MAS-36 price check and general opinion

[Jenrick]

I've over the years collected shooter grade examples of most of the service rifles used by the major powers of WW2. A MAS-36 from France is not currently in my collection. A LGS has a pretty decent one with the grenade sight for about $600, that I'm seriously thinking about. I am not current on the prices for these, and am wondering if this is a good deal? Looking on Gun Broker it appears to be a pretty fair price, but if anyone knew different I'd be curious to hear.

Also does anyone have an opinion on the MAS-36 as a general purpose rifle? As one of the last bolt actions to be designed and built for general issue it has a lot of refinements earlier rifles don't have, and it seems like a decent rifle. Getting ammo isn't too difficult here, so that's not a major concern and I reload.

-Jenrick

 

[tark]

Once you get past the the ugly, it is quite a good rifle. I have had exactly one encounter with one, at the range with a friend. It operated smoothly, I liked the sights and it was minute of golf ball accurate at 100 yards. Pretty good for a military rifle, I think.

I really can't help you much on price. I rarely see them at the local gun shows and I have never really paid much attention to asking prices. Considering some of the incredible bargains out there (K-31s for $395), 600 sounds a bit steep.

I'm not familiar with the grenade sight, perhaps it brings a premium. I have heard of these guns being converted to 7.62 NATO, don't know if that is a good idea, or suicide??

I would just grab the thing and have fun with it!

 

[MAKster]

I think that is way over priced. These rifles are not very desirable to most military collectors. If you were thinking of using it as a general purpose rifle you should know that they do not have a safety.

 

[Jenrick]

tark - I too like the fact that it has aperture sights, that's probably the main problem of the Mauser, K31, and others are they were issued with post and notch sights. I already own a K-31, and the only other "low cost" WW2 rifle I still would like to acquire is an Arisaka.

MAKster - Price wise can you provide what a good price would be? On Gunbroker a beater runs for about $200 with a decent example heading into the $400 range with bidding. The one example with the grenade sight is in fairly bad shape and is sitting at $600+. From doing some checking online it seems like about 4-5 years ago, they were in the $100 range, but that looks to no longer be the case. This one is in the original 7.5 French still, and is not a CAI import.

Good point about the lack of safety.

-Jenrick

 

[zoom6zoom]

I picked one up at a local gun show last year for a hundred bucks, in very nice shape.
However, it was one that had had the barrel shortened and sold as a sporter by Golden State Arsenel when they imported a bunch of them, so it precludes me restoring it to its military configuration. Works as a basic example of type in my collection, though

 

[tahunua001]

I am not a fan. had one for a while just because it was at a gun show, I'd never seen one in person and figured I could afford it. thing was minute of tourbus accuracy, and sights were off, which can not be adjusted. the chamber tolerances were very loose so brass(which is not easy to find) blew out a lot and wore out quickly with full length sizing(which was necessary just to get the brass to fit back in the mag a second time. perhaps mine was just a lemon, it was certain well worn, but I would never buy another or recommend one to another person. for the same price you could get an enfield or Arisaka which by comparison are much better rifles in my opinion.

 

[Mikee Loxxer]

The MAS 36 is a tough, simple and reasonably accurate rifle. Their drawbacks include no safety, a very heavy single stage trigger, a thick front sight and no provision for adjusting windage. If I'm not mistaken the way these rifles had their zero's adjusted for windage by the armorer was by use of interchangeable rear sight apertures.

I like my MAS 36 but don't shoot it nearly enough. I paid $225 over a decade ago. $600 seems too high.

