French NATO Standardization: the MAS 49-56 in 7.62mm

Preorders now open for my book, "Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles 1866-2016"! Get your copy here:
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In the late 1950s, France was still part of the NATO integrated military structure. When the 7.62x51mm cartridge was adopted as standard for the alliance, France looked to be in a good position to simply convert their MAS 49-56 rifles to use it. After all, the 7.5mm cartridge the rifle was designed for was very similar to the new NATO round. After several years of trials, however, the project was dropped as impractical. It turned out that the much different pressure curve of the 7.62mm round would require significant redesign of the MAS rifles. They suffered from poor extraction, broken parts form high bolt velocity, and other issues (not coincidentally, the exact same problems reported with the 308 MAS 49-56 rifles imported by Century...). The St Etienne factory only made a total of 150 of them in 7.62x51mm before the project ended.
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[@George_Doc]

Main gun rules of second half 20 century for any post-WW2 rifle: 1.Add a handle 2. .308 version

[@rouymalic4463]

3. Fighting those pesky commies

[@alaskanbullworm5500]

Apparently they missed the memo on the 20 magazine

[@DC2022]

@@alaskanbullworm5500 we missed the same memo on 30 rounds magazine aswell for FAMAS 😂

[@on2wheels378]

Do you mean grip? I mean i an splitting hairs... So do you call a magazine a 'clip?'

[@alaskanbullworm5500]

On 2Wheels no I meant magazine. By the late 50s magazines containing 20-30 cartridges were the standardized form of reloading, in that regard the mas 49/56 was behind, though I’m assuming it has to do with the fact that it doesn’t not have a full auto fire mode, so no need to have that many rounds in one sitting.

[@Ulquiorra4163]

Ian was caught moments later trying to sneak out with the French unicorn rifle. Great work as always, Ian!

[@fryingpan9812]

I think he owns it

[@dak4465]

I'd probably just let him walk out with it anyways

[@LadyAnuB]

@@dak4465 They let him walk away with an "original" version. Let Gun Jesus deal with the safety issues. LOL

[@kowell]

The Judge agreed it was totaly understandable given the awesomeness of this gun.

[@mickedymackedymarkedy8729]

The classic Forgotten Weapons story: Me: "Hey that looks cool, I'd love to buy one of those!" Ian: "...And today we're going to look at a super cool unicorn of a rifle." Me: "Damnit"

[@ronnieman87]

No shit because of Ian i shelled out 600.00 for an Albanian sks

[@oriontaylor]

That was me when I saw his video on the Mauser HSv competitor to the P.38. Then learned those were the only two in existence. Bugger. Maybe I’ll have enough money someday to pay a gunsmith to make me a one-off duplicate.

[@SportbikerNZ]

Yep forgotten weapons tend to be rare weapons!

[@brettmorris5766]

@@ronnieman87 I had an Albanian for a while. Sold it and my ar plus about 500rds of each for a down payment on a car though...

[@jrr7031]

I have one if you want to buy. 1600$ have access to the 7.5 as well.(know someone local to ATL)

[@MarvelousSeven]

Had the French been successful at 7.62 NATO conversion, the MAS-49/56 would have been amazing. Even in its oddball 7.5 French, its amazingly simplistic, outdoing even the SKS for ruggedness and even fewer moving parts, all while firing a full power 30 cal round. A good candidate platform for the SIR (ala WW-Z) if ever I saw one.

[@828enigma6]

What is a SIR conversion? Not families with it.

[@carnov]

@@828enigma6 SIR (standard infantry rifle ) is the gun used to kill zombie in world war z book . In the book the army produce a weapon who is a mix of ak/ar with a lot of wood part because no plastic. So yeah this mas is the closest to the describtion

[@negativefishermen9286]

If you could find bullets

[@art070769]

I had a MAS 49 converted to 308 and empty cases would get stuck in the chamber. It was really annoying and made for a frustrating day at the range. Then I realized that the gun would work well right after I cleaned it but cases would start to stick once the gun oil wore off the chamber. So I put all of my 7.62 NATO rounds in a plastic bag, dumped in some gun oil, mixed them around (gently) and loaded up the mags. The gun ran great with lubed ammo! It would fire as fast as I could pull the trigger (of course you could hit anything bc, 308) and I don't think it ever malfunctioned.

