MAS-36 rifle

MAS-36
MAS-36
Type	Bolt-action rifle
Place of origin	France
Service history
In service	1936-1978
Used by	See Users
Wars	World War II Algerian War First Indochina War Suez Crisis Vietnam War Cambodian Civil War
Production history
Manufacturer	Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Etienne
Specifications
Weight	3.7 kg (Empty)
Length	1,020 mm
Barrel length	575 mm (22.6 in.)
Cartridge	7.5 x 54 mm
Action	Bolt-action
Muzzle velocity	2800 ft/s (853.6 m/s)
Effective range	est. 350-400 yards w/open sights
Feed system	5 round internal box magazine, clip fed

The MAS Modèle 36 is a bolt-action rifle. It was adopted in 1936 by France, and was intended to replace the Berthier and Lebel series of service rifles. It was manufactured by MAS (an abbreviation of Manufacture d'Armes de St. Etienne - one of several government-owned arms factories in France).

Description

The MAS-36 is a short, carbine-style rifle with a two-piece stock and slab-sided receiver. It is chambered for the modern, rimless 7.5x54 French cartridge, a shortened version of the 7.5x57mm MAS mod. 1924 cartridge that had been introduced in 1924 (then modified in 1929), for France's FM 24/29 light machine gun. The rifle was developed based on French experience in World War I and combines the best features of other rifles used, like the British SMLE rifle (rear locking lugs resistant to dirt), the US M1917 Enfield rifle (turned down bolt, peep sight), and the German Mauser (five-round box-magazine), to produce an extremely rugged and capable design.

The MAS-36 carries a spike bayonet, reversed, in a tube below the barrel. To use the bayonet, it is pulled out, turned around, and plugged back into its receptacle. The MAS-36 has a relatively short barrel and is fitted with large aperture (rear) and post (front) sights designed for typical combat ranges. It has a five-round, Mauser-style double-column magazine with a removable floorplate. The rifle is somewhat unusual in that the locking lugs are found at the rear of the bolt rather than the front, resulting in a distinctive-looking forward cant of the bolt handle. Typical for French rifles of the period, the MAS-36 has no safety.^[1] It was normally carried with a loaded magazine and empty chamber until the soldier was engaged in combat, though the rifle's firing mechanism could be blocked by raising the bolt handle.

Background

Though intended to replace the Lebel Model 1886 and Berthier rifles as well as Berthier carbines, budget constraints limited MAS-36 production, and it served along with the former rifles in many French army and colonial units. In World War II, the MAS-36 was often reserved to front-line infantry units, with other troops and reservists often receiving elderly Berthier and Lebel-type rifles. After the Battle of France, the Germans took over a large number of MAS36s, which were given the designation Gewehr 242(f) and put to service with their own garrison units based in occupied France and later, to be used by the Volksturm.^[1]

Postwar Usage

The MAS-36 was extensively used by French Army and colonial defense forces during France's postwar counterinsurgency operations in the First Indochina War and the Algerian War, as well as in the Suez Crisis. During the Suez Crisis, French paratroop marksmen of the 2ème RPC (Régiment Parachutiste Colonial), employed telescope-sighted MAS-36 rifles to eliminate enemy snipers.^[2] The MAS-36 remained in service into the early 1960s as an infantry rifle, often serving with indigenous colonial units. It was officially a substitute-standard rifle after France adopted the semi-automatic MAS-49 rifle series in 1949, though its bolt design lives on in a dedicated sniper version of the rifle, the FR F1 (now chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO) and its successor the FR F2 sniper rifle.

After the war, civilian hunting rifle versions were made by MAS and by the gunsmith Jean Fournier. These half-stocked rifles were chambered for the 7x54mm Fournier (common, 7.5x54mm necked down to 7mm), 7x57mm (very rare), 8x60mm S (less common), and 10.75x68mm (rare). Hunting rifles in the two latter calibers had integral muzzle brakes. Also imported into the United States were a few surplus rifles converted to 7.62mm NATO from 7.5x54mm by a firearms importer. These rifles were modified to chamber the NATO round and also had a SKS rifle safety fitted to them. These rifles are few in number and are not highly sought after by collectors. They are considered by some to be a "wallhanger" type of firearm to own.^{[citation needed]}

Variants

• MAS 36 CR39 - A MAS 36 equipped with a folding hollow aluminum stock designed for use by airborne forces.
• MAS 36 LG48 - A MAS 36 equipped with a 48 mm rifle grenade launcher used in the First Indochina War.
• MAS 36/51 - A MAS 36 equipped with a 22 mm NATO standard rifle grenade launcher.
• Fusil modèle FR-G2 - A highly-modified MAS-36 rifle action equipped with a Match barrel with harmonic compensator and telescopic sight for use by designated marksmen (the FRF1 & FRF2 Rifles have not same action than the MAS36)

Users

•  Cambodia
  • Khmer Rouge
•  France^[3]
  • Vichy France
  • Free French Forces
•  Laos: Used during Laotian Civil War.
•  Lebanon
•  Germany
•  Syria
•  Vietnam
  • Viet Minh
•  Algeria
•  Tunisia
•  Morocco
•  Benin
•  Chad
•  Senegal
•  Congo
•  Madagascar
•  Djibouti
•  Cameroon
•  Gabon
•  Niger
•  Guinea
•  Mauritania

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Bishop, Chris (2006). The Encyclopedia of Small Arms and Artillery. Grange Books. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-84013-910-5. 
2. ^ Leuliette, Pierre, St. Michael and the Dragon: Memoirs of a Paratrooper, Houghton Mifflin (1964)
3. ^ Unwin, Charles C.; Vanessa U., Mike R., eds (2002). 20th Century Military Uniforms (2nd ed.). Kent: Grange Books. ISBN 1840132763. 

See also

• MAS 49
• FA-MAS Type 62

Preceded by Fusil Lebel modèle 1886

French Army rifle 1936–1951

Succeeded by Fusil MAS-49