MAS 49/56 .308 Question

[baseballcoach]

Hello,

I was just in Las Vegas visiting some of my toys from the 1989 banned list and I ran across a very nice MAS 49/56 308 rifle I forgot I even owned. I have no need for this gun since is shoot AR-10's and M1A's, but I read that these MAS are illegal in the PRC with the grenade launcher and others have said the flash hider is illegal.

I'm wondering if it's easier / better to sell it on GB in it's original state, or pull the GL off and sell it here as a C&R. I've been told if the gun was altered it loses it's C&R catagory, but I thought I'd ask here first to get the lowdown.

Thanks for your help.

[The Gleam]

It's legal with the grenade launcher removed (and it's unlikely you'll ever find the grenades it ever shot to utilize the system). If you remove the adjustable set-ring for the grenade base, and the grenade sight, it's not an issue.

Also, most all of the muzzle brakes I have seen are exactly that; the small holes are in the top, and if you have ever shot one of these, they hide no flash at all. The original references did not refer to them as flash-hiders, so the stock muzzle brake may be used. If you are worried about it, you can swap it out to an aftermarket muzzle brake.

Everything else about the rifle is no different in set-up than a Mini-14, M1A, Kel-Tec SU16A, or featureless AR or AK. It's not on the Roberti-Roos list, and nothing about it other than the grenade launcher system denotes banned features.

I have a couple of them, both in 7.5 French; purchased them both here in CA in the past decade, and have never had an issue at the range or otherwise with legality.

[aghauler]

Hello,

I was just in Las Vegas visiting some of my toys from the 1989 banned list and I ran across a very nice MAS 49/56 308 rifle I forgot I even owned. I have no need for this gun since is shoot AR-10's and M1A's, but I read that these MAS are illegal in the PRC with the grenade launcher and others have said the flash hider is illegal.

I'm wondering if it's easier / better to sell it on GB in it's original state, or pull the GL off and sell it here as a C&R. I've been told if the gun was altered it loses it's C&R catagory, but I thought I'd ask here first to get the lowdown.

Thanks for your help.

If its one of the Century Arms MAS 49/56 in 7.62 Nato it's already altered anyway. It's a shooter grade firearm not necessarily a collector firearm. CAI did that to sell them things here cuz they didn't have a ready access for the 7.5 ammo. The ammo showed up sometime later. I had one, it had "issues", cases would stick and it fired out of battery, darn near took my hand off as I was closing the bolt, so I returned it for a refund. That was before they were illegal in in Kommifornica.

[m1a1driver]

i wouldnt buy it, took a LOT of work and $ to get mine running right, had to buy an adjustable gas system (only 1 guy in the country makes em in his garage) and had to get a new recoil spring, polish the chamber. got it working but then sold it after I bought another .308 gun.

[baseballcoach]

Thanks for the help and advice. It sounds like it's not worth the effort to remove all of the parts to make it legal in calif, so I guess I'll sell it on GB to someone out of state. BTW, when I bought this gun, I polished the chamber because of all the complaints I heard of ejecting and this gun runs flawlessly.

Thanks again for the help.

[Grendl]

But it's REALLY easy to remove the grenade launcher. If the thing shoots reliably, please dont' ship it out of CA. Take 15 minutes, remove the launcher, and sell it to me :-D