* Common questions regarding MAS 36's ? *

The country that avoids war and the country that fights but has a hard time winning have been combined. The Swiss made some excellent firearms and the French made some unique and occasionally inspiring ones. We have added the Belgian and Dutch since they are neighbors.

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1886lebel
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* Common questions regarding MAS 36's ? *

Post by 1886lebel » Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:52 pm

Question: What was the official name of the MAS 36 series of weapons ?
Answer: The were officially called the following:
1. Fusil a Répétition de 7,5mm Modèle 1936
2. Fusil a Répétition de 7,5mm Modèle 1936 CR39
3. Fusil a Répétition de 7,5mm Modèle 1936-51


Question: What year was my rifle made ?
Answer: Without taking the forearm and handguard off the receiver, which is refered to a question below, to find the date on the barrel, the simplest method it to use this guide ...
Fusil Modèle 1936 (MAS 36) ... Serial number prefixes F, G, H, J, up to around K 3100 were all pre-war made. In on or before October, 1944, the French restarted where they left off in June of 1940 somewhere around K 3100. L, M, N, P,and Q were finished off by 1950. They then went to block letters: FG, FH, and FJ and so on until 1957 .
Fusil Modèle 1936 Crosse Repliable 1939 (MAS 36 C.R.39) ... These were a conversion of the Fusil Modèle 1936 and will have various serial number prefixes F, G, H, J, K, and L.
Fusil Modèle 1936 Lance-Grenades 1948 (MAS 36 LG48) ... These were only made at the arsenal in the "FG" series in 1950 and 1951, many are conversions and are stamped "L.G. 48" after the designation on the receiver .
Fusil Modèle 1936-1951 (MAS 36/51) ... Used block Letters, F and up starting in 1951 and ending in 1962.
** Please see this informative post for more information on the dates to exactly where your weapon falls into to date it better:
http://www.milsurpafterhours.com/bb/vie ... =11&t=5131
Note: The barrel date is just that and does not indicate the year of the rifles assemblage. The date can, and has been shown to be several years earlier or as much as a two decades later than the chronology of the firearm's acceptance due to many of these weapons were re-built during their lifetime.


Question: What series is my MAS 36, I can not read the French script on the receiver ?
Answer
:See chart below
Note: The "Q", looks like a stylized '2' and the "J" more like an scripted letter 'I'. Please understand these are the best charts I could find of the various French scripted letters.


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Question: I noticed that my MAS 36 is counter-barreled about a quarter inch on the inside of the bore. Is this part of the refurb process or the way they were made? Does it affect the accuracy of the rifle?
Answer: All MAS 36 counter-bored barrels were factory built that way, these originally intended for the rifles to be used for grenade launching (MAS 36 LG48), it was extended to the whole production, so a standard rifle could be transformed into a dedicated grenade launcher by only swapping parts.
These counterbored barrels have a large G stamped on the left side ahead of the front sight, they are found on all MAS 36 rifles built after 1948 starting with the Q series and can also be found on earlier production rifles rebarreled in the 60's.
The counter-boring doesn't affect the rifles accuracy


Question: Should I remove the forearm/hanguard from the rifle to check for the date it was built or for cleaning ?
Answer: No, If you remove the forarm/handguard of your rifle to check the barrel date and/or condition you will need to shoot a few rounds after re-assembly before your rifle accuracy is restored, providing you retighten the screws exactly as they were. This is why the military designers went for these type of slotted screws: Mas 36 rifles had to be checked at the range to confirm that they would shoot at point of aim or adjusted after any work involving the furniture removal, hence the interdiction for the ordinary French soldier to take off the furniture for rifle cleaning.

Question: Is there any where that I can find the tool that you take off the barrel bands with ? Why did the French make screws like this ?
Answer: You will have to modify a flat-tip srewdriver to make this tool as these tools are very uncommon to find here in the U.S.A. Below is the dimensions to make these special tools
These screws were made this way so that the ordinary French soldier could not take that part off the weapon which was only to be done by the armourers at a main armament facility. (See above question as well)


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Question: How to correctly make Sight Adjustments to MAS 36's ?
Answer: The correct way of adjusting a Mas 36 is by replacing its rear sight leaf by another one with the peep hole drilled off center. There should be a letter or several signs stamped on the top of the rear sight leaf, indicating if it is centered or offset.

