|
MAS 36 |
|
|
|
MAS 36 (Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Etienne) was the last bolt action rifle that a larger nation was equipped with. In all it is a robust and reliable weapon with good features and many interesting details such as the space for a bayonet built in into the front, making it possible to always have the weapon bayonet-ready. It also had a new repeater bolt that could be used without removing the rifle from the shoulder. These, and a few other features makes this rifle one – if not the best bolt action rifles an army has been equipped with. Yet however, the weapon came too late to give the French army any advantage. While France equipped its army with this new modern bolt action rifle, other armies were already giving semi automatic rifles to their soldiers. World War Two had clearly shown that the era of bolt action rifles had come to an end. France that had large sums of their own made MAS 36 continued to use and manufacture the rifle until the 1960s. They were considered as good to be used in the colonies. Often yet however, rebel fighters in France’s colonies were often more well equipped with semi – or automatic weapons that the French army itself. The MAS 36 underwent a modernization in 1951 and was now produced with a built in mortar adapter witch made it possible to fire mortar grenades from the rifle. The new version got the name MAS 36 M51. The weapon uses the French ammunition 7,5x54mm and the gun holds 5 shots. An interesting detail is the complete lack of a safety – the manufactures presumed that the weapon was loaded directly before combat. Under the Indochina wars beginning the MAS 36 was the most common French weapon.
|
 |
|
MAS 36 M51 (in order to fire
grenades the rifle was loaded with special blank rounds) |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
MAS 36 with grenade |
