The French Secret Weapon, The M1886 LebelDesigned in 1885 and adopted in 1887, the Lebel rifle was a
The French Secret Weapon, The M1886 LebelDesigned in 1885 and adopted in 1887, the Lebel rifle was a pivotal design that changed firearms history. The most advanced common military rifle of the time, it created a whole new generation of firearms development and was a French national secret.Chambered for the 8x50R Lebel, the Lebel rifle was the first rifle in history to use smokeless powder. Because of this the Lebel rifle used an 8mm high velocity cartridge. At the time all other military rifles were large bore (at least .45 caliber) that used black powder cartridges. While a large caliber, the black powder ignition system produced velocity, range, accuracy, and power that was greatly inferior to smokeless powder designs. The Lebel’s small cartridge had an accuracy and range that far surpassed all other rifles. Furthermore the small cartridge was also easier to and feed through a bolt action. Later, the cartridge was redesigned to use conical shaped (spitzer) bullets, which enhanced its accuracy and range. Since it used an 8 round tubular magazine, each cartridge had a circular groove formed on each case head, around the primer pocket, in order to receive the bullet tip of the cartridge that followed. This prevented the bullet of one cartridge from setting of the primer of another cartridge when the rifle was fired.One of the downsides of creating something that is new and innovative is that your competitors are going to respond by creating something better. This was the case for the Lebel, as German gun designers, most notably Paul Mauser, used the same innovations to create even better rifles. Mauser, for example would create a rifle that used smokeless high velocity spitzer bullet cartridges, which had used a staggered column box magazine. By the turn of the century the Lebel was considered quaint in comparison to other rifles such as the Gewehr 98 Mauser, the Lee Enfield, 1903 Springfield, and 91/30 Mosin Nagant.Regardless the Lebel continued to served France through World War I alongside the newer Berthier rifle. When Germany occupied France in 1940, old stocks of Lebel’s were dusted off and issued to arm the puppet Vichy government. Some were used to arm German Volksturm (peoples militia) units during the collapse of Nazi Germany (Gewehr 301f). Later they would be used to arm Algerian militias during the Algerian War. -- source link
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