[@bungalobill7941]

The main problem is that century cut the recoil springs down about three inches. This caused the spent shell to extract too quickly and swell enough to get stuck in the chamber Mine did the same thing so I replaced the cut down spring with a new one and never had the problem again

[@markhocker16]

What is the length for the 7.5 I got the 308 spring seemed rather weak got another one but seemed a bit long couldn’t get it to go in so yeah I cut it down really would like to know the length

[@thefrugalgunfighter6772]

If you’re still around, why not use steel case? They don’t fire from to the chamber and should run. Unless I’m mistaken.

[@ab-oj9wv]

Hey Ian, great work as always. Slight correction : "N°" isn't shorthand for "nombre", it's for "numéro". Nombre means number as in "this much as an absolute value" (cardinal meaning) while numéro means "the Nth in this series" (ordinal meaning).

[@oldesertguy9616]

But the stamping is actually "No" isn't it? Or is that small "o" just the way they abbreviate numero?

[@ab-oj9wv]

@@oldesertguy9616 French abbreviations like this typically use the first letter of the word in capital case and the last letter, in lower case, smaller, sometimes hightened (like exponents) and sometimes underlined (once or twice). So in this case the word ends with an o, which makes sense since "serial number" is "numéro de série".

[@tinuraviel9507]

@@ab-oj9wv je n'aurais pas su mieux l'expliquer, merci 😉

[@MarvinCZ]

Just like the abbreviation for "modèle" - "Mᴸᴱ"

[@DaiwaMaster]

Couldn't have said it better myself, merci

[@Dave0G]

Didn't think I needed a book on French rifles, then I watched the recent series on here and "desire to know more intensifies" 😅

[@KurtOnoIR]

Hey it may be of worthy note that my century converted rifle had all the stuck case problems with pretty much all brass case ammo when it warms up after like 3-5 shots but I could shoot steel case all day. Also I eventually made a gas port on my own to tone the gas down and now it shoots everything sweet and stack brass in a nice pile only about 4 ft away. It was easy to make, it's basically just a dowell rod with a hole in it and slides right into the factory gas block. But I was always able to shoot steel case and low recoil brass.

[@Yuzral]

Today's lesson of firearms engineering: There is no such thing as a simple conversion.

[@robertkubrick3738]

I think it would have worked if they DIDN'T convert the rifles. The fire forming of the cases would have lowed the pressures like in the FG42. Problem solved.

[@tap9095]

How many conversions end up being just recycling the stock and maybe the trigger group while replacing every other component?

[@alexvogel610]

I mean there are some of the Jewish/Israeli conversions--just overstamp the markings with a Star of David and IDF crest, and then chop off the tip of the barrel, and you're good to go!

[@oriontaylor]

I think the Steyr-Hahn can be converted from 9x21 Steyr to 9x19 Parabellum by changing only the barrel, but that’s perhaps unusual.

[@CookieAsArrow]

@@oriontaylor Can't you convert .40sw pistols to .357sig with a barrel and spring change?

[@Dreju78]

It's nice that he says "my FIRST book" ;)

[@chrisfyfe4047]

Honestly , I had , pre Ian , little or no interest in French Weapons , you have kinda changed all that ! Your work is much respected !

[@oriontaylor]

Chris Fyfe It’s because of him that I went from limited interest in French weapons to wanting one of each of the major rifles and pistols. And if any exist in private hands, one of the A6 Meunière trials rifles.

[@evanlisinski1218]

Congratulations on the success of your book!

[@JamesMelzer999]

Over $600k raised on the Kickstarter! Incredible

[@patrykwypych9478]

Nice

[@Lowlandlord]

Wish I had of gotten in on that,

[@kevinchavanne8906]

I am a French Fan! Love your channel man! I know you like French Gun etc ... Hit me up if you need any translation or whatsoever! Always happy to help out the community! Cheers

[@candidmoe8741]

Gun Jesus in his last Q&A: "I'm not an expert" Gun Jesus today: "it's interesting to note that the cam surface here is totally squared off, compared to a regular 49-56". I bet Gun Jesus can recite some serial number ranges from memory ...

[@sparkplug1018]

He's likely forgotten more about firearms then we will ever know.

