Bolt Action Rifles. Wayne Zwoll

groove in the cartridge head. A small round stud under the front of the extractor fits into a matching hole in the bolt; this prevents longitudinal movement of the extractor in the bolt.

      The solid, dual-opposed locking lugs, about 1.75” from the rear of the bolt body, engage in dual raceways and shoulders milled inside the heavy receiver bridge. The raceways are inclined on the shoulder approaches and provides camming action to draw the bolt forward as the bolt is closed and the handle is turned down.

      The bolt handle is an integral part of a collar at the rear of the bolt—the collar is also part of the bolt. The bolt handle stem is round and tapers to the round, hollow grasping ball—the stem is bent forward and down. When the bolt is closed, the collar closes all openings at the rear of the receiver. A raised portion on the collar is beveled to match a similar surface on the left rear of the receiver, and provides the initial extraction power on raising the bolt handle. On moving the bolt forward to close the action, these surfaces impart initial turning motion to the bolt.

      The bolt is drilled from the rear to accept the one-piece hollow firing pin. The collar at the rear of the bolt is milled to accept the bolt closure button. This button has two lugs, and the inside of the collar is milled leaving shoulders and recesses so the button is locked in place when it is rotated after insertion. There is a rod projecting forward out of the bolt button and the small coil mainspring is compressed over this rod as it extends into the hollow firing pin.

      The rear underside of the bolt body, just forward of the bolt collar, is milled to form a cocking cam surface. The cocking cam on the rear of the firing pin fits into this notch. The cocking cam extends below the bolt body into a groove cut into the receiver, and has a notch to engage the sear. On raising the bolt handle, the firing pin is forced back until the cocking cam slips onto a flat spot on the end of the camming surface. On closing the bolt, the sear engages the cocking cam and holds the firing pin back as the bolt is fully closed and locked.

      The sear is positioned in a groove below the receiver bridge and is held in place by, and pivots on a pin. Tension is provided by a stiff coil spring. A projection on the rear of the sear protrudes through a hole in the receiver to engage the cocking cam of the firing pin. The trigger is pivoted on a pin in the sear.

      Underside of M1936 MAS bolt showing: (A) twin gas vent holes in the bolt stop groove, (B) center gas vent hole, (C) dual-opposed locking lugs and (D) cocking cam.

      The combination bolt-stop/ejector fits partially inside the sear, partially over the trigger, and pivots on the pin with the trigger. The front of the bolt-stop/ejector projects upward through a hole in the receiver and is provided upward tension by a small coil spring between it and the sear. A narrow inclined groove is cut into the bottom of the bolt, extending into the bolt face recess for the narrow ejector. A wider groove is cut beside it for the bolt-stop, but this groove ends abruptly about ¼” from the head of the bolt. The bolt-stop is released (to remove the bolt) by pulling the trigger back as far as it will go. The bolt-stop/ejector, riding in the grooves, also acts as a bolt guide when the bolt is operated and prevents the bolt from turning as it is drawn back.

      Two gas vent holes in the front of the bolt-stop groove effectively take care of any gases that enter the firing pin hole by venting them rearward through the thumb notch in the left receiver wall. If this is not enough, there is another hole, in about the center of the bolt, to vent any gases getting back this far into the magazine. The firing pin, bolt and bolt button are constructed to make gas escape impossible through the rear of the bolt. There is no danger of the firing pin or button ever being blown out of the bolt.

      The trigger guard bow is a separate part and a hook at the front engages a groove in the rear wall of the magazine box. The buttstock is clamped between the trigger guard bow and receiver by the guard screw threading into the receiver tang. The rear of the magazine housing is hollowed out slightly, and the tenon on the front of the buttstock fits into this hollow to help secure the stock to the receiver and prevent it from splitting.

      As mentioned before, the four walls of the magazine box are an integral part of the receiver housing. The walls are quite thick (about .090”) and reinforced in spots. A machined, hollow floorplate fits in the bottom of the magazine box. It is held in place by a lip at the rear of the plate engaging in a groove in the magazine box and by a push-button latch on the front engaging in a groove at the front of the right magazine wall. A conventional steel follower and W-shaped follower spring are used. The ends of the spring are mortised into the follower and floorplate.

      Operation

      The MAS M36 rifle operates like most other staggered-column box magazine bolt-action rifles. The bolt handle is raised and drawn back to open the action. With the bolt open, the magazine is loaded by pressing single cartridges directly into the magazine, or placing a loaded stripper clip in the clip-charger and pressing the cartridges into the magazine. The bolt is then pushed forward, feeding the topmost cartridge from the magazine into the chamber. Turning the bolt handle down locks the cartridge in the chamber. The action is left cocked when the bolt handle is turned down, and pulling the trigger will release the firing pin to discharge the cartridge. The rifle cannot be fired unless the bolt handle is nearly all the way down and the bolt locked. On opening the bolt the fired case will be extracted and ejected from the action—the cycle can then be repeated. The rear of the follower is beveled and does not prevent the bolt from closing when the magazine is empty. The magazine can be unloaded by removing the floorplate. There is no safety, but the bolt handle fully raised makes an effective safety.

      Takedown and Assembly

      Make sure the chamber and magazine are empty. Remove the buttstock by turning out the trigger guard screw. Pull the trigger guard from the stock and away from the receiver, and pull the stock back and down from the receiver. Remove the forend and handguard by turning the cross screw out of the front barrel band and pulling the band forward. Turn out the screw from the middle barrel band and remove it, then lift off the forend and handguard. Reassemble in reverse order.

      Remove the bolt by raising the bolt handle and drawing the bolt to the rear as far as it will go; pull the trigger back all the way and then remove the bolt. To disassemble the bolt, grasp it in the left hand and, with the right thumb, depress the bolt button and turn it clockwise ¼-turn or until it snaps out. The bolt button, mainspring and firing pin can then be removed from the bolt. Reassemble as follows: insert the firing pin in the bolt with the cocking cam lug resting on the flat spot of the cocking cam. Insert the mainspring and bolt button, aligning the left index mark on the bolt button with the index mark on the bolt. Press the button all the way into the bolt or until it can be rotated counterclockwise ¼-turn.

      The extractor can be removed using a screwdriver and lifting its front end up, away from the bolt, until the extractor can be pulled forward and out of the bolt. Reassemble in reverse order.

      Depress the button on the right front of the floorplate and pull it, along with the spring and follower, from the magazine box. The follower and floorplate can then be pulled off the ends of the follower spring. In reassembling, the narrow end of the follower spring goes into the follower. To remove the floorplate latch and spring, drive the small latch retainer pin from the floorplate.

      Remove the trigger assembly by driving out the sear pin, then pull down on the rear of the sear until it is free of the receiver. The trigger pin can then be driven out to separate trigger, bolt-stop/ejector and bolt-stop/ejector spring from the sear. Reassemble in reverse order.

      The barrel is threaded (right-hand threads) tightly into the receiver and it should not be removed unless necessary, and then only if you have the proper tools.

      Markings

      The French MAS Model 1936 rifles are boldly marked with the designation MASM LE 1936 stamped on the left side of the receiver. The serial number is stamped below the designation marking, as well as on the floorplate and on the stem of the bolt handle. Various French proofmarks and inspector’s marks are stamped on the receiver ring and the breech end of the barrel.

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