Worth noting is that, in spite of the "7.5mm" designation, the bullets are actually .308 and regular bullets of that caliber can be used, once some reloadable cases are available. It is incorrect to class the 7.5x54 with the .303 British or .30-40 Krag; it is really into the 7.62 NATO or .30-'06 class.
The Mle 1936 is an awkward looking rifle and appears quite crude. But after using one for a time, I concluded that it was well thought out and would have been a formidable opponent for the German Mauser. The French lost in 1940 for many reasons, mainly a leadership riddled with Nazi sympathizers, but the Mle 36 was not one of them. (Of course, the French could never have adopted the Mauser, for the same political reasons that the U.S. adopted the M16 rather than taking the obvious step of adopting the AK-47.)
Jim