Thread: MAS 36/51
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Old August 30, 2012, 01:01 PM   #16
Mike Irwin
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Join Date: April 13, 2000
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 41,374
The 36 was the last bolt action rifle to be adopted as a standard service arm by any major power.

By the outbreak of war, the entire French army had been rearmed with rifles in 7.5x54 caliber. In that sense they did better than the Italians or the Japanese in getting new arms online.

Many of those rifles, however, were modified, rebarreled Betherier rifles in which the Mannlicher packet clip was replaced with a staggered, 5 round Mauser style magazine.

Moderately successful.

Troops from the colonies, however, including the Senegalese and Algerians, as well as the Foreign Legion, hadn't been rearmed and many were still carrying the 1886 Lebel rifle.
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