SlowShooter
SeaWaves not TigerStripes
Hello all,
Many moons ago, when I just started shooting and collecting guns, I bought many guns that look cool and cheap at gun shows. One day, I saw a French gun with all the goodies for $250 and it is in .308, one of the most popular rounds out there, so I took it home that day. I did not know any thing about the gun (history, value, maintenance, issues…)
A few years later, when computer and internet getting more popular, I searched the net and found out that the MAS 49/56 I bought is not a collectable item (.308 conversion), and full of troubles, not just having a sewer pipe for the bore. Time to time, I thought I should find a way to get rid of it.
More years passing by, my shooting skill and my gun tinkering were getting better. I learned by myself how to deal with gun’s malfunctions by trials and error corrections. I pulled the MAS 49/56 out of the gun display and tried to do something about it. First, I tried to clean the bore. I did not remember how many bore brushes I destroyed and how many jars of elbow grease I emptied. The bore stayed dark as hell. A bout the FTF and FTE, I did not experience this because, honestly, I did not know a place to shoot a rifle at that time (it took me more than 10 yrs to find a rifle range after I already have 3 dozens rifles. It is hard to learn everything by yourself.) Any how, I heard about the weak spring, the after market gas regulator, the rough chamber so… I fixed what is cheap and what I could. I replaced the recoil spring and inspected the chamber. It looked good enough. Back to the display it went.
Five years ago, one of the former colleagues organized a get-together at a public gun range in Frederick, MD, near the airpark. I came to the even that day and came every weekend after that for the next 2 years until I found AGC in Marriottsville, MD (one of my shooting buddy I met at a gunshow brought me to the range). There, I shot my MAS 49/56 for the first time with Brown Bear .308s (with the bore like that I do not think it deserves anything better.) My heat was out of my chest and my shooting glasses were clouded with steam; but things went great, no FTF/FTE just poor accuracy (poor bore, poor ammo, and poor shooter). I smiled ear to ear that afternoon.
Recently, I am searching for a MAS 49 on the internet and I still see a lot of new threads about the MAS 49/56s (now 1 of my beloved rifles). Younger men want to learn about them especially the ones in .308 like mine. With my surprise, a lot of BSs about the MAS 49/56 in .308 are still hanging around (thanks to copy and paste function). Quite a lot of “well educated and well informed” gentlemen out there still passing old information to the next generation and scare the hell out of them, while the true is some new surplus toys needed to be tweaked a bit to make them operate smoother. If someone wants to play with surplus firearm he/she must have some abilities/skills to overcome minor issues/mishaps and have good knowledge about ammo and different kind of actions operation (reloading taught me a lot). MAS 49/56 in .308 and CAI are not alone for being bad mouthed, M16 rifles still have poor reputation compared to other rifles even though they are still going strong and others are now obsolete. I remember at one time, people were cursing the PSLs but themselves for feeding them the wrong kind of 7.62X54R ammo.
Listen folks, now a day things are getting worse, we Marylanders are limited to our rights/freedom. The list of semi-auto rifles allowed for the new shooters is short (this does not effect old people with long history of gun collection like me, but I am still not happy a bout it. Please use your votes to fight back.) That make MAS 49/56 one of the best semi-auto out there especially with the .308 version because non-corrosive steel case .308s are still cheap and available (I just bought 500 more from SGammo). It is very accurate with heavier barrel than M1A, FAL, CETME… It is also quite easy to scope (If McCann still in business). My advice to people who want to buy the .308 version of MAS 49/56 is … go ahead and get one while you can. If you encounter some hiccups, talk to the guys next lanes at the range, they will help you out. I believe that all issues to all .308 versions of the rifles are now already ironed out. People who own the gun now already know how to please it. There are a few things you need to know after you get one:
- Some MAS 49/56 are parkerized to thick in the action. Sand it out, it may help. Some people keep shooting until it smoothes out by itself.
- Polish the chamber if it required or just use steel case ammo. Mine loves steel case.
- Some time, FTE because gas port has blockage (surplus gun, what else you expect). Clean the gas port. Ask for help if you are not sure.
- Replace the recoil spring. It is cheap, when you find evident the ejection damage the case (too strong). Make a good habit inspecting your empty cases.
- This is NATO gun so only use NATO rounds. The Bears and the Wolfs are NATO spec.
- The bore is parkerized, keep shooting, it will get better. Mine does.
- FTF could be happened by a poor adjusted mag. The 7.5 mag and the .308 mag are different. Look for 308 marker and adjust the mag lips accordingly. I have done this a lot for other guns too.
- I have not heard of any incident related to an MAS49/56 in .308. No one lost an arm or an eye so far.
Now you can enjoy your MAS 40/56 in the cheap and non corrosive .308. Personally I hate to use corrosive ammo like surplus 7.5 French in a gas gun even they are as accurate as 7.5 Swiss in my MAS36. The exceptions are my CETME, SAIGA, PSL; they either don’t have gas port or get easy access gas port for cleaning.
The last thing I want to bring up here is I want to do a little survey on the MAS 49/56 in .308. Please participate it if you currently have one in your procession. Please do not do it for your friends, ex-spouse or for the guys you just met on the web.
