Bought some new guns

[Jcordell]

Don't tell anybody this, but I actually rather like the Berthier and the Lebel. There is just something about them that appeals to me. Like the English bulldog. so ugly it's good looking.

[S&Wshooter]

Originally Posted by Jcordell

Don't tell anybody this, but I actually rather like the Berthier and the Lebel. There is just something about them that appeals to me. Like the English bulldog. so ugly it's good looking.

The French blood flowing through my veins cries for a Lebel or MAS 36

[Nyles]

The Lebel and the Berthier do have a certain Gallic flair, espescially with 20 inches of Rosalie bayonet on the end of them! And the MAS I think is a wonderfully practical little battle rifle - I had a postwar one for awhile and I'm very much in the market for a WW2-era example.

[Jcordell]

I'm getting closer and closer to buying that British Contract Official Police (38/200) with 5" barrel (mfd. 1941). It's been almost eight years since I first saw that sucker. It's finally been released from the evidence locker the case has been adjudicated and the suspect is in prison so the gun can be released. I figure you can appreciate this one Nyles. It's been a long haul. But it's worth it. They aren't very common.

[Nyles]

Absolutely they're not! Post pictures if you do!

So, speak of the devil, I just bought a 1939 production MAS-36. Pictures when it arrives.

On a non firearms related note, I just started a pretty cool (and higher paying) job as a fraud investigator with a major insurance company. So goodbye Cabelas, hello Great West Life!

[Jcordell]

I've met a few insurance investigators over the years. Pretty sharp folks who don't have to deal with the politics and social issues of police work. Better paid also. Stay safe.

[S&Wshooter]

Originally Posted by Nyles

Absolutely they're not! Post pictures if you do!

So, speak of the devil, I just bought a 1939 production MAS-36. Pictures when it arrives.

On a non firearms related note, I just started a pretty cool (and higher paying) job as a fraud investigator with a major insurance company. So goodbye Cabelas, hello Great West Life!

Have been reading "Devil's Guard", and it makes me want one more. Would be on the list if I had any clue how to get ammo for it or find one to handle

[Nyles]

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.

[Nyles]

Picked this up on a whim at Cabela's yesterday - not an especially valuable or collectible gun, but it's a great example of what used to be a very popular gun and priced very right at $80. It's an old Belgian import side by side, with dual triggers, external hammers and no ejectors. Pretty much your stereotypical working man's farm or duck gun from the late 19th / early 20th century. This one was made between 1893 and WW1 by the proofs, and marked "The Interchangable" with no maker - pretty typical of what you might have ordered out of the Sears or Eatons catalogue around the turn of the last century. It's in great external shape, unmessed with as so few of these are, and actually has a fluid steel barrel so it's safe to shoot with modern ammo. That said its a little loose, so I'm going to be sticking to light target loads, but should make a fun vintage skeet gun. Also fits nicely into my Irish War of Independence collection, as it's pretty typical of the shotguns many IRA local battalions were largely armed with (captured British rifles being reserved largely for the active service Flying Columns).

[Excalibur]

Here it is guys. I am picking a red dot for it as well as waiting for the 30 round magazines to get in the mail. To be clear. That is not a stock attached. It's legally a cheek brace. But if this were to be shouldered, the length of pull on the KAK tube is actually a bit longer than I thought. I might get a shorter one since this came with the buffer tube kit.