The MAS-40 is a French semi-automatic rifle that was developed in 1938 and adopted in 1940. It was designed by the government-owned MAS arms factory and uses the 7.5x54mm French cartridge. This weapon has a wooden stock, a tilting bolt, and a 10-round box magazine. The MAS-40 was intended to replace the bolt-action rifles in French service, specifically the "stop-gap" MAS-36, but for economic reasons this was never accomplished. In practice it was issued to elite units such as the remnants of the Armée Blindée, marine infantry, paratroopers and commandos. Following World War II, the new French government used this design to create the MAS-44 and MAS-49 rifles that were later adopted en-masse.