MAS mle-36,By the mid 1930’s Frances stocks of Lebel and Bethier rifles were beginning to show

MAS mle-36,By the mid 1930’s Frances stocks of Lebel and Bethier rifles were beginning to show their age and obsolescence.  The French military wanted a new rifle that was shorter, more compact, and more importantly used a modernized rimless cartridge.  The government owned arms factory   Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne (MAS) created the MAS-36, a new bolt action rifle designed to bring the French Army into the modern era of warfare.Unlike the older Berthier rifle the MAS was made in a carbine size.  It had  rear locking lugs that were resistant to dirt, new peep sights designed for common combat ranges, and a turned down bolt made to make working the action fairly easy.  Most importantly the new rifle was chambered for 7.5x54 French, a new replacement for the older 8mm Lebel.  Overall while not pretty, the new rifle was accurate, tough, rugged, and reliable.  The MAS-36 was most notable for its use during World War II.  Unfortunately not enough could be produced to arm all French soldiers, so it served alongside the ancient Lebel and aging Berthier.  After the fall of France the rifle was still used by Vichy French collaborators as well as Free French troops.  Many were captured by the Germans and renamed the Gewehr 242f, which was used to arm some occupation forces, but mostly the Volksturm, Hitlers civilian militia composed of old men and children.  After World War II the rifle continued to be used in Frances colonial wars, including Algeria and the Indochina China Wars.  By 1949 is was replaced with a semi-auto rifle called the MAS-49. -- source link

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