Posted on 11/18/2015 6:30:02 PM PST by Jed Eckert
As Americans are shocked and horrified by the carnage of another extremist Islamic attack in Paris-this one far worse than the Charlie Hebdo and Kosher market massacres-one of America's most popular rifles is once again on the frontline in the war against terror. And it's not a gun familiar from the nightly news. That gun is a nearly 30-year-old variant of the Ruger Mini-14 called the Mousqueton A.M.D., the latter is an abbreviation for Armement Moyen de Defense. The veteran rifles from Ruger have appeared on broadcasts around the world in hands of helmeted French police. And the guns are typically older than many of officers carrying them.
Adopted by France's Gendarme Nationale in 1978, the Mousqueton A.M.D. roughly translates as "carbine intermediate defense weapon" and the "A P" on the receiver of the example depicted here represents Administration Penitentiaire or "prison administration."
Back in the late 1970s, it was thought that a wood-stocked rifle with a 20-round magazine would not be as threatening on the streets of the "City of Light" as the bullpup FAMAS adopted by the French military and known as "the bugle." Now, of course not worrying about appearance, French Army troops man the streets with their FAMAS carbines. Also making an appearance on the streets of Paris is a variant of the Beretta Model 12 9x19 mm NATO submachine gun, identifiable by its forward pistol grip as well as its folding buttstock.
The wood-stocked A.M.D rifles were based on Ruger's selective-fire AC-556 and featured a black fiberglass top handguard and some other changes requested by the French. The A.M.D. is described in Ruger & His Guns as: "French National Police (Gendarme Nationale)": Approximately 2,500 rifles, variation of the AC-556 machine gun, with fiberglass hand guard, 18.5" barrel, blued, no warning roll mark on barrel, special front sight, gas block with side sling swivel, curved magazine latch, special roll mark. Some with specially checkered stock."
For deeper look at the Mousqueton A.M.D., see Field Editor Martin K.A. Morgan's article in Shooting Illustrated and then tune in December 30, 2015 to a new season of "American Rifleman Television" in which we feature the A.M.D. as the first "I Have This Old Gun" of the season.
My Stainless Mini 30 is in the Ranch configuration. Came with a set of stainless scope rings. Really happy with it. Wish I could get my hands on one of the Mini 14s with the factory M14 style sights with bayonet lug.
Yes, the 7.62x39
clarification: The Mini 30 shoots the 7.62x39, The Mini 14 shoots the 5.56 same as the AR15
(danger will robinson!) okay which is better?
and
can they be rechambered?
LOL! That's a loaded question, if you'll excuse the pun. I find my Mini 14 to be slightly more accurate than my Mini 30 but that could be due to the quality of the ammo. Also Ruger recommends that you Do Not fire steel cased ammo through the Mini 30 which kinda cancels out the cheap AK ammo advantage.
IMHO, all things considered I lean slightly towards the Mini 14. Does almost everything the AR15 does (sorry no bayonet lug) and right now ammo is readily available. Plus if you look around you can still find 30 round mags that fit both the Mini 14 and the AR15. If you want to go with 30-30 ballistics you won't regret getting a Mini 30. I like them both.
and can they be rechambered?
More trouble and expense than it's worth. What caliber are you wanting?
No, MAT 49 uses regular 9x19. They used one before that fired the 7.62 French Long.
New builds from inland on the M1 carbines Archy... should hit the stores soon.
I want one. Thanks.
L
https://www.inland-mfg.com/Inland-Carbines/M1-1945.html
....not sure whats different on the 1944 model and the 1945 model ..... didn’t have time to research it. When I first entered the service my EOD detachment still gave us M2 carbines......they were the ticket. Want one again, yet not the M2 variant of course.
Want one !!!....Yessir ! Me too !
Stay Safe Troop !!
