- [Voiceover] Hey guys, it's Alex C with TFBTV
and for today's run and gun we're
going to be using a French MAS 36 rifle.
We've actually done a video on the MAS 36 in the past.
That kind of stemmed from an argument
I had with some people online
who were saying it was one of the worst
bolt action rifles ever fielded
and I didn't feel like this little rifle got due credit.
So, I did some research and basically made
a video explaining why I thought
it was not only not bad, but actually one
of, if not the best bolt action rifle
ever fielded from a military perspective.
I'll link to that in then end card
as well as in the description.
There's several features that make this just incredibly easy
to use and very fitting for a soldier of the time.
They had a bayonet that stowed very easily,
they cycle very quickly, and they had a modern,
rimless cartridge with a very short action.
With practice you can actually cycle
and maintain a sight picture too
and they're incredibly easy to use
with the stripper clips that come with them.
At the time they were also, had the ability
to share tooling with semi-automatic fire arms.
Optimal bolt handle placement also
means you can cycle them quickly.
Other great features like they're counterbored
so you can't intentionally damage the ground very easily.
They're rear locking for mud and sand resistance.
Simple and cheap to make.
They had a fixed rear aperture sight
so they couldn't really be knocked from zero.
Above all they are short, light, and very very handy.
These rifles were, they look crude, let's get real here.
They don't have a manual safety.
Soldiers were expected to carry
these without a round in the chamber
and just quickly bolt the rifle basically
to get one in their and get to business
if they saw an enemy or were engaging a target.
And these were used to great effect in World War II.
And after, of course, there was a 3651
that could launch rifle grenades and stuff like that.
I will say the one thing I don't like
from a hobbyist shooters perspective
is that if you want to change the windage
you actually do have to order a
rear sight leaf from somewhere like Numrich.
But that's not that big a deal
most of these come sighted pretty well realistically.
You didn't want soldiers to knock it from zero
and that's why they did that.
They wanted these to be effective
for basically getting the most
out of their dollar and they certainly did.
Let's take a look and see how it does
on the new and improved run and gun course
versus the old one which, was in a way, the original.
And we're going to do the same thing,
fire 25 shots with four reloads,
engaging at the targets starting at about 75 yards out.
Let's check it out.
- Alright, French M. A. S. or MAS 36, here we go.
(gun fire hitting metal)
- I like this little gun, let's go talk about it.
Alright guys, we've had very few perfect
run and guns since we've been doing this series.
And I believe I just got 25 out of 25.
I'll verify that and put the hits versus misses here.
But people always ask me if I could take
one bolt action to war what would it be?
And that's this one right here.
It's short, light, handy, great mud
and sand resistance, the clips work easy.
The one hiccup I had is actually a round
separated from one of the clips
so I had to single load one.
But still, you can work the action very fast
and damn I love these things.
Anyways, let's go back to the room and finish this one up.
- [Voiceover] So I think the results of
this run speak for themselves.
We've had very few 25 out of 25s
since we've been doing this whole run and gun thing.
And this one can rightfully take
its place near the top of the hierarchy of
bolt action rifles we've used for this.
Everything is just so well thought out.
It's the result of French learning
experiences in World War I and so on.
And everything comes together well.
It's quick to cycle, easy to run,
and it doesn't hurt that it's so fun to shoot.
Anyways guys, big thanks to Ventura Munitions.
We hope you enjoyed this.
Click the link in the end card here or in the description
again if you'd like to see our old MAS 36 video.
We'd also like to thank you for watching this one
and we really hope you enjoyed it
as much as I enjoyed shooting it.
See you next time.