page_title: MAS-49 rifle
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: MAS-49 rifle / History
caption_attribution_description: 133 C/C Chauvet (Caporal de relève) montrant un MAS 49/56 (FSA) devant le poste de police. 9/5.
context_page_description: The MAS-49 is a French semi-automatic rifle that replaced various bolt action rifles as the French service rifle that was produced from 1949. It was designed and manufactured by the government-owned MAS arms factory. The French Army formal designation of the MAS-49 is Fusil semi-automatique 7 mm 5 M. 49.
  The MAS-49 semi-automatic rifle was produced in limited quantities, whereas the shorter and lighter variant, the MAS-49/56, was mass manufactured and issued to all branches of the French military. Overall, the MAS-49 and 49/56 rifles gained the reputation of being accurate, reliable and easy to maintain in adverse environments. All the MAS-49 and 49/56 rifles feature a rail on the left side of their receivers to accommodate a designated rifle scope.
  The MAS-49 and MAS-49/56 were replaced as French service rifles by the FAMAS assault rifle in 1979.
context_section_description: The MAS-49 arrived after a series of small, distinct design improvements. Today, this might be termed spiral development, where small elements are changed with successive models, rather than large significant changes.  This French semi-automatic rifle evolved from the prototype MAS-38/39 and from the MAS-40, and lastly from the post-war MAS-44 and its minor variants 44A, 44B and 44C.  Although 50,000 MAS-44 rifles were ordered in January 1945, only 6,200 were delivered to the Marine Nationale.  The MAS-49 was formally adopted by the French Army in July 1949. 
  As a service rifle, it replaced the diverse collection of aging bolt-action rifles (MAS-36, Lee–Enfield No4, M1903A3 Springfield, U.S. M1917, Berthier, and K98k) that were in French service after the end of World War II. It saw significant service with French troops in the latter stages of the First Indochina War, as well as during the Algerian War and the Suez Crisis.
  An improved version called the MAS-49/56 was introduced in 1957 and incorporated lessons learned from service in Algeria, Indochina, and the Suez Crisis. The rifle was shortened and lightened to improve mobility for mechanized and airborne troops, and a knife bayonet was added. The MAS-49 built-in rifle grenade launcher was replaced by a combination compensator/rifle grenade launcher that fired NATO-standard 22mm rifle grenades. The rifle also incorporates an integral grenade launching sight that is attached to the front sight block and a gas cutoff that prevents gas from entering the gas tube from the gas port when firing grenade launching blank ammunition.
  Attempts were made to replace the MAS-49, in the form of the MAS-54 and the FA-MAS Type 62, both 7.62×51mm NATO battle rifles, but neither were successful. The MAS-49/56 ended production in 1978 and was replaced with the 5.56×45mm NATO caliber FAMAS bullpup assault rifle. The MAS-49/56 was withdrawn from service in 1990. Whereas only 20,600 MAS-49 were manufactured, the MAS-49/56 was mass-produced, attaining a total of 275,240 rifles issued between 1957 and 1978.
caption: A French corporal showing a MAS-49/56, in 1976.
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