mas 49-56

[sam]

looking at buying a mas 49/56 are they good guns what are they worth.

[Garufa]

Personally, I would never own a French rifle and therefore have not spent any time researching that type of mil-surp. If it is in the original caliber you might have some difficulty finding ammo if you want to shoot it.

Here is some interesting info from Wikipedia:

MAS-49 rifle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Many MAS-49/56 rifles imported as surplus into the USA were rechambered locally by Century Arms International to fire the 7.62x51mm NATO round. However several user reports have noted that these particular conversions were often unsatisfactory (resulting in numerous action stoppages and misfires) due to imperfect workmanship. Furthermore, the shortening of the barrel to allow rechambering brings the gas vent closer to the chamber hence creating a higher stress on the bolt carrier. In addition to these Century Arms conversions , approximately 250 MAS-49/56 rifles were converted in France to 7.62 NATO for use by the Sûreté Nationale (National Police). These rifles are not known to have the reliability issues that plague the later Century Arms conversions.

[Jon_L]

Expect to replace some parts (like, maybe the stock, the barrel if there is pitting, etc.). Look up how hard the parts are to find, how expensive they are.

[DMark]

As with all things Century Arms - - - Sometimes you get lucky.

I have both a MAS 49 in 7.5 French and one of the MAS 49-56 with the 7.62 conversions. My 49-56 runs great, BUT you MUST run 7.62 NATO. People firing .308 seem to have the most problems.

Oh...., And sort of...., BTW, if you decide not to buy that MAS 49-56 AND its in 7.5 French let me know about it.

[Randy L]

I have 1936 Mas [only dropped once] in the original chambering I shoot Privi Partizan it shoots ok but not overly accurate I can see why they dropped them and ran but you cant have a WWII collection without one.

[1gewehr]

The MAS 45/56 in 7.5mm French is an excellent, reliable, accurate, durable rifle. The cartridge is almost identical to 7.62NATO, but enough different that the cartridges are not interchangeable. The ones Century converted to .308 have had many issues from short chambers, long chambers, rough chambers, gas leaks, etc. If you get one in .308, test fire it first with several types of NATO-spec ammo. Sights seem a bit crude at first, but with practice, you will realize that they are pretty good for a military rifle. Target acquisition is quick, adjustments are easy and positive, and the front blade is a balance between accurate shooting and quick sight acquisition.

If you can reload, get it in 7.5mm. If not, factory 7.5 ammo is not terribly expensive from FNM or Prvi. I would recommend one in 7.5 rather than taking a crapshoot against long odds that one in .308 will work well. Mine is in .308, and had a rough chamber and gas leaks from an improperly shortened gas tube. I got those resolved, and now it shoots fine. But it was a pain.

[Guest TnTnTn]

The 49/56 is a main line semiauto battle rifle and as such is about as good as it gets. I would not want one that has been reworked to .308. I have been meaning to take mine deer hunting but have never gotten around to it yet. TTT