[@barcelona2170]

Hey. Love your channel. I have been watching for years now, since before I could even legally purchase a firearm. It has been fun and has helped me in other areas of firearms since then. My gun friends think I’m a genius thanks to you! Anyway, I pledged some money to your book. I can’t afford it to own because my college books come first, but I love your work so I thought it was the least I could do, what little it was lol. Keep up the great content.

[@garykappes4654]

Kool beans! five years ago! anyhow I have owned several of the MAS 49-56 rifles in the 7.5 cal. They would all slam fire once in awhile with everything except for French surplus ammo which I still have a bunch of. I have resized 6.5x55 brass as well as 7.5 French PPU ammo with CCI large military primers and still get a slam fire every once in awhile. Basically a single shot gun for me with reloads. These are very kool rifles! Love mine.

[@RavingRaptor]

This looks like a Diesel-Punk version of the M14. I love it.

[@GuitaristOnDaRoof]

RavingRaptor No, Ethanol-Punk

[@Namesakes.unit-x-10sq10]

@@GuitaristOnDaRoof drunk punk (since it's French)

[@neitherman9997]

@@Namesakes.unit-x-10sq10 Winepunk ?

[@Namesakes.unit-x-10sq10]

@@neitherman9997 baguette punk🤔

[@dionjaywoollaston1349]

William Jenssen surrender punk

[@toofuairi]

I know this consistent related content is to basically accompany your book, but i'm greatly enjoying the consistency. And i look forward to whatever other books (and accompanying videos) you do in the future. :)

[@jimo680]

Great presentation! Very helpful and clear explanation with excellent close in shots...Much thanks.

[@drenek1]

"N°" stands for "Numéro" and not "Nombre". Thanks for the video, outstanding as usual.

[@bungalobill7941]

Have one of the century arms conversion rifles. Had to replace the recoil spring because century cut down the original about three inches and that caused cycling issues. Gun shoots and cycles perfect with the new spring. And you also want to shoot the less hot 308 rather than the hotter NATO. Cheap Wolf Steel Case and Armscor cycle fine Some of the century springs were cut differently. The ones with the most cut off caused the most problems.

[@oldgoat1890]

It can be tamed down with a longer gas tube, larger gas tube or adjustable gas orifice. I have a couple of the converted rifles and they all functioned in the condition I bought them. BUT, I use commercial ammo, which is generally a smaller case, and the rifles eject the empties to hell and gone. If you do find the brass it is beat up beyond reloading. I never had a problem with the extractors, but some people claim to. A little work and the Centry conversions are great shooters, but then, I am not worried about launching grenades or other military applications. I suspect that the French did not want to end up with a conversion that was half the cost of the original rifle. Mayb they finally learned that lesson.

[@samuel88andrews]

The MAS 49-56 aka "French Le Big Boy SKS"

[@509Gman]

Sam even the firing pins look similar. Just the operating systems separating them, really.

[@samuel88andrews]

@@509Gman well I'm glad my rapid assessment was technically correct. I always wondered why more modern guns don't copy the sks system but there's probably some reason for that

[@axelpatrickb.pingol3228]

@@samuel88andrews Same as why nobody copied the M1 system - outdated, complex, has too many places to go wrong...

[@januskristensen4930]

Ze big boy sks

[@josephschmoe3796]

Except that the SKS worked.

[@bobsmoot2392]

Always great content. I haggled a Century one of these down to $125, a few years ago at a gunshow. Good handling, .308, but mag just too weird. Passed on it.

[@davidcolter]

Excessive bolt velocity and failures to extract in a DI gun due to a change in burn rate of the powder? Sounds a lot like the XM16E1 Remington vs Winchester too....

[@5roundsrapid263]

They used the same powder as 7.62 NATO in some batches of 5.56. It was the main problem.

[@seculartapes]

I don’t know if this will ever be feasible, but I’d love to see you do a video on the AA-52 machine gun.

[@ForgottenWeapons]

I would love to - just have to fine one.

[@puebespuebes8589]

@@ForgottenWeapons it's strange because this mg is notorious with service man in France ( infantry or near frontline unit only ) and yet still almost unknown in France

[@tomparrish6000]

Thanks for the information - I have one of the Century Arms conversions (bought in 2004), but it has not been shot very much, so I have not had any issues.

