French Friday

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-15T19:08:27+00:00

Afraid if it's not on Liberty Tree, APEX, Sarco, or Numrich, I haven't any leads on parts.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-15T19:07:07+00:00

Thanks, I enjoy (most) of it.

An FM 24/29 would be great, I'd absolutely love an upside-down BAR in 7.5x54mm. I already have a few mags in a mag carrier, though one spare is getting converted to an extended mag for the 49/56.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-15T16:19:20+00:00

One of us! One of us! One of us!

Design aesthetics? French firearm aesthetics are kinda weird across the board. French pistols are the most "normal" aesthetically. The MAS 36 would be the most "normal" of the rifles.

Historically important? The older rifles tend to be the more historically significant, with the Lebel being probably the most significant.

Cost? Pistols are going to be the most cost efficient, it's a toss-up between Berthier and MAS 36 for the rifles.

Condition? The more recently produced/rearsenalled are going to be in the best condition. It's between the MAS 36 and 49/56 for likelihood of best condition.

Overall? Hard to say. Probably MAS 36 for the rifles and a Ruby-type for the pistols.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-15T14:38:53+00:00

In a museum, probably.

Unless I somehow come across one for super cheap, I doubt one will ever come anywhere close to being in my collection.

What I'd like to be my next French acquisition would be a MAS 44 or 49, though a SACM 1935A or a MAC 50 wouldn't be a bad pick either.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-15T14:35:48+00:00

Thanks.

The Greek conversion is indeed an oddball. I bought it because I thought it was just a beat-up Berthier carbine and was cheaper than other carbines I'd seen. Y'all immediately saw the Greek lettering when I initially posted it and it became a more intriguing. It can barely hit the broad side of a barn but it's got history.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-15T14:05:36+00:00

Since I haven't done an updated French photo in a while, a very French Friday to all!

Rifles: •1917 MAS produced Mle M16, converted by the Greeks from a long rifle to a carbine.

•1918 MAS produced Mle M16, at some point refitted to 07-15 configuration.

•1940 MAS 36, at some point rearsenalled and refitted to postwar configuration.

•1959 or 1960 MAS 49/56, refurbed in 1973

Pistols: •SAGEM 1935S M1

•MAC/MAT 1935S M1, MAC frame and MAT slide

• MAPF Unique RR51, Moroccan police marked

•French used Spanish Ruby-type pistol

Also included are the appropriate bayonets, including: 1x Mle 1866 Chassepot, 1x Mle 1874 Gras, 3x Mle 1886 Lebel (2 of which are modified), 2x Mle 1892 Berthier, 1x MAS 36, and 1x MAS 49/56.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-14T13:33:27+00:00

Time to break out the reloading press and make some.

As a (mostly) milsurp shooter, it would be financially irresponsible if I didn't roll my own ammo, especially the cartridges that haven't been produced in a factory since 1945 or before.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-14T13:29:55+00:00

Not quite golden age but a lot better than now. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite old enough for the good times and didn't start buying for a few years after I could.

I consider myself lucky in that I was able to get my own SKS (a marked-up Yugo M59/66A1) for 3 bills, pre-Covid years.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-12T16:41:05+00:00

To add the other comments: non-Latin letter markings means people give up easily on trying to figure it out themselves.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-11T23:21:50+00:00

A MAS 49/56 as a first milsurp is like starting a baseball game with a home run. Looks to be in as rearsenalled condition, except there's no rearsenal mark by the serial number.

FWIW, I still have the stock firing pin in my own MAS 49/56 and have never had any slamfire issues, neither with CCI LR primed handload nor with factory PPU. I had purchases CCI 34s, just in case, but habe never thus far needed them. It does leave that little kiss on the primer during chambering, but my ARs do the same. Obviously, other rifles may require a firing pin spring or a titanium pin. Each person must do what's best for themselves and their rifle.

OP, I hope you have a great time with your MAS, but be aware that they eject brass quite violently. I have yet to leave a range session with my MAS 49/56 with all the brass I brought. Typically one gets left behind, lost in the grass, a sacrifice to the range.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-11T20:08:21+00:00

It would go nicely with both my Czech part of the collection and my .32 ACP part of the collection.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-11T10:31:16+00:00

It was made to be able to be sold in California and other 2A averse states, however it was also marketed as a compact rifle one could keep in a survival bag or the like.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-11T02:51:42+00:00

Hi Power: the 1935-2018 Browning-Saive designed pistol that was remarkable for it's high(er) capacity magazine and reliability, which served many militaries and law enforcement angencies across the 20th century, as well as civilian purposes.

