course those dies may cost almost as much as the rifle[:D]



If you only have time to do two things so-so, or one thing well ... do the one thing!

royc38

No no no. Throw holy water on it and run.[V][V][V][V]

Hangfire

The French arsenals were successful in converting these to 308, but they spent considerable time and expense modifying the gas system as well as other mechanical issues. The problem with the current ones is that the importers merely rechambered to 308.The result was less than satisfactory, to say the least!!!

Love them Pre-64's!!!!-Bob

usar1

Thanks everyone for the info, I guess i will get one in 7.5


NRA LIFE MEMBER.

MIKE WISKEY

they make nice floor lamps.[:D]

hughes1

Not all of the .308 conversions are bad. If you want one in that caliber take it to the range first and test fire it before you buy it. The problematic .308's will fail to extract as soon as the weapon gets hot, about 3-4 ten round mags fired as fast as you can will weed out the crap from the quality. Century Arms, well know for their shotty work did most of the conversions that are currently on the market. In some case the converted guns work flawlessly while others are junk. It has been suggested that Century Arms used their chamber reamers untill they were exseesively worn. Others blame the pressure differance in the the ammo; 7.5 vers .308 as the culprit. I suspect both factors play some role, but higher pressure doesn't explain why some guns work perfectly and others don't, so the chamber reamer idea seems more plausable. Whatever you decide, all .308 converted guns should be tested prior to purchase, whereas the 7.5 guns seem flawless 99% of the time. Waiting for a good .308 will save you big $$ in ammo cost in the long run. P.S. mags marked .308 will work in both caliber guns and vise versa, don't pay extra for .308 marked magazines. All Centry Arms did was remove the floor plate on guns it converted from 7.5 to .308 and stamp "308" on the magazine. Many dealers charge more for the .308 marked mags, but all 49/56 7.5 and .308 mags are interchangable.

1KYDSTR

I bought one of the early import unissued guns (really pretty!)and contrary to what you've heard, these make a bit better gun than a floor lamp!! The gentlrman earlier should have said "throw holy water on a Frenchman and run the other way"! While not the prettiest design on the face of the planet they are robust, simple and generally come with a good, comprehensive spares/maintenance pack. If you need dies get Lee RGB's; not as nice as RCBS but they certainly do the trick. especially in a gun such as this that was designed with a somewhat loose chamber tollerance. Boxer ammo in 7.5 is avilable from FNM out of Portugal and it is at least decent! A good enough platform for you to build good handloads from! As mentioned, steer way clear of the 308 converted rifles unless you can get one that was done at St. Etienne...which you can't find anyway! Also, when reloading, try to use CCI Military primers as they have a more resiliant metal used which will help you avoid slam fires. This can be quite spectacular and a hell of a rush but is inherently unsafe and seems to disturb the hell out of range bosses nation=wide! The French suck but they did make a few good guns and the Legion Etranger Francaise (French Foreign Legion) stands apart as a truely special entity...except for the damn French officers!!

"When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
"Power corrupts...Absolute power corrupts absolutely"(Descartes?)
"History is written by winners"(Patton)
"You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
"There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)

toolman9mm

to whom it may concern....stay away from the .308 conversions!!!i had ordered three from century arms and was going to sell one to a friend..we went to test fire it and it blew up in my friends face..lucky for us it was the gas that got him in the face a little. the gun was completely distroyed...i sent all three back to century arms and was refunded...i kept the blown out mag. and round of ammo...not worth taking them to the range to test fire..the mas in 7.5 is a great gun though.. my two cents

intercessor

Graf and Sons has the brass, and you can also form your own from 6.5X55 Swedish brass. The Lee dies have the tapered expander ball which will let you up-size the neck on the Swede brass, then you need to shorten it by one mm. Works fine for my MAS 49. A standard .308 bullet, and I agree with 1KYDSTR about using the CCI Milspec primers .