[@phillipcowan1444]

I'm guessing the french reduced the I.D. of the gas tube in an attempt to limit the impulse on the carrier and thus limit bolt speed. If they did indeed do this and it still didn't work it must be because the pressure curve of the NATO round is much more abrupt than the 7.5 french. I think a modernized RELIABLE version of the 49/56 would be the ultimate pick up truck rifle. My dream version would have a tough synthetic stock and of course be minus the grenade launcher (unless I could find a reliable source of NATO spec rifle grenades,lol).

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you , Ian .

[@nc_classics_9610]

Im really enjoying the French Content

[@TheGearhead222]

Kudos on your first book, Ian!:)-John in Texas

[@dak4465]

Heeeey! A fellow Texan. Whats up dude.

[@TheGearhead222]

@@dak4465 SOS in the land of guns;)

[@dak4465]

@@TheGearhead222 gotta love texas

[@p3kab00icu]

10 round magazines are getting harder to find, but are usually not astronomically priced. I've heard that higher capacity mags (15 rd, perhaps) were produced in very small numbers, but II've never actually come across any. I have seen metric FAL mags adapted, usually using the spring clip from an original MAS mag (rendering its donor crippled). A few years ago I saw a listing on ebay for a handful of the spring clips for sale. At the time, I had a 20 rd and 30 rd FAL mags, but I could not get either to function well enough in my MAS to warrant use, and frankly, the 30 rd mag looked ridiculous and would have deleted prone position use. Great rifle though. 10 rounds of reliably auto-loaded .308 is pretty bad ass. I've never fired a 7.5 caliber. But I never had an issue with my century arms convert.

[@sarjim4381]

Yep, my Century conversion has slamfires and stuck cases. I always thought this was just a Century problem so I'm interested to find the same issues plagued the French conversions as well.

[@legionitalia309]

Sar Jim And mine works fine! there must be good and bad ones. Never had a single problem of either type.

[@sarjim4381]

@@legionitalia309 Yeah, I had a buddy with one and his worked great. I know several other guys from the range that had ones that worked like mine.That's what makes these rifles so frustrating. You can't tell just by looking at them which one will work and which one won't.

[@KurtOnoIR]

I had to make a gas aperture for the gas block on mine to shoot most brass case. They lost some dwell time when they got rechambered. You have to either tone the gas down or shoot light loads in brass or any steel case should shoot fine. Some brass surplus is light enough like Pakistani or any steel case should be ok. The slam firing they all do but again it's minimal with surplus military ammo or steel case.

[@CommandLineCowboy]

I wonder if stout primers are a legacy of the Lebel's tubular magazine? The circular groove around the primer and a convex primer cap were protection against a chain fire in the magazine. Makes sense that the primers wouldn't be at all sensitive. Once they started building primers like that, why change?

[@Gladiator34B]

Keep up the great work Ian!

[@kendalledmunds673]

Ian, if you havent done it already. The werder rifles and pistols. They are falling block and as far as i know were used by france in the 1870's. I saw one at the army museum in paris, l'hotel des invalides.

[@natebarfoot1277]

Congradulations with the book I can't wait to get my copy of it thanks.

[@PRACERZ]

Another FANTASTIC vid Ian!! 👍🏻

[@practicalshooter6517]

7.5 French conversion: Ogive = 7.62 (308) 7.5 French powder - using 223 FMJ 55 grain ogive - 26.5 grain of French powder will give you 2900 fps in 16" AR barrel.

[@Jet2416-Reloading]

It's really rather sad they never really made the MAS 49-56 work because to me, it's one of France's better looking rifle designs.

[@kevinoliver3083]

The MAS 49-56 worked fine, in 7.5mm. It was the misbegoten American cartridge that was the problem

[@Jet2416-Reloading]

@@kevinoliver3083 Your reasons for referring to 7.62x51 NATO as "misbegotten" is your own business but I wanted to add a little more to why I said it was sad that the MAS 49/56 didn't "work". The fact is, it did work, IF you spent enough time tuning the gas system and developing good load data for the .308W/7.62 NATO that closely resembled the bullet weights, powder burn rate, chamber and port pressure the MAS 49/56 was designed for. Since the 7.5x54 French was longer than the 7.62 NATO a little bit of feed angle on the 7.62 was also helpful. In my opinion these are small changes that would have made the MAS a very reliable combat weapon for either cartridge.

[@conanfa18]

Best in the business, Ian!

