Hello wburns and welcome,
MAS stands for "MANUFACTURE NATIONALE D'ARMES DE ST-ETIENNE" and the double
in question can surely be compared to a Robust, reliable and strong. They do honour
their name.
There are several French military arms manufacturers that use acronyms as trade
marks such as:
MAC - MANUFACTURE D'ARMES à CHATELLERAULT
MAT - MANUFACTURE D’ARMES DE TULLE
MAB - MANUFACTURE D’ARMES DE BAYONNE
MAP - MANUFACTURE D'ARMES DES PYRENEES
Some of them have produced guns for civilian use, of no-frills good quality.
JC