Value of offset
N = 0 (centered)
-4 or +4 = bring the group 135mm down or up at 200M
-8 or +8 = bring the group 270mm down or up at 200M
D4 or G4 = move the group 135mm to the right or to the left at 200M
D8 or G8 = move the group 270mm to the right or to the left at 200M

D = Droite/Right, G = Gauche/Left

For the post WWII rifles there are 24 different rear sight leaf available for adjustment beside the N sight and only 8 for the pre WWII models. As for any modification to the fit of the barrel in the forend and handguard, it is best to leave it as is was designed unless you are very experimented in tuning rifles.


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Question: What is the diameter of the peep hole on the rear sight of a MAS 36?
Answer: 1.6mm

Question: How do I tighten a loose forend to the barreled assembly?
Answer: As the wood has shrunk a bit over time, the best way to restore a tight fit of the forend to the barreled assembly, you will need to insert one or several shim plates under the steel hook connecting the back of the forend to the front of the receiver. To remove the steel hook (item R), undo the two screws (M) holding the hook to the forend wood, if the back plate (N) is stuck to the wood, leave it there, it doesn't matter. Use the two screws to pull the hook straight off the wood, it's a tight fit and any motion but straight will damage the wood. Cut several shims as in (P) of 0.2mm thickness to fit at the bottom of the recess cut in the wood , position the hook over the shims in the wood recess and tighten it up.
Position your shimmed forend in place, get the hook in the receiver and rotate the forend up. You will have a good fit when you need to apply some force to bring the forend in contact with the barrel from say 15° away from the horizontal. A tight fit is paramount to a good accuracy, the armorers used shims on both the forend and stock fit the the assembly. The forend should be in contact with the barrel at both ends only and the handguard should contact the barrel only under the middle band.


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Question: Why is there no safety on the MAS 36 or any of French bolt action rifles ?
Answer: The French military theory of why no safety was used was based upon the Volley Fire theory, which basically states that the soldier loaded and fired his weapon to the commands of the officers as a single group instead of individually. Basically the soldier was to load his magazine prior to engaging the enemy, then chamber the round immediately upon engagement and continue reloading and firing it until the end of the action. Once all firing ceased the chamber was cleared of any rounds and then the magazines were replenished. The French soldier was taught by very strict instruction you cycle the bolt back and forth twice once the last round was fired and each and every time you did this you looked into the chamber to see if any cartridges are in the chamber. If any cartridges are in the chamber doing this he was severly punished for it. The French also believed that a safety was useless on military rifles as the soldier with wet, dirty, etc. hands could possibly have a hard time taking the safety off and thus getting himself killed while trying to do so.

Question: I noticed that the refurbished followers have a bolt stop while the non-refurbished ones do not. Which follower came first and when did they switch?
Answer: The magazine follower without a bolt open feature is pre-WWII and follower with a bolt open feature is a post- WWII modification. If any pre-war MAS 36's that went through the re-furbishment had the later style followers added.

Question: What type of finish was used on the metal of MAS 36's ?
Answer: Black paint was used until the early 1950's on production rifles and they used a Iron type phosphated finish under the paint which was not evenly applied, since it was going to be painted and varnished. They did not try to get an even coating but just enough to etch the metal so that the paint would adhere properly. The latest series that has been observed with black paint is the "P" series in 1949, along with a couple of early "Q" series guns from the same year. Heavy Zinc-Phosphate was used after 1950. Full parkerizing began sometime in 1950.