[@stilllife8]

Well this answered the question I had about whether I should have bought a .308 converted MAS 49 when one was offered to me. Good thing I was instinctively skeptical of the reliability. Thanks Ian.

[@francislematt7079]

If money wasn't the issue you could have fluted the chamber HK style to help smooth extraction.

[@fmjsteelcore4397]

on est bien gâté en ce moment dis donc :)

[@vernonloften5248]

Ian, how about something about pioneers of ammo and ballistics? Great show always. Just wondering about a subject that maybe interesting I believe.

[@Psiberzerker]

Mark me down for "Small Arms Development in general." However, due to the "Only been dropped once" cliche, the stereotype is that French weapons, and ammo are crap, just for being French. That's why I'm glad you're doing this, and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy. Because a lot of this story gets skipped over in favor of sei Germans, and the yanks.

[@kylebradley3]

Yeah it's ruined collecting French guns for me, I considered myself lucky to get a lebel for 500 bucks, berthier rifles and Mas 36 are impossible to get now for a decent price.

[@allangibson8494]

The hard primers are a hangover from the Lebel tubular magazine. A magazine chain fire will ruin your day.

[@KamikazKid]

That's a cool gun, I'm not a big french guns guy, but I want this one.

[@jonkerr2050]

I just saw one of these at the Crossroads of the West gun show in Costa Mesa today. There was an auction house there (can’t remember the name) and they had a some VERY expensive guns there that they were showing before the auction. This was one of the center pieces they had. Edit: I didn’t look at the markings very closely so I’m not sure if it was a Century Arms or not. It did have a pistol grip on it and they were displaying it as a significant rifle going up for sale. But nothing with a description on it.

[@uiodxt5772]

never knew this existed, god is this gun one hot thing

[@razor1uk610]

I wonder if a BiC Biro sized stiff spring could suffice for a temporary replacement firing pin spring ? ..going by the reduced size of the firing pins forward section.

[@Kaboomf]

Razor 1uk I’ve used pen springs for more gun repairs than I care to admit...

[@razor1uk610]

@@Kaboomf Really? I was just guesstimating by apparent size. ..are some spring requirements that soft - then again some pen springs can be quite robust - usually the steel alloy-ish ones.

[@allangibson8494]

Given there have been reports the BIC sourced its early springs from the same manufacturer as the MAS rifles it probably will work. (BIC is a French company).

[@MrPhillyval]

Ian, N° stands for "Numéro", not for "Nombre" ;-) Of course, the english word number means both in french : nombre or numéro. It depends on the context. When we're talking of serial numbers, it always means "numéro". Books, or weapons have a serial number, they have a "numéro". Yes, it is a "numéro" when it takes place in a series. In mathematics, we talk of numbers as well, but then they are "nombres".

[@that1guyonpoint213]

That firing pin looks like a DS stylus.

[@januskristensen4930]

Your face looks like a ds stylus

[@londonjolly9174]

Wow, I had no idea there was a legit French conversion, as you noted they're very rare so it makes sense. Century does get quite the bad rap, although I have a M1 Garand (of all things) with a Century receiver, mostly 1954 Beretta parts, and a Springfield trigger/bolt. Apparently they made M1 receivers in both Vermont (where mine is from) and Australia, with the Vermont ones being the better of the two.

[@NarfoOnTheNet]

This gun looks so steampunk I love it

[@Lowlandlord]

KZbin gave me a French vacuum commercial after this video. And then a Japanese one, it knows me well, Arisakas and Nambus are on today's watch list too.

[@SSgtCalebP]

Good to know Century Arms is glad to try where far more qualified people have failed|

[@RalphReagan]

I think a MAS 49 just being a hundred bucks more expensive than an sks is a better deal

[@geoechidna]

Probably not in the long run, the SKS's main advantage is that you can shoot the lowest-quality ammo ever all day long. The ammo for the MAS 49 will cost at least $1 per round as opposed to ~25 cents for 7.62x39. If you reload though the costs might even out.

[@xgford94]

How impressive does this look kickstarter at AU$ 907,778...now AU$ 950,358...come on the $1M

[@NRJenzenJones]

As the team's Aussie, I would love us to hit 1mil AUD!

[@DonziGT230]

I guess I've been lucky, my 7.62 converted rifle works great with commercial .308 and hand loads, I generally load on the light side for this gun. The only thing I don't like is that it ejects forward in a pretty random pattern making brass harder to collect.