 

[kBob]

I got mine free. Not really. I traded a WWII German Artillery NCO dress saucer hat for one.....the first I had seen this side of the pond not messed up by shortening or shortening and then rechambering about 25 years ago. I felt bad about the hat but the guy that gave it to me said at the time "maybe you can traded it for some thing you can use." He wore that hat in Germany, but AFTER the war. You see he was SS and heard all SS men were being arrested and certainly young officers like himself. One of his old buddy's from the neighbor hood was an Wehrmache Artillery NCO and they swopped uniforms so his buddy could stash the uniform for later and sell it and so he himself would be clothed and not immediately recognized as SS. About a week later he left the hat on the dinning room table where his folks were staying at the time in Ulm and strolled out into the street where he was spotted by another neighbor that happened to have been a Jew and pointed out to some US military police. His mother kept the hat thinking it was important to him while he was being held to be investigated and "re educated" at Dauchau (there is some irony, SS being reeducated at Dachau) Any how he had kept the hat through inertia and gave it to me in 1974 after a military competition because he knew I liked "stuff like that".

Interesting fellow that went through the Nazi party school system and then to the SS as a leader. He only actively served a few months, and was wounded during Market Garden with SS HJ Regiment and was home on medical leave when the US rolled through Ulm.

Any how the hat is gone and the rifle is seldom shot. I like the idea of collection last bolt actions. I would not even mind having one of the Madsen split receiver .30-06 or a Mexican 1954.

I like the rifle and it generally shoots well when good ammo can be found.

-kBob

 

[krinko]

Here's a nice 1940 St.Etienne / Manufrance---




And here's a 100 yard target shot from this rifle---



If the one you are looking at does not say "Mle 1936-51" on the left side of the receiver flat and it has a built in grenade launcher, it is a fairly rare rifle and dedicated collectors would possibly pay $600 to get it.
Not me, I'm not dedicated.
I do have this one, though---



Mr. Charles was persuaded to surrender this one and pursue a career in agriculture. From the root side.
-----krinko

 

[theotherwaldo]

Love both of mine - a GSA sporter and an unissued original. Paid a total of $420 for both plus four boxes of civilian ammo.

Get one if you can!

 

[Garrobo]

There was a ton

of these rifles on the market in the late 80's and 90's for less than $100. I wouldn't pay more than that for one.

 

[USAF_Vet]

To be fair, the market price 25-35 years ago is pretty irrelevant in today's market.

At the same time, an SKS could be had for $80, can't find one for under $300 these days.

If it's worth $600 TO YOU, buy it. It's your money, spend it how you see best. I have zero interest in the rifle, and wouldn't buy it at any price, no matter how low.

Best advise, shop around. If it is a rifle you really want, in a configuration you desire, and the market rate is near the asking price, seems like an easy choice.

 

[boom boom]

Make sure that it has not been rechambered to .308 That was a popular conversion because the original ammo was expensive and hard to get. That is doubly so if the flying monkeys of CAI were involved.

 

[madcratebuilder]

I paid $160 for a near perfect MAS 36 about 3-4 years ago. I saw one sell recently for $375 that was in nice condition. I would check the MAS section on "Gunboards", the grenade launcher could add significant value.

 

[js8588]

One for $500 http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=474742445

 

[Jenrick]

Thanks for all the input guys. As noted prices have gone up on everything over the years. Also I've already got all the listed "other rifles" except and Arisaka and I'm keeping an eye out for one of those as well.

I think I'm going to go ahead and get it, it's not a CAI import, and it's in very good shape. My LGS offers zero-interest layaway so that makes it easier to fund too.

-Jenrick

 

[tark]

Go for it, Jenrick, and enjoy it! Good luck on the Arisaka, they aren't hard to find, nor are they expensive. I would advise getting a 7.7 for the simple reason that ammo is very easily made from 30-06 brass and 311 bullets are plentiful. Make sure it has a chromed bore and that the bolt knob is egg shaped, not cylindrical. Also, the upper tang should be a separate part from the receiver. If it has those three features it is not a last ditch gun.

good shooting

 

[tahunua001]

Make sure it has a chromed bore and that the bolt knob is egg shaped, not cylindrical. Also, the upper tang should be a separate part from the receiver. If it has those three features it is not a last ditch gun