What is your latest approval for MAS 49/56 in .308 ? What say you!
Many moons ago, when I just started shooting and collecting guns, I bought many guns that look cool and cheap at gun shows. One day, I saw a French gun with all the goodies for $250 and it is in .308, one of the most popular rounds out there, so I took it home that day. I did not know any thing about the gun (history, value, maintenance, issues…)
A few years later, when computer and internet getting more popular, I searched the net and found out that the MAS 49/56 I bought is not a collectable item (.308 conversion), and full of troubles, not just having a sewer pipe for the bore. Time to time, I thought I should find a way to get rid of it.
More years passing by, my shooting skill and my gun tinkering were getting better. I learned by myself how to deal with gun’s malfunctions by trials and error corrections. I pulled the MAS 49/56 out of the gun display and tried to do something about it. First, I tried to clean the bore. I did not remember how many bore brushes I destroyed and how many jars of elbow grease I emptied. The bore stayed dark as hell. A bout the FTF and FTE, I did not experience this because, honestly, I did not know a place to shoot a rifle at that time (it took me more than 10 yrs to find a rifle range after I already have 3 dozens rifles. It is hard to learn everything by yourself.) Any how, I heard about the weak spring, the after market gas regulator, the rough chamber so… I fixed what is cheap and what I could. I replaced the recoil spring and inspected the chamber. It looked good enough. Back to the display it went.
Five years ago, one of the former colleagues organized a get-together at a public gun range in Frederick, MD, near the airpark. I came to the even that day and came every weekend after that for the next 2 years until I found AGC in Marriottsville, MD (one of my shooting buddy I met at a gunshow brought me to the range). There, I shot my MAS 49/56 for the first time with Brown Bear .308s (with the bore like that I do not think it deserves anything better.) My heat was out of my chest and my shooting glasses were clouded with steam; but things went great, no FTF/FTE just poor accuracy (poor bore, poor ammo, and poor shooter). I smiled ear to ear that afternoon.
Recently, I am searching for a MAS 49 on the internet and I still see a lot of new threads about the MAS 49/56s (now 1 of my beloved rifles). Younger men want to learn about them especially the ones in .308 like mine. With my surprise, a lot of BSs about the MAS 49/56 in .308 are still hanging around (thanks to copy and paste function). Quite a lot of “well educated and well informed” gentlemen out there still passing old information to the next generation and scare the hell out of them, while the true is some new surplus toys needed to be tweaked a bit to make them operate smoother. If someone wants to play with surplus firearm he/she must have some abilities/skills to overcome minor issues/mishaps and have good knowledge about ammo and different kind of actions operation (reloading taught me a lot). MAS 49/56 in .308 and CAI are not alone for being bad mouthed, M16 rifles still have poor reputation compared to other rifles even though they are still going strong and others are now obsolete. I remember at one time, people were cursing the PSLs but themselves for feeding them the wrong kind of 7.62X54R ammo.
Listen folks, now a day things are getting worse, we Marylanders are limited to our rights/freedom. The list of semi-auto rifles allowed for the new shooters is short (this does not effect old people with long history of gun collection like me, but I am still not happy a bout it. Please use your votes to fight back.) That make MAS 49/56 one of the best semi-auto out there especially with the .308 version because non-corrosive steel case .308s are still cheap and available (I just bought 500 more from SGammo). It is very accurate with heavier barrel than M1A, FAL, CETME… It is also quite easy to scope (If McCann still in business). My advice to people who want to buy the .308 version of MAS 49/56 is … go ahead and get one while you can. If you encounter some hiccups, talk to the guys next lanes at the range, they will help you out. I believe that all issues to all .308 versions of the rifles are now already ironed out. People who own the gun now already know how to please it. There are a few things you need to know after you get one:
- Some MAS 49/56 are parkerized to thick in the action. Sand it out, it may help. Some people keep shooting until it smoothes out by itself.
- Polish the chamber if it required or just use steel case ammo. Mine loves steel case.
- Some time, FTE because gas port has blockage (surplus gun, what else you expect). Clean the gas port. Ask for help if you are not sure.
- Replace the recoil spring. It is cheap, when you find evident the ejection damage the case (too strong). Make a good habit inspecting your empty cases.
- This is NATO gun so only use NATO rounds. The Bears and the Wolfs are NATO spec.
- The bore is parkerized, keep shooting, it will get better. Mine does.
- FTF could be happened by a poor adjusted mag. The 7.5 mag and the .308 mag are different. Look for 308 marker and adjust the mag lips accordingly. I have done this a lot for other guns too.
- I have not heard of any incident related to an MAS49/56 in .308. No one lost an arm or an eye so far.
Now you can enjoy your MAS 40/56 in the cheap and non corrosive .308. Personally I hate to use corrosive ammo like surplus 7.5 French in a gas gun even they are as accurate as 7.5 Swiss in my MAS36. The exceptions are my CETME, SAIGA, PSL; they either don’t have gas port or get easy access gas port for cleaning.
The last thing I want to bring up here is I want to do a little survey on the MAS 49/56 in .308. Please participate it if you currently have one in your procession. Please do not do it for your friends, ex-spouse or for the guys you just met on the web.
What is your latest approval for MAS 49/56 in .308 ? What say you!