[@legionitalia309]

DonziGT230 mine has been reliable as well.

[@rangemasterken]

I think the addition of an adjustable gas regulator would solve a lot of the function problems that most of these conversions seem to have. It seems like the French would have thought of that though. I would like the hear some one knowledgeable talk about it.

[@DonziGT230]

@@rangemasterken Why on earth would a maker of a military firearm add a device to help it function after a caliber conversion for civilian use? Especially when that device could lead to malfunctions on the battle field. There is at least one person who's made an adjustable gas block for these and I've considered it, but instead I just load light for it to not beat it up.

[@rangemasterken]

@@DonziGT230 I just meant that (going by what Ian said in the video about the French having malfunction problems ) I'm sure that they would have thought to try using a gas regulator or restricting the gas flow by some other means to try and stop the malfunctions in their 7.62 NATO version of the MAS 49/56. Maybe that doesn't work but If someone is making an adjustable gas block for these rifles, I would like to get one or at least talk to someone that has done a conversion using one. The MAS 49/56 is one of my favorite rifles and I would like to have one properly converted to shoot 7.62 NATO surplus ammo.

[@gunner678]

Great video!

[@troy9477]

My first thought is that to make the conversion successful they would probably have to make a new barrel with a smaller gas port, and possibly put a small buffer in the recoil system. Of course that is more complicated than setting the barrel back a bit and reaming the chamber for 308. I guess the other option might be a piston system with a regulator, but then u are talking about half a new gun and major modifications. Answer: buy FAL's. Your Belge neighbors would be happy to sell u a few hundred thousand, and to sell u ammo until your ammo plant(s) can retool. I would love to have a regular 49/56, and i think they are ok here in Kalifornia with the grenade launching stuff removed. PPU makes 7.5x54 ammo, and then u can reload the brass. Anyway, great video as always. Thank you.

[@KurtOnoIR]

I made a gas cutoff that replaces the original in the gas block, it was fairly simple, it's just a dowell rod with two holes drilled in it basically. The original gas cut off rotates this piece to cut off the gas, I just made one with smaller holes and hardened it. Now it stacks brass in a nice pile about 4 feet away even with hotter nato stuff.

[@JACKSONLEWISOFCANADA]

France used to be the nation with just the different rifle…. Now they just have an AR variant like everyone else….

[@jerrybot3000]

I like this channel because it’s more about weapon history, design and engineering rather than “Huuurrrr look at me blow these melons and soda pops away with this automatic shotgun firing slugs! This is great for home defense and neutralizing imaginary bad guys who are out to kill my imaginary family!”

[@MrMezmerize]

Would love to see such a MAS in one of your two gun matches on InRange, against something era fitting like an AK. Plus, I heard the Vietnamese used quite a few of captured MAS' against the US. How did they faire?

[@francislematt7079]

The Vietnamese beat the hell outa US so you already know the answer to that.

[@grafixbyjorj]

"How did they faire?" Either "fare" or "comment ont ils fait" :)

[@SportbikerNZ]

@@francislematt7079 Nope, NVA/VC just had a bigger meat bank.

[@tristanholland6445]

@@francislematt7079 That is by far the most inaccurate and illogical answer I have ever seen and the human race is now dumber for having seen it.

[@tristanholland6445]

@@SportbikerNZ Not so much that the North Vietnamese had the political will to commit to the war. Any NVA or Viet Cong(NLF) fighter would absolutely want and AK derivative over any captured French rifle if they had the choice simply because the AK was a better overall weapon and provided better firepower.

[@rogerwennstrom6677]

At a glance it doesnt seem that complex to adjust an "overgassed" rifle. I'd start with attempting to restrict the gas tube slightly, or adjusting the amount of the bolt carrier that nests over the gas tube. But I guess they already tried that already :)

[@mitch075fr]

since it is a conversion, the cost of modifying all these parts may have offset the savings of making a conversion instead of going for a brand new rifle.

[@jmjedi923]

Apparently with the century conversions people tend to pick up adjustable gas blocks for them, I'm getting one for my rifle so hopefully it works

[@ToddAdams1234]

@@jmjedi923 it’ll work out, because if I can build something in my apartment for it and make it work REALLY easily then a real deal should be cake!