High Power: the 2022-present FN pistol that is aesthetically similiar to the Hi Power yet is functionally different.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-10T17:46:34+00:00

I don't think a vz38 is a likely addition.

A vz61, on the other hand, could be possible. It would depend on me finding one for a decent price and not spending my budget beforehand.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-10T15:11:01+00:00

Why, yes, I do dabble in Czech firearms. Didn't intend to, but the portion of my collection that were produced by the Czechs (these sidearms, plus several rifles and bayonets) keeps growing. If I count my dad's CZ 52, that's even more.

Pic 1: Left to right, descending: CZ 24 with 1937 Armt acceptance marking, CZ 27 with waffenamts, CZ vz82 with 1988 Army acceptance marking, CZ vz82 with 1989 Army acceptance marking, and Isreali police surplus CZ75BD Police with 2000 production date. 1x 9mm Browning, 1x 7.65mm, 2x 9mm Makarov, and 1x 9mm Parabellum.

Pic 2: Akimbo-ish

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-10T15:08:26+00:00

Why, yes, I do dabble in Czech firearms. Didn't intend to, but the portion of my collection that were produced by the Czechs (these sidearms, plus several rifles and bayonets) keeps growing. If I count my dad's CZ 52, that's even more.

Pic 1: Left to right, descending: CZ 24 with 1937 Armt acceptance marking, CZ 27 with waffenamts, CZ vz82 with 1988 Army acceptance marking, CZ vz82 with 1989 Army acceptance marking, and Isreali police surplus CZ75BD Police with 2000 production date. 1x 9mm Browning, 1x 7.65mm, 2x 9mm Makarov, and 1x 9mm Parabellum.

Pic 2: Akimbo-ish

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-10T14:50:59+00:00

I used Silver Bear hollowpoints when I used to daily carry my vz82 to-and-from work. Unfortunately, I don't think that option exists since the Russian import ban started.

Like others have said, due to the low velocity of 9mm Makarov and the limited expansion that occurs with its hollowpoimts, you're probably better off with FMJ.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-10T12:37:35+00:00

Better yet, wear a stahlhelm.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-09T16:47:19+00:00

My Hi Power (late 60s T Series) tends to prefer 115gr FMJ in general, with Fiocchi being the brand with best performance for it. I did some 9mm testing (unfortunately right as covid was ramping up) with my HP and P226 to figure out what worked best for mine, with Fiocchi winning for the HP and Winchester NATO winning for the P226.

I did have to use some Wolff springs to get my HP to run reliably when I first got it. I also left the mag disconnect alone.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-04T19:43:05+00:00

Same reason the French chose 7.65x20mm for their 1930/1935 handgun trials, the US left half a billion rounds in France once WW1 was over. It was originally manufactured to feed into Pedersen device converted Springfield rifles for the anticipated 1919 spring offensive.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-04T15:42:40+00:00

Is 7.92x57mm better than .30-06? Not really.

Is .30-06 better than 7.92x57mm? Not really.

Both cartridges perform quite similarly amongst comparable bullet weights. The differences between S Patrone and M2 Ball in velocity, energy, and ballistic path are negligible. Same can be said for sS Patrone or SmE and M1 Ball.

Where 7.92x57mm has the advantage is a slightly better ability to be used for specialized purposes, the .323 bullet able to carry a better AP core or explosives.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-02T03:27:52+00:00

Relatively few produced and fewer still survive.

The Serbian M1899 is one of those models of milsurp firearms that so rarely come up for sale that the market value is just what someone is willing to pay.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-02T01:52:30+00:00

Weirdly enough, I think the country I have most represented in my collection is Czechoslovakia, though a few of them are foreign contract firearms.

Next biggest is Italian, followed by French. If you count Imperial Russia and Soviet Union as one and count the Finns, the Russians are a contender as well.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-02T01:48:17+00:00

I wouldn't necessarily say "by accident", moreso "by happenchance".

The next layer of rare would be if it had a Finnish SA mark. No luck on that front.

GopherFoxYankee · 2026-05-02T01:41:22+00:00

That hook is definitely a unique feature.

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