The FA-MAS Type 62 was the result of 40 rifle prototypes designed by MAS between 1952 and 1962 for the French Army

French Army

The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...

, including a Bullpup

Bullpup

Bullpups are firearm configurations in which the action is located behind the trigger group and alongside the shooter's face, so there is no wasted space for the buttstock as in conventional designs. This permits a shorter firearm length for the same barrel length for improved maneuverability, and...

 variant. All variants were designed to take the 7.62x51mm NATO round. It shows a resemblance to the FN FAL as well as performance, and came close to being adopted by the French military as a replacement for the MAS-49, until the new 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge become popular. However, it is also to note the FA-MAS Type 62 bayonet is used on the FAMAS

FAMAS

The FAMAS is a bullpup-styled assault rifle designed and manufactured in France by MAS located in Saint-Étienne, which is now a member of the French government-owned Nexter group...

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MAS-54

The MAS-54 rifles were rejected due to the 7.62x51mm NATO round being difficult to control in a bullpup rifle configuration and the round being difficult to control on full-auto in the non-bullpup rifle configurations.

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MAS-55

The MAS-55 has its gas piston underneath its barrel and operated in a similar way to the FM1924/29 machine gun but resulted in a heavy rifle for its type.

FA59

The FA59 came with an improved stock and foregrip. It also came with a folding stock, bipod and infra-red sight as the AP61.