More French Treasure Arrived Today

[Combloc]

In the upper left are the 1947 manual for the Mle 1935 and training manual for the MAT 49SMG.
At middle top is the parts catalog for the Mle 1949-56 and 49-56 M.S.E. rifles.
At upper right is the small arms course booklet for the Mle 49-56 rifle.

On the bottom are the 3rd Edition parts catalog for the MAT 49 and the 1st Edition parts catalog for the Mle 1950 pistol.

I've been looking for a few of these for a long time now and it's as fun as Christmas morning when I was a kid. Just imagine all the little gems of knowledge that are waiting inside!!

 

[calicojack]

Nice!

 

[joppaj]

Can you read French?

 

[BFMIN]

Certainement, je peux. Je lis même du français technique. Merci d'avoir posé la question.

 

[Combloc]

Nope, can't read a word, but I manage to get it done anyways!




APEX Gun Parts sells my manuals. Of course, so do I.

 

[Combloc]

Certainement, je peux. Je lis même du français technique. Merci d'avoir posé la question.

Chapeau bas, monsieur ! C'est un bon ensemble de compétences à avoir.

 

[joppaj]

Nope, can't read a word, but I manage to get it done anyways!

Very cool. I hope you learn some fascinating new things about all of these.

 

[Doctor_M]

Vous êtes un érudit et gentilhomme.

 

[BFMIN]

C'est vraiment le cas ! Je parle principalement le "picard", la langue du nord de la France car c'est là que je l'ai appris auprès des camionneurs Belges !

 

[Blacksmith101]

They are like French postcards just look at the pictures.

 

[Combloc]

I have another horde on the way from France. Some are manuals I never thought I'd find in a million years. It helps to have built up contacts overseas!

 

[BFMIN]

Absolumant!

 

[JohnnyE]

Merde! Give us English translations s'il te plaît.

 

[cantstop]

About ten years ago Hickok45 was showing off some French rifle from WW2 and made the comment, "These are usually in pretty good shape. They were only dropped once."
Combloc knows more about C&R in his little pinky than I know in my whole body, yet whenever I hear about French C&R I'm reminded of that Hickok45 video.

 

[Combloc]

Never judge the Valor of a soldier by the decisions of those who command.

Out of venues too numerous to list, one need only study Bir Hakeim to glimpse what an armed Frenchman is capable of.

 

[cantstop]

Never judge the Valor of a soldier by the decisions of those who command.

Out of venues too numerous to list, one need only study Bir Hakeim to glimpse what an armed Frenchman is capable of.

I would have never known. Good stuff.

 

[Combloc]

 

[Combloc]

More goodies came today. Here are a few of them:

Several MAS 36 manuals:

The one on the left is the 1954 Edition of the issue pocket manual.

On the right is a 176 page comprehensive one that goes into great detail about the rifle, it's tactical use, proper cleaning techniques, ballistics and numerous of other neat stuff. It then finishes up with miniature color prints of the various training targets used. There is going to be some real gems of knowledge in that one, I'm sure.

The one in the middle is a real treat. It's the April of 1940 provisional manual for the MAS 1936 with the December of 1952 addition for the for the MAS 1936-51 grenade launcher equipped version of the rifle. This is what would eventually become the 1st Edition of the manual shown on the left. This is a fine example of a first source document and one I feel lucky to have found.

This next one is the July of 1969 edition of the parts catalog for the APX-L 806 rifle scope.

This covers both the older setup as used on the MAS 49-56 rifle and the 03 version of the scope as used on the FR F1 sniper rifle. Parts catalogs are always very helpful to have on hand when you're doing research because they document every single part along with illustrations, exploded drawings and reference numbers.

Next are parts catalogs for the three versions of the MAS 1936 rifle. At the bottom is the standard rifle. In the middle is the CR 39 version and, at the top, is the LG48 version:


This last one is the best of the haul and one I never thought I'd find. It's the November of 1951 1st Edition parts catalog for the MAS 49 rifle.


When you examine these various parts catalogs, you always find little gems of knowledge that enhance your understanding of the equipment. For example, you often discover that there is more than one version of a part because it was updated for one reason or another. Often, these variations are generally (or even completely) unknown to collectors. Another thing I can now definitively find out is exactly which parts are truly interchangeable among the various rifles. It's easy to find conflicting information from various sources on this subject but comparing part numbers from the various period catalogs will go a long way towards answering that question for good. Sometimes you find interesting hand-written notes and updates in these things too. Good stuff!