Cabinetman

Any resolution to your problem? Rome

I like them better than "Cheaper Than Dirt". Prices seem to be more competitive although not always. Plus, SG has some really funky rules about what they will and won't ship to certain states. I live in CT and, while I could buy ammo, bayonets, and gun kits, I can't by a folding knife. Don't ask me why. They're just weird about stuff like that. Rome

I still remember when the MAS 49/56 hit our shores. They were sooooo inexpensive. A lot of places were selling the on a "two-for" basis and they came with a heavy plastic package with night sights, cleaning kits, and other accessories. Quite a bargain. If you have two still in the box, you've got yourself quite a deal as their prices have double or even tripled over the years. The CAI conversions were pretty agressive and some times poorly done. At the time they were introduced, the internet was ramping up and a lot of mis-information about these rifles was being posted up on bulletin boards and new forums. I'd estimate that a healthy percentage of the 49/56 had issues...probably in the 5-8% range but no more than 10%. Bad news travels fast. The rest worked fine or just had rough chambers. I loved them very much with the exception of the limited 10 round mags and the relatively rough rear sights. They're similar to the M1 Garand with the peep but they just didn't have that sophistication of the Garand being a shorter rifle, too. But I ran mine all the time and I fell in love with the NATO caliber. It's a rugged, attractive ( I think so), reliable rifle and quite accurate. If you're going to build ammo for it, just be careful of the primers. That bolt slams home with some authority and the firing pin could surprise you with a slam fire. They have been reported over the years although weren't that prevelant. Tear down an SA round and see if you can duplicate the powder with modern stuff. Rome

I've owned all of the French semi-auto rifles including a couple of MAS 49/56 that CAI converted to 7.62 x 51. Of course the French, themselves, were investigating that conversion and actually made some of their rifles in that caliber before they decided to abandon it. CAI decided to mimic them and converted quite a few of the surplus they bought. They also left a number of them in the original 7.5 French. Obviously 7.62 x 51 is a lot easier to find and it has ballistics that are very close to the 7.5 original cartridge. A number of the early conversions were done poorly and became "clubs" after a few rounds. Later efforts were more successful and it would appear that you have one. A long while back there was a lot of discussion about adding a gas valve. Frankly, if the rifle works then why make any alterations? Regarding your ammo for it, I would hesitate to use anything but surplus in that rifle. That SA you've got is excellent stuff. I shoot a lot of it myself. The reasons are that the pressures and burn rates in the surplus are different than commercial ammo. Cases in surplus are heavier, too, and work well in the loose tolerance military chambers. In addition, the primers are much harder in the surplus ammo. Softer, commercial primers are subject to slam fires, espeically in the MAS family of rifles. These rifles are beasts; military firearms and designed to run a certain way in all kinds of environments. Unless you could find heavy brass cases, hard military-style primers and a ball powder that burned with the same pressures as surplus 7.62 x 51, I would be careful. Commercial ammo has also been known to break extractors. Just my 2 cents. Rome Left to right MAS 36 MAS 44 MAS 49 MAS 49/56

The offset pin is one way to make 'em work. I actually had a ferrule that was drilled on the eccentric and slipped into the hole. In otherwords, if you looked at it from the end, the hole was drilled off to one side which would space the upper and lower back and forth until you got 'em right. Once they met properly, I secured the ferrule with a special adhesive so it wouldn't move. My biggest concern is that the damage shown on that buffer head is pretty severe meaning that the front pin holes in the lower must be way off. This is something I had not read about when anyone discussed DPMS quality. And, it might not be a sloppy fit at all. It most probably is miss drilled but nice and tight. Again, the test will be closing it onto the rear pin. That bolt must kiss that buffer. If it doesn't than the result is precisely what he's got. I'm shocked......shocked that the pin hasn't been sheared yet. I went through two before I realized the problem. BTW is there ANY gap at the rear between the upper and lower? In examining my rifle, it seems to me that if there was a drilling issue, there would be a gap. The upper won't allow an error as it's just too close. The lower, however, could have had the holes drilled .005 too far toward the back. The telling sign will be a tiny but still noticable gap between the upper and lower and, of course, the lack of that "kiss" I mentioned. Rome Rome

Tacblade has the solution. I experienced this with an AR I had built. The upper and lower were not properly aligned because I was combining a big-hole upper with a small-hole lower. While the rifle would assemble, there was too much slop in the front hole, even with the shim I had installed. So, when you put the two together, the buffer face didn't "kiss" the rear of the bolt. That allowed the buffer to continuously whack against its "keeper pin". Eventually.....usually after five or six shots, the buffer would just blast past the keeper, shearing it off. Here's how to check. Make sure that the bolt is fully forward. Now open the rear pin of your rifle and allow the two halves to separate. Now slowly close the rifle back together and watch to see if the buffer face just "kisses" the rear of the bolt assembly as they just come together. That "kiss" moves the buffer face back away from the lower keeper pin. If they don't kiss, every time your fire and the bolt bashes the buffer back and on recoil, on the return the buffer is slamming into the keeper pin at the bottom. It should NEVER touch that pin unless you open the rifle by removing the rear pin. That keeper pin's job is to keep the buffer from springing out at you when you do take out the rear pin and separate the two halves. Your upper and lower can't be in spec if this is happening. Something is out of whack. I only takes a few thousanths for this to occur. Rome