Nope, they're a 9x19 Parabellum. Even better, their magazine is fairly similar to the Sten magazine aside from the placement of the magazine stop collar, which relocation was made necessary by the folding forward grip, about the most effective safety I've ever encountered. Sten mags are going for around $5.00 each in quantities of 10 or more, last I looked. The earlier French MAS38 took the pre WWII French 7.65 pistol cartridge, fairly hard to find here in the states, but common in Europe because Italy had no-paperwork ownership of .30/7,65 caliber weapons, but tons of approval and permitting for .380/9mm bore diameter shooters. Accordingly, such oddballs as 7,65mm Luger caliber Browning Hi-Powers, P.38s and S&W M39s were fairly common, and I even ran across a .30 Luger chambered uzi-semi that likely came from an Italian source. Sadly, they've tightened that up, but some of the oddball barrels and ammo are still around. And it was always pretty easy to make 7,65 MAS pistol ammo from cut-down .30 carbine brass...and long, LONG ago, cheap US .30 Pedersen Device ammo worked very nicely in the French MAS35A and 35S pistols in the 7,65 chambering. For which cartridge collectors would happily strangle me every time I remind them of it.
There's a .300 Blackout chambered Mini now as well, and it's quite easy to have one reworked to the 7,62x40 Wilson Tactical round, which I 'm of the opinion beats the .300BO to all get out [based on around 7500 rounds of .300BO downrange in two rifles.] There were also some Mini-14s sold in the .222 Remington [NOT .223!] chambering, for distribution in some countries where military cartridges like the .223/5,56mm NATO are prohibitado. They're pretty much collector's items, and are generally priced accordingly when one does turn up, but there are a few out there.
All that may change: Ruger has introduced an AR-15-type Ruger rifle with a quick-change barrel, offering the option of changing to some alternate calibers in about three seconds with the flip of a lever, a twist of the barrel, and a reinsertation of the alternate.
It might just be that Ruger will apply a similar mechanish to the Mini-14, making it even more versatile. That'd be a very nice touch.
Don't know if it's so on the new Inlands, but of course *early* M1 carbines had the flat bolt, no bayonet lug on the stock foreend, and the magazine release was a pushbutton that could be confused with the safety, so the safety was changed to a wing-type rotary *flip* lever to prevent dropping the mag whan you wanted to set things in the *go* position.
The later M2 reworks had the bolt left round rather than milling the top flat, maybe for strength, maybe for extra weight to slow the cyclic a bit- M2s will rip through a 15-round mag in less than a second. As a result, the 30-round *banana mag* was fielded for the carbine, and the weight of it [especially with two taped together] could bend or burr the catch lugs on the magazine catch, so an improved catch was fielded.
I've seen one of the Inlands, assembled with GI parts on an new Inland receiver from Sarco, and on an M1A1 airborne paratrooper stock. It was built up as an anniversary present from a guy to his father-in-law, a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge and the Siege of Bastogne. It was sufficiently authentic that the old guy who had carried one of the originals more than 70 years ago cried when he received it. But you should have seen him grin when he first fired it that same day. I'm just glad he wasn't a bazookaman or howitzer gunner.
The link you gave was from the manufacturer. Here's the info from the distributor:
Three Inland M1 Carbines will be available.
- The M1 1944 Wood stocked original design without bayonet lug
- The M1 1945 Wood stocked original design with bayonet lug
- The M1A1 Paratrooper original design with folding heavy wire stock
All Inland carbines include an original-looking cloth sling and oiler.
The 1945 and Paratrooper models come with one 15-round magazine. The original 1944 model did not have a bayonet lug, so MKS chose the new Inland 1944 model to come with a 10-round magazine in order to comply with the law in states that limit magazine capacity to ten rounds and prohibit the sale of firearms with bayonet lugs.
All models will accept original and correct replica 15- and 30-round magazines. And all models feature the same original-type adjustable 1944-era "peep" battle sights.
If either of you guys [or other interested FReepers] want an original GI carbine stock with metal in not-too-beat-up condition for around $50, let me know...I've got an order going out for pre-Christmas.
Cool beans !!
Don't miss the carbine and M1911 parts and accessories at The Inland Depot, as well.
If they got beans, I didn't see 'em.
Ruger really needs to get back on track with the XGI, a larger Mini 14 in .308/7.62 NATO. There was a bunch of hype about it for a while back in the mid '80s and then nothing. I know they make the SR762 now but there's a certain appeal to the M14 look.
Right now the Wilson 7.62 x 40 is still pretty much a custom cartridge. Good for folks who reload. Wilson sells some loaded ammo but so far that's it.
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