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7.5 X 54 French
When I shoot my mas 1949 the cases get very dirty. Is that just the way that particular rifle is or is somthing wrong. I use the load data that came with the Lee dies but they seem under powered compared to the loads in the book (Cartridges of the world 10th Edition.)
Lee data 150 grain bullet IMR 4895 max 36.0 gr. Vel. 2435
book data 150 grain bullet IMR 4895 48gr Vel 2800
book data to duplicate military ball
150 Grain bullet IMR 4831 54gr Vel 2680
Does anyone know a reloading manual that has this cal, in it?
Comments?
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Lee's manual has data for it. (150gr bullet, IMR4895 31-36grMAX.) Hodgedon's site probably has data for it, too, but it won't load for me right now.
There might be some hotter data out there for it, but no semiauto does well with hot loads and the MAS is no exception. This cartridge is no .308win, more like a .300sav. 2500fps with a 150gr bullet is a reasonable expectation for the MAS. If memory serves me well, mil ammo we found for it chrono'd close to that, but the dies and my loading notes went with the rifle. IMO this is not a rifle that should be fed a steady diet of rounds any hotter than that. Others may have more to say.
Even today's 7.62NATO mil ammo (around 2600fps in my M1A) doesn't come up to the power of older US mil ammo for the M14 (which actually was/is was in the 27-2800 range), and the MAS is a step below the NATO rounds.
I found the MAS to be dirty and very hard on brass, but functionally I was pretty impressed with its design. Accuracy was acceptable for a milsurp, but by no means outstanding in the example I had to work with. This was clearly no match rifle. I did not have the chance to do serious load development with it, only to work up a functional practice load so its owner could shoot it safely. I was only given a few hundred of the 147FMJ mil pulls he bought in bulk for it to work with, no decent hunting or match bullets. I only had time to try 4895 across its functional envelope, and with those bullets it did its best right in the middle of the charge range. Yours may have a different opinion. Keep us posted.
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