MAS-36 rifle

The MAS Modèle 36 was a military bolt action rifle. First adopted in 1936 by France and intended to replace the Berthier and Lebel series of service rifles, it saw service past the World War II period. It was manufactured by Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne (MAS), 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 various 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 "ugly, roughly made, but immensely strong and reliable" service rifle.

The MAS-36 bolt handle was bent forward in an "awkward fashion" to bring it into a convenient position for the soldier's hand. The MAS-36 had a relatively short barrel and was fitted with large aperture (rear) and post (front) sights designed for typical combat ranges. Typical for French rifles of the period, the MAS-36 had no manual safety. 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. The MAS-36 carried a 17-inch spike bayonet, reversed in a tube below the barrel. To use the bayonet, a spring plunger was pressed to release the bayonet. It was then free to be pulled out, turned around, and fitted back into its receptacle.

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. During World War II, the MAS-36 was often reserved for 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 MAS-36s, which were given the designation Gewehr 242(f) and put into service with their own garrison units based in occupied France and later the Volkssturm.

Postwar usage
The MAS-36 was extensively used by French Army and colonial defense forces during France's postwar counter-insurgency 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 de Parachutistes Coloniaux), employed telescope-sighted MAS-36 rifles to eliminate enemy snipers. 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 military surplus MAS-36 rifles, converted to 7.62x51mm NATO from 7.5x54mm. These rifles were modified to chamber the NATO round and also had an SKS type trigger safety fitted to them.

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 do not have the same action as the MAS-36)

Users

 * 🇫🇷 france
 * Free French Forces
 * French Resistance
 * 🇲🇨 monaco
 * Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince