There is a joke that has been widely circulated on the Internet and asks: How should a Frenchman write an advertisement if he wants to sell his second-hand **? The answer is: it was an almost brand new gun that had never been fired, but one day in June 1940, I threw it on the ground.
The joke is undoubtedly a mockery of France, but there is also a hint of truth. Because France did have a rifle, and its fate was the same as the gun in this joke, and that was the MAS-36 rifle.
The MAS-36 rifle is a bolt-action rifle developed by France after the First World War, using 75x54 mm bottomless rim shells. The design of the gun was very simple, with few parts, low manufacturing costs, high reliability, and did not distinguish between rifles and cavalry guns, unifying the equipment standards of the French army. The gun's bayonet is also unique in that it can be stored in a handguard for easy carrying and use. However, the gun also has some drawbacks, such as the lack of a safety mechanism, and the short stock makes it easy to recoil when firing.
The development of the MAS-36 rifle began in 1921, when France found itself behind the times in its armament. France used the Lebel M1886 rifle during World War I, a bolt-action rifle with an 8x50 mm bottom-rim round, designed by French Colonel Nicolas Lebel, and was the first rifle in the world to use smokeless gunpowder. The ballistic performance and lethality of the gun were very advanced at the time, and even panicked Germany, forcing Germany to improve its Mauser 1871 rifle and introduce the M1888 commission rifle, which is known as the "Hanyang-made" and "old sleeve".
Although the Lebel M1886 rifle has excellent performance, it also has some flaws, mainly the design of the ammunition. The 8x50 mm ammunition has a large bottom rim, which makes the design of the magazine difficult, and the taper of the cartridge case is relatively large, which is not conducive to loading and discharge. These problems were especially evident in the French Shocha light machine gun, which used a special magazine, which was oddly shaped and prone to jamming and malfunctioning.
To solve these problems, France began to develop a new ammunition, the 75x54 mm bottomless rim shells. This ammunition has a more rational body shape, better ballistic performance, and no bottom edge, which facilitates magazine design and reloading. With the new ammunition, France needed a new rifle to use it. Initially, France intended to develop a semi-automatic rifle, but due to the excessive inventory during the First World War, it was impossible to replace it all at once, so it decided to develop a bolt-action rifle first, and then gradually replace it after the semi-automatic rifle was developed. This is where the MAS-36 rifle came from.
The development of the MAS-36 rifle did not go well, due to the confusion of the plans and financial difficulties, the design was not completed until 1936, and mass production began in 1938. By the time France surrendered in June 1940, only about 250,000 MAS-36 rifles had been produced, far from meeting the needs of the French army. Most of the French soldiers still use the Lebel M1886 rifle, and even some use the 19th century Grasse rifle. These old ** looked powerless in the face of the German blitzkrieg. The French resistance soon collapsed, and a large number of ** were captured by the Germans, including MAS-36 rifles. That's why it was said that the MAS-36 rifle was a gun that was never **, but was thrown on the ground at the time of surrender.
Of course, this is just an exaggeration, in fact, the MAS-36 rifle still has some combat records. The MAS-36 rifles were still relatively common in the Free French troops, having fought in North Africa, Italy and France, as well as at military parades in London. After the end of World War II, the MAS-36 rifle also went to Vietnam with the French ** team and participated in the First Indochina War. However, the results of these wars were not very satisfactory for France, and the MAS-36 rifle did not show any outstanding results, but was captured by the Vietnamese army in large numbers, and even by the American army again.
The MAS-36 rifle was a gun with a tragic fate, and there was nothing wrong with its design itself, and it could even be said to be a good rifle, but due to the strategic mistakes of France and the changes in the war, it did not get the play it should have, but became a symbol of ridicule. Perhaps, it was really just a gun that was never **, just thrown on the ground when it surrendered.