I Don't Collect French Rifles But....

I can't pass up a deal when I see one. For the price I paid, I pretty much got all the accessories for free. I think these are only going to go up in value. I picked this up at the Gettysburg show and, according to the vendor, he sold it 20 years ago and the guy brought it back to trade in so he was selling it again, albeit for a little more this time. As far as I can tell, it was refurbished in 1983, put in storage and hasn't been shot since. As long as I own it, it'll just sit like it did with the last guy, lol. Since I don't collect French firearms, feel free to tell me if I'm wrong about anything.

Right side:



Left side:



All the accessories with some still in the bag:

As far as I can tell, the spare magazines have never even been inserted.


Left side of the receiver showing the serial number and the date of rework:



Right side of receiver:



Markings on bayonet and scabbard:





Serial number on top cover matches receiver:



Is this a February 1975 date on the bolt carrier?:

There are no other markings that I can find.


Like most reworks, the bolt does not match:



But there is evidence of a previous number and/or markings:



Also the barrel number does not match. But, since there is no prefix, I'm not sure this is actually a serial number that should/would match the receiver:



Markings on back of grenade launcher sight:



I assume this is a cast front sight base?:



I have no idea what this blue dot sticker means on the butt plate:



Bolt face:



Bolt shows minima wear to the finish:







Same with the bolt carrier:





Gas tube and chamber look as new and feed ramp shows no wear:





Bore and crown lo0k good:







Is the "59" on the bolt locking lug the year of manufacture?:

Stamp on cleaning kit pouch:



Stamp on small parts pouch is illegible unfortunately:



Still sealed in the plastic cleaning kit :





Also still sealed tools and spare parts:



I couldn't get a picture of the night sight date but it's 1966.


At first, I though this was mold on the sling but it doesn't smell musty and the white powder comes off very easily. I think this is actually talc or some other preservative and not mold:



So that's it. This is my first and only French rifle. I do have a MAB PA-15 too but that's also NOS and I can't shoot it. I don't really collect French firearms but the PA-15 has always intrigued me because of the rotating barrel and I bought this MAS simply because of the condition. French firearms have always been something of an enigma to me. The seem to be very robust yet very crude at the same time. I like them but not enough to buy a bunch of them. I ended up paying $800 out the door for this one which, as I said, I think is the price for a rifle in this condition and the accessories were essentially free. Let me know what you think (did I pay too much or get a deal?) and please let me know anything I've missed with regards to markings. Thanks in advance!

Good investment....I remember when I first had my C&R around 1999, at a Harrisburg show a dealer had a table full of these with the extras. I passed, wish I didn't now.

That's not a bad price for all you got. I still kick myself for not picking up the 49/56 I saw at Redding that hammered for $350 last year. I had gone there with the intention of picking up a SxS for hunting and didn't want to miss my set target.

Barrel won't match on a refurb. I would call it a bolt mismatch refurb. Price is a little high for a non matching refurb, but if you were to buy the accessories individually even if you paid $600 for the rifle you would be close to $800. They are great rifles.

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Very pretty find. Congratulations!

The 59 on the locking shoulder probably has something to do with the size of the shoulder. Looks like they might headspace the same way an FAL or sks might.

I’m green with envy! Guess that’s what I get for not going to the show on Saturday!

Very nice find!

$800 with accessories in that condition is a VG deal these days. Add an APX-L806 scope and watch it jump to $1500 plus. I've seen MAS 44s and MAS 49s (rare French issue, not Syrian) selling well north of $1K. Syrian MAS 49s can sell heavy but they have to be in excellent condition which you don't see all that often. I have a good condition Syrian that's a shooter and it's damned accurate.

Didn't they convert some of these to 7.62x51 NATO? I wonder, if you were inclined to shoot it, if you could find ammo 7.5 ammo for it these days?
Oh, and you now have two French military weapons, so you ARE a collector... "Vive la mort, vive la guerre, vive la Légion"...!

Oh, never mind, I just did a quick search and found that PPU makes it. I'd HAVE to shoot the thing!

I have a few of these. IIRC, the # on the barrel is the barrel's serial number and isn't matched to the rest of the gun. There should be a box w/ a date in it giving the barrel's year of manufacture? Again, its been a few years since I studied all this stuff and was on my French buying kick.
A 'G' series rifle should be about '58-'60 year of manufacture.

I think you did alright the guns run $500 to $600 possibly even $700 in premium as rearsenaled condition, that's a $100 bayo at least and $50 for the extra mag. Plus the accessories which usually get lost, separated or sold elsewhere. They are getting scarce.

I picked this one recently not quite as clean. Its one of two I have. Paid $450 but didn't get any accessories. I walked away with that one as a steal.

Most recent



One from about 2 years ago with accessories, also paid $450. Neither are the condition yours is.

They look fine to me buddy!

Combloc said:

They look fine to me buddy!

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Not as good or accessorized as yours. I think you did ok that stuff is hard and expensive to chase down. I think you will like it they are a really well handling gun, almost like handling a carbine in rifle form. Simple to clean lots of innovations. Wish the once dropped team had thought through things like mag changes. 7.5 French is a great round.

My budget for a nice clean rebuild shooter has always been around $600 plus or minus $50. I think you are going to like that gun and it might multiply.

It’s a great rifle, a rifle i read some in the us wanted to adopt in lieu of the m14 but for politics. I have a refurb one i bought from empire 8 yrs ago. 3 mags, cleaning kit, hold the bayo for $550. I put an APX scope on it and its very cool. Wasn’t a charm to sight in. Bought about 1200 rds of french surplus from AIM and haven’t shot it for 5 years. Its a handy, well designed powerful little rifle and i think you got a bargain. The mags go for $55/per. I am not a collector of french rifles ( maybe french neck ties) but i do have 2 m36s and 2 m16s. Hope you can run some rds through it.

Right solid deal and a right fun rifle! Good find and now I'm jealous.

She's a beauty; I think you did well considering the accessories you got with her.

I just came across this on Forgotten Weapons a week or so ago: