Mas 49 Rifle
After WWII the French needed a new service rifle. The French MAS 36 bolt action rifle like most other bolt action service rifles were being replaced with semi-automatic rifles, for obvious reasons. The rifle was adopted in 1949 and produced at the government owned MAS factory.
The first MAS 49 rifles were only produced in limited numbers around 20,600 rifles.
The shorter and light 49/56 variant was produced en masse at 275,240 rifles.
The MAS 49 was developed from a series of previous rifles. Its predecessors were the MAS 38/39, MAS 40 and MAS 44.
50,000 MAS 44 rifles had been ordered but only 6200 ever delivered. The 49/56 was the final variant and was the standard issue rifle until 1979 when the French issued the FAMAS rifle.
The 49/56 variant was introduced in 1957. It had been shortened, lightened, bayonet and grenade launching provisions. It has one of the oddest weirdest bayonet attachment, imho.
In service
1951-1979
Specifications
Weight 10 lbs. 6 oz. MAS 49
9 lbs. MAS 49/56
Length 43.35 inches MAS 49
40.2 inches MAS 49/56
Barrel Length
22.8 inches MAS 49
20.7 inches MAS 49/56
10 round detachable magazine. As seen in the photos it could be released easily by accident.
Calibers
7.5X54mm French
(Some Century Arms Imports were converted to .308)
Users:
Algeria
Benin
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Comoros
Congo
EOKA
Eritrean Liberation Front
France
Ivory Coast
Gabon
Lebanon
Madagascar
Mali
Mauritania
Monaco
Morocco
Niger
Rwanda
Senegal
Seychelles
Syria
Tunisia
North Vietnam (captured from the French)
Zimbabwe
Wars/Conflicts
First Indochina War
Algerian War
Suez Crisis
Cypress Emergency
1958 Lebanon Crisis
Eritrean War of Independence
Chadian Civil War
Shaba II
Lebanese Civil War
Syrian Civil War
Vietnam
Books
After WWII the French needed a new service rifle. The French MAS 36 bolt action rifle like most other bolt action service rifles were being replaced with semi-automatic rifles, for obvious reasons. The rifle was adopted in 1949 and produced at the government owned MAS factory.
The first MAS 49 rifles were only produced in limited numbers around 20,600 rifles.
The shorter and light 49/56 variant was produced en masse at 275,240 rifles.
The MAS 49 was developed from a series of previous rifles. Its predecessors were the MAS 38/39, MAS 40 and MAS 44.
50,000 MAS 44 rifles had been ordered but only 6200 ever delivered. The 49/56 was the final variant and was the standard issue rifle until 1979 when the French issued the FAMAS rifle.
The 49/56 variant was introduced in 1957. It had been shortened, lightened, bayonet and grenade launching provisions. It has one of the oddest weirdest bayonet attachment, imho.
In service
1951-1979
Specifications
Weight 10 lbs. 6 oz. MAS 49
9 lbs. MAS 49/56
Length 43.35 inches MAS 49
40.2 inches MAS 49/56
Barrel Length
22.8 inches MAS 49
20.7 inches MAS 49/56
10 round detachable magazine. As seen in the photos it could be released easily by accident.
Calibers
7.5X54mm French
(Some Century Arms Imports were converted to .308)
Users:
Algeria
Benin
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Comoros
Congo
EOKA
Eritrean Liberation Front
France
Ivory Coast
Gabon
Lebanon
Madagascar
Mali
Mauritania
Monaco
Morocco
Niger
Rwanda
Senegal
Seychelles
Syria
Tunisia
North Vietnam (captured from the French)
Zimbabwe
Wars/Conflicts
First Indochina War
Algerian War
Suez Crisis
Cypress Emergency
1958 Lebanon Crisis
Eritrean War of Independence
Chadian Civil War
Shaba II
Lebanese Civil War
Syrian Civil War
Vietnam
Books
My 49/56 was bought several years ago in Corpus Christi from a friend who owned Kodiak Firearms. Mike has long since retired now and is no longer in business. Mike is a Vietnam Vet (grunt) who only carried the M14 (by choice) and never warmed up the M16. He thought the .556 too light for bush work.
When I bought the rifle he had a small white flag hanging out the barrel…….great sense of humor…
The Mag Release is Totally Exposed Making it Easy to Accidently Disengage while in Combat.
Note the Nylon charging handle
Safety On
Safety Off