MAS 49/56 Firing Pin A Weak Point???

Firing pins and extractors are very highly stressed parts. I'm not surprised to see them included in any spares kit.

I like to have them as spares myself, since they are usually small enough to pack and easy to change in the field.

BSW

I have one in the original 7.5 X54 and have had no problems with the firing pin. Some people have reported slam fires (you can google that ) with the MAS 49/56. There is a mod that you can do , or have done to your firing pin to prevent that from happening. If you reload you should use the harder CCI #34 military primers. They are awesome rifles it just bites that it is an odd caliber. That said , if you look at the current cost of .308 ammo 7.5 X54 is not that more expensive. They both cost the same to reload once you have your MAS brass. If you want an oddity , like me , I say go for it and get one. You will always get lookers and comments at the range for sure.

If you look around, you can also find the 49/56 version that Century converted to .308 usually for a cheaper price. Like most of their Frankenguns, your reliability is a crapshoot. Not sure exactly what mods that Century did but it might be difficult if not impossible to restore back to its original caliber and functionality. It, along with the swedish Ljungman are direct gas impingement guns just like the AR.

I bought a 49/56 a few years ago. It did come with a little leather pouch containing two firing pins. That being said I have no reason to believe they are any more prone to breakage that any other firing pins. They seem like their metallurgy should be up to the task of firing thousands of rounds. Maybe they give you extras in case you lose them when field stripping? I dunno.

I have had no problems with my 49/56, mine is all original from 1962. I reload for mine using standard CCI primers, no issues with slamfire as some have had. I also use a 150 gr fmj .30 bullet in my recipe, loaded to the "max" grain in the LEE book. It functions the heavy action nicely. The solution for "slamfire" was to file/stone the tip of the firing pin ever so slightly. It has to do with the overall length of the firing pin while in battery, that it would contact the primer just enough to set off the round without pulling the trigger. That may be due in part to the seating of the primers from various batches of ammo. A very robust rifle and accurate for it's intended purpose. Get one while you can, no more will ever be shipped into the US. After the early 90's, France signed onto the UN idea of destroying their surplus arms, rather then sell them on the world market. Keeping the world safe for future liberals I guess. I'd stay away from the .308 conversion rifles, most reports I have read on them have been negative, some get lucky and have a good one. Or, they spend a lot more money to make it work well. IMHO.

I like mine a lot. But my eyes aren't what they used to be... getting harder and harder to really use iron sights. The rifle has grooves built into the receiver. I know there was a scope and mount made specifically for this rifle. But they are rare and expensive. I would be perfectly happy to mount a modern 1-4x on it if there was a way to do it that didn't require any mods to the rifle and if it could be quickly removed.

Gregg

And 7.5 French is a very easy round to reload. I do use the military primers "just in case."

G

I have one in 308. I got one of the adjustable gas valves that solved the 'flinging brass into the next Zip Code' problem. It still occasionally fails to pick up the last round in the mag, so that's next on the list.

I still think it's a pretty neat gun.

I just bought one of these a couple weeks ago in the 7.5 French. Can't wait to go out and shoot it! Seems like a well built machine. Ammo was a little tough to find. Had to try about 5 different gun shops before i found any. Bought the only two boxes of PPU they had. Been wondering if slam firing is a concern with this brand of ammo?

I have one as well and have not had any issues with it. I do also reload for it....if you go into these odd duck calibers you really should reload IMHO, just too hard to find ammo for some of them.

Also have a MAS36 and IMHO that is the best bolt military rifle ever made....should be, it really is the last clean sheet design, they had everyone else to look at before they designed the thing.

i bought two,a .308 and a 7.5 french. the .308 was a POS and i sold it to a mad gunsmith who believes in unicorns. the 7.5 french has been a pussy cat after installing the adjustable gas valve. i also bought a mas 36 in 7.5 french and it is a very good rifle too. i bought a case of prive ammo and load for both and would like to get a scope mount for them. eastbank.