Question: I have a MAS 36 in .308 were these converted by the French, if not by whom ?
Answer: NO ... These conversions were done by Century Arms, Inc. to make them more appealing to the American shooter.
Most of these conversions were badly done by them ranging from bad chambers to improperly putting the forearm/handguard on the receiver.
There were only a few legitimate French conversion MAS 36's to use the .308 cartridge but 99% of these have remained in France and very few, if any, were exported to the U.S.A. Most of these were to build the FR-F2 Sniper platform.


Question: What is the minimum and maximum chamber size in a Fusil Modèle 1936 (MAS 36) as well as bore diameter and groove diameter ?
Answer: See charts below

Chamber minimum size
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Chamber maximum size
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Bore diameter : minimum = 7.50mm, maximum 7.54mm
Grooves diameter : minimum 7.80mm, maximum 7.83mm
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Cartridge Dimensions
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Question: How do you use the grenade launcher on the Fusil Modèle 1936-1951 ?
Answer: The launcher sight is locked at 45° to shoot anti-personnel grenades at various ranges from 100 to 400 meters which has 20 meter increment adjustments, range then was adjusted by moving the sliding range ring to the proper distance, the rifle is then lined up with the target by using the front and rear sights located on the left of the launcher sight in which the shooter must keep the sight horinzontal for the range to be correct.
For direct shooting of anti-tank or multi-purpose grenades, the sight is locked at 90° making sure the sliding range ring is all the way down, the rifle is then sighted with the tip of the grenade lined up with the target using the correct distance chevron on the sight.
Vive la République Française, le Lebel et le poilu
Verdun 1916: "Ils ne Passeront pas" "On les aura!"
Fusil d'Infanterie Modèle 1886 Modifié 1893 dit "Lebel"

Vive le Pinard !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axfM1sFqIK0
1886lebel
Sustaining Member
Posts: 242
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 8:57 pm

Re: * Common questions regarding MAS 36's ? *

Post by 1886lebel » Tue Apr 13, 2010 12:03 pm

MAS 36 Slings

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A black, natural or tan colored slings with sliding buckle on one end, tapered end with protective flap which have an overall sling length of 41 inches and width of 1-5/16 inches are all correct for MAS 36's.
Black was used prior to The Great War (1914-1918) until 1915 when they went to natural or sometimes called fawn. Alot of people believe these were colored brown but as you use and oil natural leather it becomes darkened as used, so that is why they think it was brown colored. Black was once again used after the war but in limited quantities and from what I remember it was used by the Gendarmerie mostly. Sometime in the 1930's a mustard color was used which was used until the 1960 and 70's. The early Mas 36 sling made of natural light brown leather had a brass buckle and the button was either brass or steel. Overall length= 115cm, width= 3.5cm, thickness=0.3cm, with a reduced width of 3cm over 10cm at the button's end. A WWII MAS 36 sling would have been mostly been either natural or a light mustard color. White or buff was used by the Régiments de La Garde Républicaine.
The mustard colored slings common to the late Mas 36's were made of chromium treated leather, and have a steel buckle and button.

All French slings were to be marked with Cachet de la Commission de Réception ("Receiving Commission Stamps") and Cachet de Fournisseur ("Manufacturer's Stamp"), sometimes you will find Cachet d'Expert ("Inspector's Stamp"), Marquage du Régiment ("Regiment Marking") and Marquage du Numéro Matricule du Soldat ("Soldier's Serial Number Marking") on them as well. Stamps on all original French slings unless they did not get used alot have a habit of fading badly or disappearing completely from usage. There are no fake or repro slings that were made for the MAS 36 that I know of as these are easily aquired and are still available for decent prices. Other French slings have been reproduced but you can tell these easily as they still look NEW.

Cachet de la Commission de Réception
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Cachet de Fournisseur
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Marquage du Régiment
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Marquage du Numéro Matricule du Soldat
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Cachet d'Expert
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Vive la République Française, le Lebel et le poilu
Verdun 1916: "Ils ne Passeront pas" "On les aura!"
Fusil d'Infanterie Modèle 1886 Modifié 1893 dit "Lebel"

Vive le Pinard !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axfM1sFqIK0
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