Little Gunpowder therapy

[Unemployedshooter]

Finally went shooting after a long hiatus. Definitely rusty, but it came back to me.

From left to right:
1. Ruger Security Six
2. MAS 36
3. M&P40 (with 9mm Silencerco barrel)
4. Canik TP9SF Elite
5. RIA MAPP 22TCM9R (with 9mm Witness barrel)

First time shooting the Ruger. Ran mostly .38, but a few cylinders of .357. I spent more time shooting this than anything. Rang steel at 50 yards when I did my part. First time shooting the MAS 36 as well, due to a broken firing pin. Great little rifle, wish ammo had more manufacturers. M&P40 was great as usual. Have an Apex in it and it breaks so nice. The Canik ran brass and steel and was plenty accurate. Generally would not lock back on empty. Not sure if ammo or stiff recoil spring (heavier than M&P40 spring plus a heavy slide). Was running 115 grain Wolf and 124 grain Blazer brass. Great stock trigger. Was so much fun, I forgot to watch the ejection pattern as this is the major complaint about this gun. The MAPP does not like steel cased, but was plenty accurate once I adjusted the sights. Shooting several inches low from the factory.

Anyone know what acceptable accuracy out of the MAS 36 was when issued? Has a thick front sight post and a horrendous trigger. Rear sight is a nice aperture. Might look into tinkering with the trigger if possible.

Thanks for reading

 

[doubleh]

Gunpowder therapy is good. I got in a little bit yesterday.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

I plan on getting a therapy session Saturday......and afterwards I might go shooting!

 

[boom boom]

Anyone know what acceptable accuracy out of the MAS 36 was when issued? Has a thick front sight post and a horrendous trigger. Rear sight is a nice aperture. Might look into tinkering with the trigger if possible.

Thanks for reading

Hiya, and gunpowder therapy works wonders.

Regarding the MAS, it is not really a precision rifle but is capable of 2-3" MOA at 100 yards using issued ammo. The .308 conversions by Century have had major accuracy issues reported though probably through inconsistent reassembly and chamber reaming problems. The MAS-36 major issues affecting accuracy are that it has a two piece stock and the stock forend that has a locking plate for the receiver. If this is loose/broken/missing or if you have a warped handguard, it can seriously affect accuracy. The French did not trust individuals to dissassemble the rifles nor sight them so to dismount the assembly from the stock requires special spanner bits (I had to make mine from a cheap Harbor Freight security bit from grinding the included spanner tips). The rear peep sights come in a variety of numbers and were used at the armory to sight in the rifle and barrel bands were staked to discourage stock removal.

One reason is that it is easy to damage the forend where it locks into the receiver (like the SMLE) and care should be taken if you do dismount the stock. Be aware that dismounting it may change the zero and require a new rear ap sight or you will just have to apply Kentucky windage. Second, the rifle is rugged enough to not require any end user work. You can work on the trigger without dismounting the stock. The trigger on these is poor as issued but it can be polished lightly as can the sear (not to a mirror edge but merely to remove machining marks and roughness from Parkerizing up to a decent but heavy trigger. Use something like Sentry solutions or Brownells liquid trigger job to improve it a bit more as applied to sear and trigger surfaces.

It will never be a match trigger as such and trying to do something like a commercial trigger will probably result in an unsafe rifle and the need to replace the trigger and sear. If you want to aggressively try something in improving the trigger, I would recommend buying a spare MAS 36 trigger and sear set and working on that rather than the original. That way, if something goes wrong or if you want to sell it, you can reinstall the original parts.

The MAS trigger is less suited to easy trigger work such as the Mauser family as it works in a fairly complicated way similar to the Swiss K31, Mannlichers, the 88 GEW, or the old Krag trigger system, etc. It is however, better than the Lebel or the Berthier which is not saying much.

 

[berettaprofessor]

A little therapy this weekend myself; in the form of shooting up the last steel-cased 223 that I'll ever buy. I'm not generally inclined to shoot just to use up ammo (without really focusing on accuracy or technique), but it sure has it's high points.

 

[hartg01]

Gunpowder therapy is good. I got in a little bit yesterday.

Apparently I need therapy at least once a week. It works wonders!