Your best bet will be a basement window from HD or one of the other home improvement centers. The glass isn't just doubled but the air is evacuated from between them and some other gas, like argon, is pumped in. That sealed airgap is what produces the insulating effect. Without that, every time it got below freezing the interior of the glass would frost up. Be careful dissasembling the store-bought window so you don't break the seal between the panes. Your cats are lucky. Rome

After being "gifted" with an Army 2 point tactical sling from a soldier buddy of mine, I was SOLD on it. I've been shooting for years with a "hasty sling" setup on all my military rifles. Now that I've tried the 2 point tactical sling, I'm sold on it and have one on all my modern rifles. It allows you to sling the rifle, muzzle down and walk easily but if you need to bring it up quickly, it snaps into your shoulder and is ready to fire on a moment's notice. You can also easily sling it up, muzzle up, in a traditional method without any effort at all. Finally, you can leave it horizontal on your body and the weight is distributed nicely along your shoulders. In that configuration it and also be snapped into place quickly. I LOVE these slings. They make a 12 pound rifle almost as easy to handlle as the much lighter AR15. You can find them by different manufacturers out there for under $40 if you look. Mine is a Blackhawk . Hope that helps. Rome

I've got a Gissele trigger in my rifle. It fit perfectly so any AR-15 aftermarket trigger should work. Just make sure that the spring on the hammer is the correct 'way round. It will work both ways but if it's backwards, you'll get strikes but too light to light a round off. Ask me how I know ::) One of the best mods you can do to this rifle is trigger work, imho. Rome

Hope you ordered the correct front sight. The BUIS setups are nortoriously poorly described and because of the lower gas block on these rifles, the set you ordered has to be able to accomodate that difference. Don't throw away the wrappers! LOL I got a set from ProMag that worked perfectly as it's designed to be used on different planes unlike most other sets that are designed to be used on the same plane like on flat-top AR-15 rifles. Other than that you've got a good setup coming. I'm glad I bought the 18" barrel but with I might have elected the standard diameter one instead of the bull barrel. It's uber accurate but a bit on the heavy side. Not worth replacing at this point but maybe sometime in the future. Have a great time! Rome

Duh. I didn't think of checking Fulton. Thanks for that info. I don't know if saving one pound or so would make enough of a difference to go through the expense of swapping barrels. I bought the bull barrel to help keep the rifle accurate even under multiple rounds. I know that my AR-15 pencil barrels get really hot if you shoot them rapidly. The bull barrel doesn't get as warm as quickly. Plus, I'd have to invest in the barrel wrench and vice jig to do it properly not to mention having it headspaced again. This rifle is just so accurate and reliable that I just think I'm going to endure it as it is. I know I've read about some configurations that are a full two pounds lighter but they were using skeleton stocks (something I can't have unless it's fixed) and even then I prefer tha balance that the A2 stock gives to the barrel. BTW I've got a Gissele trigger in it and THAT makes this already accurate rifle amazingly easy to shoot. Thanks for the posts, fellas. I do appreciate it. Rome

Hi all. I've got an LR308b from DPMS and it's uber accurate. I elected the bull barrel at 18" over a standard barrel thinking that it wouldn't be about the same weight as a 20" standard barrel over all. The rifle weights in at a little over 9 pounds. It's pretty well balanced and shooting off hand with a 2 point tactical sling keeps it pretty well tamed and plugged into my shoulder. I'm wondering, however, that if I should go with an 18" standard barrel with a comp. The 18" bull barrel I have has no comp and I'd like to have one now that I've got some time on this rifle. So, would swapping my 18" bull for an 18" standard barrel with a comp save me any measurable weight? Rome

Thanks. I've been around for a while on Parallax and Gunboards as well as the AR15 forums. I've been drawn to the 'AR-10' type platform for a while and there isn't a lot of info out there about it. I hope that this forum will continue to stay active in this arena. My DPMS LR308b rifle is now my "go-to" rifle for a lot of reasons. Rome

Hi all. This is my first post at this forum so please be kind! LOL I've got a DPMS LR308B and have been shooting only 7.62 x 51 surplus through it exclusively. The chamber was cut for .308 Win but I, too, bought this rifle to burn up my surplus which I've collected for quite a while. I've run Dag, Port, and Hirt through it without a hitch. I have found that the BCG likes to be lubed well but have only used Militec 1 in ALL of my rifles, both commercial and military and have been extremely pleased with the results. Even my old Garand loves the stuff and it's a lot cleaner than greasing the snot out of it. The parts clean up easier, too. Regarding Mags I've got both the DPMS mags supplied with the rifle as well as four C-Product Mags. All six of the mags have worked fine. I do find that sometimes the first round is difficult to strip from when loaded to the full 19 round capacity. I'm experimenting with adjusting just slightly the rear of the mag lips so that the bolt have a bit more to catch on the way home. If, howeve,r I only load 15 rounds in them they work perfectly. I've also found that the chamber in this rifle like to be clean. I believe that's because It's tighter than a traditional military rifle chamber and that's probably why it will sometimes leave an expended brass in there although that only happened once when the rifle was brand new. Glad to have found this site. I surely love this zombie killer of a rifle. Easily this rifle can perform out to 400 yards. Rome