Things you know if you have a MAS-36:

It was last cleaned somewhere in the jungles of Viet Nam.

5 rounds in the magazine, no more.

Safety? Don't need a safety.

Your rifle does have a sling as a matter of fact.

Your bayonet is stowed in a tube under the barrel.

Your rifle is acceptable at typical combat ranges.

When out of ammo, you just reverse the bayonet under the barrel.

Recoil is easy to deal with.

Your sights are fixed.

You rifle has fought against the various Third World guerrilla movements in a vain effort to preserve your colonial empire and ultimately lost.

Your rifle didn't win anything.

You paid $200.

You buy French surplus ammo that they never used.

Your bayonet is good for sticking things and that's about it.

Service life, 25 years or so.

You look down your nose at people that deride the 7.5x55 French catridge.

Your rifle never breaks because no one fired it.

You consider it a badge of honor to actually fire your rifle.

After a not-so-long day at the range you relax with wine and cheese, and call the Americans to shoot your targets.

After cleaning your rifle you have a strong urge to make fun of Americans.

Your rifle's accessory is a bayonet that is stowed under the barrel.

Your rifle was designed by a committee.

Late at night, you have to resist the urge to go to outside and start building concrete fortifications.

Things you know if you have an Arisaka:

It was last cleaned somewhere in a jungle in the south pacific by a Japanese soldier that didn't surrender until thirty years after World War 2.

You can hit the barn from 300 meters, but no one thinks you can damage it.

You don't reload the mag. You empty the rifle and then shout “Banzai!”

Your bolt has a weird push button safety that holds things together.

Your rifle had a sling, but a starving Japanese soldier ate it.

Your bayonet makes a great sword.

Everyone thinks your bullets are too wimpy to do much damage.

When you run out of ammo, your rifle and bayonet make a superb polearm for the banzai charge.

Recoil? Banzai!

Why do you need sights? Banzai!

Your rifle has fought in many places around the world that no one remembers.

Your rifle is taller than the soldiers it was issued to.

You paid $75.

Who needs ammo? Banzai!

You don't need to fix the bayonet. You just use it as a sword.

Service life 80 years or so if you count the holdouts.

It's easier to make a new rifle if you want to change cartridge sizes.

If your rifle breaks, Banzai!

You consider it a badge of honor if you can find ammo.

After a long day at the range you relax by watching Letters from Iwo Jima.

Your rifle's accessories are a dust cover that someone ditched and a bayonet.

Your rifle doesn't have a finish. Banzai!

You can't find any pictures of Arisaka Nariakira

Late at night, you sometimes have to fight the urge to launch a last ditch banzai charge on your neighbor's house.