 

[Hooda Thunkit]

Went down behind the barn yesterday, and shot ~200 wadcutters from my S&W 14-6.

Ahhh... The smell of Bullseye and NRA lube.... Such a wonderful aroma...

 

[theotherwaldo]

I'm having a hard time getting my therapy.
One of the local ranges has closed, another has gotten so rule-bound that most of the fun is gone.
The third, an indoor range, is usually crowded to the point of waiting in line.

I'm having withdrawal symptoms... .

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

Every weekend I get plenty of shooting therapy.

A note on the Canik, with the long slide stop you may have to watch your grip. If you shoot a standard thumbs forward type it can cause you to basically press on that lever while shooting.

At least it does for me, and I have very large hands so that may play a role too.

Just something to keep in mind.

 

[tark]

Gunpowder cake is even better with Tannerite frosting !

 

[doubleh]

Apparently I need therapy at least once a week. It works wonders!

The weather hasn't been cooperating for me to get that much. We have had a lot of rain the last six weeks. It has rained all night and is still raining right now. The system is supposed to get out of here tonight and warm up tomorrow so maybe there's hope for Friday.

 

[TRX]

I have a friend who is, due to failing health, pretty much a shut-in. Every two or three weeks I'll go to his house and we'll go out to lunch, just to get him out of the house. I've been doing that for a few years.

A couple of months ago I managed to drag him to a local indoor range while we were out. Now our lunch trip also includes range time. It's kind of nice to have someone to go to the range with...

 

[Unemployedshooter]

Thanks for the above replies. I'll probably just leave the MAS alone. It's still fun to shoot just the way it it. In regards to the Canik, I probably am resting my thumb on the slide lock as it was very consistently not locking on empty. Another excuse to shoot again to fix my form. I didn't shoot any 22TCM9R due to only having one box left and its .32 - .36 a round compared to 9mm. Still, it's a hoot seeing the fireball and having little recoil.

 

[theotherwaldo]

Frankly, the MAS 36 trigger assembly is plain vanilla - simpler than a Carcano's.
Here's a YouTube animation of it in action.
Altering the trigger and trigger pull is fairly simple, too.
One approach that I found online and used on my Golden State Arms sporter:

"The trigger pull is also an easy fix, My MAS 36 had an 8 1/2lb trigger pull when I first had it.
Replace the firing pin spring with a cut down M1 carbine spring, I got my trigger pull down to a sweet 5lb with this method.
Just make sure that you cut the spring way longer than the original and take it down a coil at a time until you get it where you want it.
I settled for a 5lb pull to make sure that the primer strike was heavy enough. Go too low and you will end up with light strikes."

Between that and burnishing the sear contact surfaces and the (admittedly long) trigger pull sweetens up.
I wouldn't do this on the service rifle because it has no safety. Anyway, I don't like to modify service rifles.

 

[Unemployedshooter]

Frankly, the MAS 36 trigger assembly is plain vanilla - simpler than a Carcano's.
Here's a YouTube animation of it in action.
Altering the trigger and trigger pull is fairly simple, too.
One approach that I found online and used on my Golden State Arms sporter:

"The trigger pull is also an easy fix, My MAS 36 had an 8 1/2lb trigger pull when I first had it.
Replace the firing pin spring with a cut down M1 carbine spring, I got my trigger pull down to a sweet 5lb with this method.
Just make sure that you cut the spring way longer than the original and take it down a coil at a time until you get it where you want it.
I settled for a 5lb pull to make sure that the primer strike was heavy enough. Go too low and you will end up with light strikes."

Between that and burnishing the sear contact surfaces and the (admittedly long) trigger pull sweetens up.
I wouldn't do this on the service rifle because it has no safety. Anyway, I don't like to modify service rifles.

Surprisingly, I probably have an M1 carbine spring lying around. I will think on this, thank you

 

[Jack B.]

Go twice a week when I can. Which is most of the time. Plus I have to go to a range ,can't shoot on my property. I shot a 6ft. long Diamond Back Rattle Snake in my back lot a couple of weeks ago and one of my neighbors called LE on me. Police told me "good shooting" and also said to me it was the right thing to do.