MAS rifle

[Pressman]

I found a MAS, French military style rifle at a gunshow yesterday. Really nice condition and I want it. But the $800 asking price is way outside of my budget.

Not having seen one before I thought to ask here first if anyone has experience with it?

Ken

[Eddie Southgate]

Not in a rimfire I haven't . I have the 7.5 mm Mas36 bolt gun I bought a number of years back , it's very neat and very handy . If you are talking about the Mas 45 they look nice on GB but I haven't had one in my hands . There is one on there with the bid still under $400 at the moment and a couple asking over $1000 .

[Slugster]

I have seen MAS rifles converted to .308 Win/7.62x51mm. They have had an insert placed in the chamber and reamed for the cartridge change. Both that I have seen had extraction problems. Would watch out for those.

[Pressman]

Mr Southgate, it is the 45. It's massive rifle for a 22. Must weigh in at 8 pounds. There's a lot of steel in the receiver with attractive military styling.

[gewehrfreund]

That's way too much for a MAS45. You should be able to find one for around $400 or less, if you are patient.

Having said that, I paid $450 for mine, but it is a Mauser/Mas dual stamped 45A, so it is a rarer version with walnut stock and hard rubber buttplate that I HAD to have.

They're nice rifles (of course they are, they're German designed and they also made the very first ones!), but the pre-war German 22 sporters and the DSM34 paramilitary trainer are really better made and finished.

[Forrest r]

I've had a unissued mas 45 laying around for years now. Still has the cosmoline still on it. Probably never will clean it and shoot it.
[IMG][/IMG]

I've owned the dsm34's in the past, IMHO there nothing special. The mas 45's are well thought out and have a set of front sights that ranged from 00 to 30 in increments of 5 with the 00 sight being the shortest. The dms 34's had only 1 front sight for them. The dms 34 was a single shot & the mas 45 has 5 round mags. The dms 34 was designed to have the "feel" of the mauser 98's and were designed to train people how to use the 98's. The mas 45 was designed to teach marksmanship.

The mas 45 was a spinoff of the 300 series of the mauser target rifle. A picture of a mauser es340b target rifle that I own.
[IMG][/IMG]

Those target mausers gave the world all they could handle in competitions in the 1930's. Winchester came out with the model 52's to compete with the mausers. The sight on the left is a #15 for the mas 45 rifles. The sight on the right is a #15 for the mauser es340b target rifle.
[IMG][/IMG]

[gnoahhh]

I've owned a couple MAS 45's and rank them as one of the best military .22 trainers. The funky receiver configuration doesn't lend them well to "sporterizing" if the goal is to create an elegant scoped rifle, but it can be done. Would I choose one over a M52, Springfield M2, or even a Savage M19-33NRA? Nope, but I would have another one nonetheless. $800 is waaay too much for one today.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

That's a very nice looking rifle, Forrest r.

[Eddie Southgate]

Looks pretty nice Pressman . Keep looking and you will find one in a price range you want to pay .

[Pressman]

Finding one would be nice, for sure. I like the style of the MAS better than the Mausers I have seen personally. It's a heavy rifle, really feels like a real gun. And it would look great next to the Romanian Cuiger and the Model 19 Savage.

[wv109323]

The MAS 45 is a solid rifle and are known for their accuracy. Mounting a scope is really tough. B-square made a mount but long since discontinued. Trigger needs work to make it lighter. A lot were used in rimfire silhoutte. I paid $189 for mine about 1985 and it was unfired. For 800 I would look at other rifles, Anshultz 164 or Browning A bolt to mention a few.

[1Hawkeye]

The MAS 45 is a pretty good and accurate .22 rifle they are built like a tank but his price is about double what one is worth. I sold mine last year to a dealer for 450 but it was in premo condition with the sling and 10 spare magazines plus he wanted it for himself and was going to sell the spare mags to get his cost down. Those mags are bringing about 50 bucks in some areas now.

[old woody]

The MAS 45 is a well built rifle. I've had a couple, wish I hadn't sold them. Having said that $400-500 is plenty to pay for one.