Surely most of you on here already know the MAS 45 training rifle, a French Army .22 LR trainer derived from the German Kleinkaliber Wehrsportgewehr (KKW) action and tailored to the needs of the French Army of the postwar decade.
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Although the bulk of those French Army MAS 45 trainers was sold as surplus at the end of the 1970s and during the 1980s, most (if not all) French units still have a few MAS 45 rifles in their inventories.
A few years back, PGM Précision, a French company specializing in sniper rifles, was asked by the French Army to design a chassis to accommodate those MAS 45 trainers and turn them into .22 LR training rifles for French Army snipers. The underlying idea was to offer an economical and efficient alternative to long range training whenever shooting ranges where 12.7 mm/.50 BMG is allowed were unavailable.
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The PGM chassis mimicks the ergonomics of the French Army PGM Hécate II sniper rifle in 12.7 mm caliber.
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As a matter of fact, you could say that the PGM/MAS 45 .22 LR rifle is a scaled down version of the Hécate II rifle, in the same way as the Ruger Precision Rimfire rifle is a scaled down version of the centerfire Ruger Precision Rifle.
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That said, the PGM/MAS 45 rifle isn't a Hécate II replica: apart from its buttpad, its pistol grip, its bipod and a few odd parts here and there, it doesn't share any of its parts with its bigger centerfire PGM sisters (Ultima Ratio, Hécate, Mini-Hécate, Ludis...).
Both the Hécate II sniper rifle and the French Army PGM/MAS 45 trainer are equipped with Steiner scopes, though.
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As I can't afford the Steiner glass at the moment, I had to make do with a Vortex Viper scope on my own PGM/MAS 45 setup, which is more than enough, I suppose.
![Image]()
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Although the bulk of those French Army MAS 45 trainers was sold as surplus at the end of the 1970s and during the 1980s, most (if not all) French units still have a few MAS 45 rifles in their inventories.
A few years back, PGM Précision, a French company specializing in sniper rifles, was asked by the French Army to design a chassis to accommodate those MAS 45 trainers and turn them into .22 LR training rifles for French Army snipers. The underlying idea was to offer an economical and efficient alternative to long range training whenever shooting ranges where 12.7 mm/.50 BMG is allowed were unavailable.
The PGM chassis mimicks the ergonomics of the French Army PGM Hécate II sniper rifle in 12.7 mm caliber.
As a matter of fact, you could say that the PGM/MAS 45 .22 LR rifle is a scaled down version of the Hécate II rifle, in the same way as the Ruger Precision Rimfire rifle is a scaled down version of the centerfire Ruger Precision Rifle.
That said, the PGM/MAS 45 rifle isn't a Hécate II replica: apart from its buttpad, its pistol grip, its bipod and a few odd parts here and there, it doesn't share any of its parts with its bigger centerfire PGM sisters (Ultima Ratio, Hécate, Mini-Hécate, Ludis...).
Both the Hécate II sniper rifle and the French Army PGM/MAS 45 trainer are equipped with Steiner scopes, though.
As I can't afford the Steiner glass at the moment, I had to make do with a Vortex Viper scope on my own PGM/MAS 45 setup, which is more than enough, I suppose.