I really don't know what to make of this comment. there are no type 99s that do not have chrome lined bores. I have not seen a single shred of evidence to prove that particular feature was ever dropped in the last ditch rifles, aside from a couple guys in the internet claiming they were. furthermore there are a lot of features that denote last ditch rifles besides the 2 you listed. the first feature to go was checkering on the safety knob, then somewhere along the line monopod, AA sights, dust covers were done away with, the fine machining, the metal buttplate was replaced with a wood one, and the adjustable rear sight was replaced with a fixed peep that was welded in place...

with all of that said, chrome lining is way less important than most people make it out to be, especially for a gun that costs 75 cents a round, and that's only if you have to make your own brass. trust me, you aren't going to be shooting it enough to worry about needing chrome, nor are you going to be shooting corrosive ammo in a tropical swamp.

 

[Snowdog]

I bought mine not too long ago off Gunbroker for around $200 and that I felt may have been on the high end. But the metal and wood were in great condition.

I haven't had a chance to fire it yet, as with with my M95 and I'm sure a couple other of my WW2 rifles.

 

[bainter1212]

Just to add to the thread....I bought a pristine unfired MAS 36 in September 2013 for $350 at a local LGS. I thought the price was a bit high at the time but the way things go with C&Rs.....

I think these rifles are way under-appreciated as well. They are the pinnacle of military ibolt guns. With the right loads they shoot lights out too.

 

[Paul Kersey]

Pay close attention to post #13. A .308 barrel with the worst crown you've ever seen, a "add on" safety that is plenty funky, and front sights that are the absolute .................. well, this is the High Road.

 

[tark]

Tahunua001, don't mean to start a fight, but you need to do a little research on Arisaka 99s. The chrome lined bore was one of the FIRST things they dropped because it is expensive and time consuming to do. I have never seen a last ditch gun that had it. To state that it was less important than most people make it out to be is a rather odd statement. In the context of today's world, you are right, I see no need for a chromed bore. On a gun used by soldiers in the tropics it was nothing short of a stroke of genius.

You are quite correct about the other features that denote a last ditch gun, but the three I mentioned would be sufficient to weed out any 99 that was unsafe to fire.

 

[Swampman]

I've over the years collected shooter grade examples of most of the service rifles used by the major powers of WW2.

I'm not altogether certain that a MAS 36 really "fits" in your collection given that criteria.

I would think that you'd want to get an Arisaka before the MAS 36. It certainly played a far more important role in WWII.

I've only shot one MAS 36 and I was seriously underwhelmed.
The French and Syrian surplus ammo giving a lot of hangfires may have been part of the problem, but I would've had to stand INSIDE a barn in order to stand a decent chance of hitting it's side.

The lack of any form of manual safety is ridiculous for a rifle adopted in that time period.

With all that said, a shooter with a MAS 36 managed to place in the top 5 at the 2014 Camp Perry "Vintage Military Rifle Match", something that no shooter with a K31 was able to do, even though there were about twenty times as many competitors shooting them.

So maybe the MAS 36 isn't the total POS that I believe it to be.

 

[tahunua001]

I'm probably going to get this thread shut down but...

The chrome lined bore was one of the FIRST things they dropped because it is expensive and time consuming to do

do you have a source you could cite for this? the only guns I've seen that didn't have it were the training guns and navy specials, neither necessarily is indicative of last ditch.

In the context of today's world, you are right, I see no need for a chromed bore. On a gun used by soldiers in the tropics it was nothing short of a stroke of genius.

it's a good thing I was not telling someone to buy one for the purpose of fighting in the tropics, then isn't it?

the three I mentioned would be sufficient to weed out any 99 that was unsafe to fire

and what exactly makes the last ditch rifles unsafe to fire? does an alleged lack of chrome make the barrels prone to explode? does the piston shaped bolt handle have a tendency to fly off and blow the shooter's head off? does the one piece tang split off and impale the shooter? the last ditch, aside from maybe being more likely to need head spacing, are no less safe to fire than an early war model, they just aren't nearly as pretty or tunable.

 

[tark]

Let's not have this thread shut down, i'll start a new one with this question being the topic.