Prvi Partizan loads 7.5 x 54mm MAS (interestingly, it was 7.5 x 58mm until someone accidentally loaded an 8mm Mauser round into a Chatellerault LMG in trials...). It's pretty widely available online here, I'd assume the States as well.
I picked up my MAS-36 from the post office today. It's in just OK shape (forget that "never fired, dropped once" BS) but very shootable, and most importantly its a real WW2-era example. There are only minor differences, like having front sight ears instead of a hood, different rear sight, and different barrel band, but I wanted one actually use in the Battle of France.
I think the MAS, sort of like the Carcano M91/38, is a wonderfully practical battle rifle that gets a bad reputation because it's judged too much from a civilian shooter perspective. It's short (4" shorter than a 98K) and handy, though not light with that big steel box of a receiver. The sights are very quick to adjust and use - they're large, so they pick up well and you can see them in low light, but not great for fine precision shooting. I personally think being able to hit a man sized target at 50 yards in low light is a lot more important than at 400 yards in good light in a battle rifle - that's what machine guns are for.
The weird swept forward bolt handle makes sense when you realise it was intended to put it in the same position it had been on every other French rifle since 1866 - easier to retrain. The stock is short, because most soldiers would be wearing a heavy uniform coat when shooting it. The reversible bayonet under the barrel is a super clever design and is one less thing the soldier had to carry. It doesn't have a safety, because if you're not in combat, why have a round in the chamber? And if you are, why have the safety on?
Really, the only thing I can criticise about it is that the two piece stock and forend aren't as secure as the ones on the Lee-Enfield or even the Lebel. Most of the MAS-36s have I've handled over the years have had a slight wobble in one or the other, this one being no exception. However, they've all had over 60 years of shrinkage in the wood, and no armorer attention since at least the 60s, so I wonder how much this would have been an issue in service.
