2-Gun Action Challenge: MAS 49/56
France
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10m
This month I chose to shoot the 2-Gun Action Challenge Match with a French MAS 49/56, in the original 7.5x54 caliber. I really like the handling of the rifle, and I was curious to see how the sights (rear aperture and a large front post) would work in a practical setting like this competition. As it turned out, I rather like the sights, Not great for target work, but they are pretty effective for making shots like this match is designed around. I do want to see if I can improve the trigger, though, and I may look into making myself a couple extended mags from 24/29 Chatellerault mags.
As usual, my pistol was a late 1940s Argentine Ballester-Molina in .45ACP (which served me well on stage 3, compared to the folks using 9mm). Overall, I placed 28th of 47 shooters.
Up Next in France
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M1886 Lebel Rifle at the Range
The French M1886 Lebel was the first smallbore smokeless powder rifle adopted by a major military, and was a game changer in the European arms race in the 1880s. It wasn't an outstanding design in many ways (like the slow-loading tube magazine and requirement to use a screwdriver to remove the bo...
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Literature Review: English-Language B...
Since we are in the middle of a series on French rifles, I figured it would be an appropriate time to take a look at what printed reference books are out there in English on the subject of French military arms. Unfortunately, the selection is very limited, and only two of these are still in print...
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Slow Motion: MAS 49/56
The MAS 49/56 was the final evolution of a French direct gas impingement rifle design that nearly entered mass production in 1940, but was interrupted by the German invasion. It uses a tilting bolt to lock (similar to the FAL) and a direct gas impingement system to operate (very similar to the AG...
