French MAS Rifles in Syria, a Historical Perspective

This guest article is brought to us by Bruce Marduel, taking a look at the French MAS series of bolt action and semi-automatic rifles in service throughout Syrian history.

There are plenty of exotic and obsolete weapons in the Middle East, and ancient French weapons produced by Manufacture d’Armes de St-Etienne can be spotted regularly in Syria along with StG 44, Mosin-Nagant and other relics.

Most of the rifles produced for the French Army during the XXth century were produced by Manufacture d’Armes de St-Etienne (MAS) : from the bolt-action Fusil à répétition 7.5mm M.36 a.k.a MAS 36, to the Fusil d’Assaut de la Manufacture d’Armes de St-Etienne also called FAMAS. The MAS 36 equipped the French Army since the 1930’s, followed by MAS 49 and MAS 49/56 after WWII. These rifles have a very long service life both in France and overseas.

MAS 36 arrived in the Middle-East during the Mandates and Second World War, back then France ruled over Syria and Lebanon, and French troops used MAS 36. During WWII, the French authorities of the Regime de Vichy (allied with Nazi Germany) declared Lebanon independent in 1941, the decision was confirmed by Free France and Charles de Gaulle, so the country became independent after WWII. The armed forces from newly-independent Lebanon used MAS 36 as a standard-issue rifle until the 1950’s when FN FAL replaced them. Lebanese MAS were kept as a reserve rifle or sold on the civilian market, so that they are visible among militias during the 1958 troubles in Lebanon.

Civilian MAS 36 in Beirut, 1958

1958 unrest in Lebanon

The most significant shipment of MAS rifles to the Middle-East took place in the early 1950’s, when France delivered weapons to Syria : six-thousand « Syrian contract » MAS 49 (serial number F3XXXX), twelve-thousand MAS 36 and a production line for 7,5x54mm ammunition. Photos of the Syrian Independence Day show the subsequent evolution in the armament of Syrian troops from 1946 to 1966 :

1946 parade with WWI Lebel

1954 parade with MAS 36

1957 parade with MAS 36

When Syria got closer to the Eastern Bloc (Baath putsch in 1963, and pro-soviet wing takeover in 1966) the Syrian army abandoned french rifles and adopted Kalashnikov, as showed in the video of the 1966 parade.

Use in Syrian Civil War
.