The Lebel Mle. 1886 M93 R35,Even up to the 1930’s the French Army had vast stores of Lebel rif
The Lebel Mle. 1886 M93 R35,Even up to the 1930’s the French Army had vast stores of Lebel rifles, an aging bolt action firearm which originated in 1886. However the French did not merely want to sell or scrap the rifle, but put them to some use. A common policy of the French Army in the 20th century was to hold on to weapons no matter how old or obsolete they were.In 1935 the French Army commissioned a program to shorten many older Lebel rifles in carbines for artillery units, rear echelon units, reserves, police, and colonial forces. Conversion of the rifle to a carbine was simple, they merely shortened the barrel down to 18 inches and adjusted the length or the forward stock. Of course this conversion came at a cost. The Lebel did not have a box magazine but rather a tubular magazine. Shortening it reduced its magazine capacity to only 3 rounds. In addition, the R35 still used the aging 8mm Lebel cartridge (8x51R), even though the French Army had adopted the 7.5x54 French. The R35 Lebel saw limited used during World War II. Around 50,000 conversions were produced. -- source link
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