[@rebeccalarratt6632]

got two in 308 but like to get one 7.5

[@MasterOfHelium]

Never have I been this early to a new Forgotten Weapons video before!

[@MasterOfHelium]

@168 Kayaking Welp, due to different timezones it makes it roughly half past three for me then! xD

[@gustavjohansson8562]

I’m dyslexic and hate to read. But I like the cover so I’ll probably buy it when I move up out to I can have some books that makes me look as sophisticated and smart as Ian

[@elsoldadomarquez]

after so many variants and never get a 20 mag like the rest of similar battle rifles, only in France!

[@quentinortiz4473]

Because if you give 20round instead of 10 it's like you authorize you're soldier to miss Less bullet more concern on "if i miss i'm fucked" instead of "fine if i miss i shoot more"

[@therideneverends1697]

@@quentinortiz4473 thats an idiotic outlook

[@mitch075fr]

@@therideneverends1697 not if you consider that it is a precise semi auto rifle and that a large magazine may cause handling issues when shooting laying down.

[@XaviarJS]

Hey Ian you remember back 90's to mid 2000's when there was a conversion for the 49-56's that used the AR-15 furniture, lol...

[@DC2022]

Yeah, COS had some of these fugly rifles, like the ugly cousin of SOCOM 16. i40.servimg.com/u/f40/11/40/78/18/untitl16.jpg i40.servimg.com/u/f40/11/40/78/18/untitl18.jpg

[@davitdavid7165]

You know you did a faithfull adaptation when people have the same complains with it as the og

[@robertkubrick3738]

The funny thing is, you probably could fire 7.62 Nato through an unmodified 7.5 French rifle and it would work fine. The slight fire forming would drop pressure to the point it would be in the range of the 7,5 french cartridge. I have fired quite a bit of 7.62 [7.62X51mm] Nato through 7.65X53.5 Mauser and it's really quite mild. The cases just come with a little shorter neck, but still reloadable. This was back in the day when 7.65X53.5 in the US was only available from Norma and it was equivalent to shooting 50BMG if you weren't a reloader, $1 per round 35 years ago. 7.62 Nato was cheap in comparison.

[@KurtOnoIR]

No they headspace off the shoulder, it won't fire (most of the time). Like putting a 222 Remington in a 223 and those are way closer and doesn't shoot. You may get lucky enough for the extractor to catch a rim and hold it up to the bolt face but almost impossible.

[@JC-11111]

FYI the book is sold out 😎🤷‍♂️

[@dak4465]

I want one

[@actionjackson1stIDF]

Sorry but I caught this video late. My understanding is that these where produced for French Gendatmes only and never for the military. Also from what I have read there was a twenty round magazine designed for these. Both of which were never exported outside France.

[@asparagusrealizer11]

Can we have FAL? We have FAL at home FAL at home:

[@ozdavemcgee2079]

They are cool looking. Like FAL in wood. Wood, steel, wood.

[@chrisfossetta994]

Parts breakage on conversions, is this why you find the bolts are mis matched to the rifles with century? Do you think a variable or stiffer spring would solve the issue?

[@jimmywilliamson8540]

Obviously if the weapons made for a much lower pressure then you could have all manner of problem but it seems like gas pressure in regards to the operating system would be an easy thing to solve but I’m imagining it might just be not cost effective.

[@putputthedutchpedovan1583]

If the ak and the modern sks had a baby it would look like the mas

[@Francois15031967]

"N°" is abbreviation of "numéro, not "nombre".

[@Hi11is]

I think that technically it is numero (Latin), but I suspect your point was nombre is quantity and numéro is a bunch of digits and as a serial number it is numéro 238 (feel free to correct or amplify as appropriate). Are there cases where No. would be considered nombre by French speakers?

[@Francois15031967]

@@Hi11is the two terms "nombre" and "numéro" are often used in the same way in french, but in current speech you will choose "numéro" over "nombre" when picking one numbered item which is part of a set (hotel rooms, roulette numbers, serial numbers... etc.).

[@puebespuebes8589]

If you add a bigger mag this would be a FAL competitor

[@sanuku535]

3:50-3:51 weird sound

[@marrioman13]

What's your next great interest after french rifles?

[@MajorFret]

French women?

[@mynameisfurstandiamfunky616]

_Freedom_ Women.

