Bolt Action Rifles. Wayne Zwoll

and action because I think this action is most interesting and unusual. To be sure, this action has some faults, but it also has some excellent features worthy of comment and consideration.

      It appears to be a very strong action. The two locking lugs are solid and massive. There is a lot of metal in the receiver bridge to support the lugs when the bolt is locked and there is no chance that these supporting shoulders will fail. Though the left side wall of the receiver has a thumb notch, there is ample metal connecting the receiver bridge to the ring. The receiver is strengthened further by the ridge of metal along each side and by the heavy walled integral magazine. There is little chance of the receiver parting in the middle even though the locking lugs are at the rear of the bolt. I cannot see how the receiver could “stretch,” and the very heavy bolt is certainly not going to compress when firing the rifle. For many years, the prevailing opinion has been that only a bolt action with at least two forward locking lugs is worth considering. If we consider the success of the fine Schultz & Larsen action, the Remington Model 788, the Steyr-Mannlicher SL and others with locking lugs at the rear of the bolt, then I can see nothing wrong with the MAS design. The MAS design also results in a shorter bolt travel (the reader may want to compare the action specifications in this book), and this may aid in speed of operation. An important result of this design is that the cartridges do not span any gap between the magazine and chamber, the resultant feeding being more positive and reliable.

      I believe the MAS M36 is also a very safe action because the front of the bolt is surrounded by a solid ring of steel when the bolt is locked, the bolt face nearly contacts the barrel, and the rim of the cartridge is almost fully enclosed; the rear of the bolt is entirely closed so that gases can’t escape.

      The bolt of the MAS is relatively short and the long receiver bridge gives considerable support resulting in little “play” or looseness of the bolt when the action is open. On the few rifles I have examined and handled, bolt operation was easy and smooth. I noticed too, that the actions were generally very well made and finished. I especially like the extractor of this action. It is simple and strong—modern designers of turnbolt actions might do well to copy it. I certainly would consider it better then some puny modern rifle extractors like those of the Remington M700 and Weatherby actions.

      As for the magazine box being made as part of the receiver, I have not decided whether I like this or not. The same goes for the two-piece stock design imposed by the “housing” type receiver. However, I have always admired the Model 99 Savage rifle with its exposed receiver, and I do not believe I’d mind the exposed MAS M36 receiver on a sporting rifle. To my way of thinking this receiver has rather nice lines, including those where the buttstock contacts the receiver. I like the magazine floorplate and the way it is released, although I’d rather have the floorplate fitted so it would be flush with the bottom of the magazine box.

      Bolt head of the M1936 MAS showing: (A) extractor, (B) cartridge head recess, (C) ejector slot and (D) bolt stop notch.

      Top view of M1936 MAS action.

      French Model 1916 Berthier carbine in 8mm Lebel caliber.

      I found the box magazine to be a marvel the way it will accept and feed a wide variety of cartridges. It will only handle cartridges about 3.0” in overall length, but many cartridges fall within these limits. For example, it will feed perfectly such cartridges as the 22-250, 25-3000, 243, 6mm, 257 Roberts, 7mm, 284, 308, 35 Remington and 358. All of these cartridges have a smaller rim diameter than the 7.5mm French cartridges and this would require that the rim recess in the bolt might have to be reduced in some manner, and the claw of the extractor made longer.

      The MAS M36 is an astonishingly simple action with a minimum of parts—fewer than any other high-powered turnbolt repeater of which I am aware. For example, this action has twelve fewer component parts than the M98 Mauser, which has fewer part than the 03 Springfield. The entire M36 bolt assembly consists of just five parts; bolt, extractor, firing pin, mainspring and bolt button. An action that has few parts is not always an indication it is good, but like any piece of machinery, fewer parts lessen the chance for breakdown.

      This action has no safety and that may be a strike against it—depending on one’s viewpoint. I can’t see how a safety could be incorporated in the bolt to lock both the bolt and firing pin, but a simple safety could be built into the trigger guard to lock the trigger.

      There is one thing I do not like about this action—the bolt handle. To keep the action and the rifle as compact as possible, the trigger and trigger guard were positioned well under the receiver bridge. Since the base of the bolt handle must be on the rear end of the bolt due to the bolt design, in order to keep the grasping ball from bruising the shooter’s finger it had to be arched forward. I haven’t found this bolt handle placement to be awkward or inconvenient when operating this action, but I don’t like the looks of it. So far, I’m still not used to the looks of the forward-bent bolt handles on the 600 Remington and 800 Mossberg rifles, but like the MAS M36, one should not mind the looks of the handle if the bolt is convenient to operate and is out of the way of the trigger finger.

      7.5mm MAS and Rechambering

      As previously mentioned, the 7.5mm French MAS (7.5x54mm) cartridge was introduced in 1929. It is a rimless bottlenecked cartridge nearly identical in appearance and ballistics to the 308 Winchester or 7.62mm NATO cartridges. The 7.5 indicates the caliber and bore diameter, which is .295”, and 54 indicates a case length of 2.12”. The overall length of the cartridge is about 3.00”. The standard military ball loading drives the 139-grain jacketed pointed bullet of .307” diameter at a muzzle velocity of 2674 fps.

      The above figures for the bore and bullet diameter show that the cartridge is very close to being a 30-caliber like our 308 and 30-06 which have a normal bore size of .300”, and normally use .308” bullets. The groove diameter of the 7.5mm MAS barrel runs about .3075” to .3085”, and has a rifling twist of one turn in 10”. In handloading this cartridge, regular .308” jacketed bullets can be used.

      The 7.5mm MAS cartridge was loaded only for military use and was Berdan primed. The problem presented to the handloader is that the 7.5mm case is an odd size, having a head diameter of about .481” compared to the .470” for the 30-06 case. The 7.5 MAS ammunition has always been very hard to obtain. I have heard that the best cartridge case to use in handloading the ammunition is the 6.5x55mm. However, I cannot vouch for this because I have never tried it.

      Sporterizing

      Since the end of WW II, military surplus arms dealers have imported and offered for sale many different bolt-action rifles. Most abundant of these have been the many models of the Mausers, Lee-Enfields and Carcanos. MAS M36 rifles seem to have been more scarce for I have not seen them advertised for sale for many years. There are, however, a sprinkle of them throughout the country, and I suspect that most of them were sent home by GIs who liberated them from the German Occupation Forces in France.

      Though I have never remodeled this rifle, and probably never will, if I had one in the days when I did much remodeling and rifle building, I probably would have approached the job with great enthusiasm. This is what I would have done: I’d replace the barrel with one 22” of sporter weight chambered for 257 Roberts or 7mm Mauser; fit a tapered forend of the Model 99 Savage rifle pattern; remove the military rear sight and base from the receiver and install a Lyman or Redfield receiver sight and a ramp front sight on the barrel, or mount a scope on the receiver using a Buehler blank base. I’d weld a strap to the front of the trigger guard to move it about 1” farther to the rear and make a similar tang extension on the receiver for the guard screw; the trigger would be altered, positioning it to the rear in the relocated trigger guard. A crossbolt safety in the rear of the trigger guard would lock the trigger and a new buttstock with a capped pistol grip and panels forward of the grip like the Model 99 Savage stock. With the trigger, trigger guard and grip located farther back