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Photo From: Mark Freburg - Album: Rifles--Classic Military

Description: I recently found this photo of my now departed French MAS36 rifle. This is one I wish I still had, as it was in very good condition yet had obviously served somewhere--likely during WWII, as it was made just before the French surrender, April 1940, if memory serves. It may have also served in French Indochina or Algeria. It had a walnut stock as opposed to the less attractive light-colored, post-war versions which were probably beech.

Why did I sell it? Because I'm a shooter, and in the 1990s, French 7.5x54MAS was near impossible to find. After suffering innumerable hangfires with mismatched batches of French ammunition I'd scrounged here and and there, I let it go. Today of course you can click your mouse and have freshly-made 7.5x54MAS delivered to your door. Ah well. Live and learn. Sorry the photo isn't better but I scanned it from a snapshot. In those days my skills were not well-developed.

Uploaded: 5/14/2012 by Mark Freburg
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(11/15/2017) Mark Freburg wrote: I've since replaced this with a as-new 1950s era MAS 36 rifle. It doesn't have the history of the 1940-made rifle, I'm sure, but it is shootable, and still collectible. I always liked the heavy duty sights on this French rifle, an aperture rear and well protected blade front. Most rifles of the era when this was designed still wore blade rear sights mounted out on the barrel, so the French MAS36 was a bit ahead of its time. The 7.5x54 French Balle C cartridge was a 139gr, .308" spitzer at 2700fps, very similar to the 7.62x51NATO.