[@thelegendaryklobb2879]

Bergmann pistols, of course!

[@tristanholland6445]

Chinese mystery pistols duh.

[@Jesses001]

Hum...seems to me that a smaller gas port in the barrel would solve all their issues. Maybe making a new barrel was just too much work to bother so they ruled that out? Maybe I am missing something?

[@nosuchthingasshould4175]

Or a vent releasing the excess pressure forward or to the sides. I think though there must be something wrong with those ideas. They would have thought of them and they aren't mechanically hard to do.

[@Jesses001]

@@nosuchthingasshould4175 Right, I find it likely that if I can think of it, they must have as well, but for some reason it does not work.

[@KurtOnoIR]

Yes I made a gas cutoff piece to replace the original in the gas block, it's basically just a dowell rod with two holes drilled in it. I just drilled smaller holes in a piece of I think it was 1/4" rod, cut the end to fit the gas cutoff lever and hardened it. Copies the original just smaller holes. It now cycles all brass all day and stacks it nicely about 4 feet away. Also it was always reliable with steel case cheap ammo even before I toned down the gas. You could tell it was way overgassed, it was throwing brass so far I couldn't find it.

[@raystephens2078]

I’ve had a Century conversion for years. I’m going to try the Hornady 125 grain SST lights soon to see how well they perform with the 11.5 LH twist. I’ve also installed and adjustable gas valve to try to get the rifle closer to the original 7.5x54 139 grain ammo. Your thoughts?

[@un4given830]

Has anyone in the comments tried reloading .308 Win/7.62 Nato with a lower powder charge to match the pressures typical of 7.5x54mm French?

[@ethan5.56]

Are the century conversion rifles any good? There’s one at my local gun store I’ve been eying

[@dant8234]

I think Century removed slightly more than 2 coils.

[@billsummy2412]

Nice , I would buy one :-)

[@kekolo56]

Nice F1 shirt!

[@jodc2760]

A 1948 pattern would have been better :)

[@thecozmo65]

I've been considering finding a 49-56 to purchase and the majority that I'm finding are converted rifles. Is it still a worthwhile purchase or should i try to find one thats still original 7.5. Mind that this wouldn't be a display piece. I would be wanting to shoot this rifle and. 308 would likely be cheaper and easier to find. Just looking for sone opinions.

[@johnstacy7902]

When I was in France back in 2012 I saw a couple of cops with Mas 49s..

[@blucz883]

*Makes book about french rifles* *Almoust every video is now about french rifles*

[@DC2022]

What a great time to read books and watch videos!

[@epsteindidntkillhimself4581]

Is it really wise to spoil your own book?

[@DC2022]

@@epsteindidntkillhimself4581 it's not like a TV show. With those videos you can associate action to words and anyway, I know that soldier MAS die at the end... And its succession didn't do better, diying even befor the end of the sequel, replaced by a foreigner with a strange accent trying to make us believing it is french. H&K416F, F for baguette.

[@Pitoumotorsport]

Moi je me demande ce que Davy Crocket fout avec un FSA49/56....

[@davidholman6276]

needs a larger magazine. looks weird without it

[@batickell]

Did the French ever consider issuing a larger mag for the MAS-49?

[@alexandermarinin7036]

Ian told they never did

[@DislodgedTKO]

Is this something where a handloader could self load 7.62x51 and use slightly less powder to reduce the chamber pressures etc? Would it help reliability? Help prevent breakages?

[@scott5913]

Wouldn't most of these issues be solved by restricting the gas port?

[@ForgottenWeapons]

Possibly, but at the cost of a whole new barrel. This was only justifiable if the conversion was relatively inexpensive.

[@ConnorMainwold]

Hey Ian does your book come with a like before you buy it you can check out maybe a few pages to see if you like it that would just be an interesting thing that I think I would be interested in checking out your book if I could check out a few pages from it to see if I would want it

[@NRJenzenJones]

You can see mock-up photos of a couple of double-page spreads on the Kickstarter page: www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/chassepot-to-famas-french-military-rifles-1866-201

[@THEAQUA3STYLE]

I know this will get lost cause this video is older but I have purchased a mas in the past few years and it miss fires a lot I have gotten many new pins for it but it will fire then hit the next round and not fire idk if it’s the spring but I feel like you’d be the only person who would know