New old rifle! Pics.

damn nice looking rifle great price do you have any ammo for it ?

I was sitting at an auction last night for the better part of two hours in the vague hope of bidding on one like that. Gave up and went home instead, I could only tolerate watching so many junk .22s and single-shot shotguns sell.

Anything that requires obsolete or pricey, hard to find ammo isn't a good deal regardless of how cheap it was to buy. I have learned this the hard way.

SaxonPig said:

Anything that requires obsolete or pricey, hard to find ammo isn't a good deal regardless of how cheap it was to buy. I have learned this the hard way.

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Only if you don't reload...

Prvi Partizan makes very good 8mm Lebel which shoots to the sight graduations on my M1917 Berthier cabine.
And it does kick like a three legged ninja.

I just checked the Graf & Sons website and they are currently out of stock on both the PPU and Precision 8x50R Lebel.

-----krinko

PS--the front band on that Carbine of yours is worth the $100 you paid for the rifle.
-----k.

There is something you should know if you do not already know it (and nobody else has brought it up). This gun uses special 3 round clips which are quite uncommon and I am unsure if they are reproduced. You will need them if you intend to use the rifle as a repeater.

Nice Berthier! Did you get any of the clips?

There is some 8mm Lebel from Privi I believe but it's hard to find. The surplus stuff is mostly terrible. Avoid it. Handloading is pretty straight forward though. The brass is easy to find and Lee makes dies for it. It's a big rimmed round. My 1886 prefers .323" standard 8mm jacketed bullets even though its bore is a little oversized.

No safety on those so watch yourself. They were made to be loaded and fired in the old way, with nothing up the spout till the enemy's pointy helmets were well in view. I believe the light carbines were designed for firing from horseback, so they had only 3 shots then you used your sabre.

Anything that requires obsolete or pricey, hard to find ammo isn't a good deal regardless of how cheap it was to buy.

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It depends what your goal in life is I suppose. Personally I love nothing more than digging into an obscure rifle's history and making loads for it. I'm working up some for a .577 Snider right now. I've had rifles that work great without any troubles with easy-to-find ammo. I get bored with them and sell them usually ;-)

Good looking old Lebel, looks like she has a few battle scars, let us know how she shoots..............

Nice lookin' old gun and at a great price! The clips are around, but it's scavenger hunt. The 5-shot clips will work in a pinch, just load 3 rounds. They are fun to shoot.

Had a pal years ago from the Circassian ethnic community. His old man fought on the side of Vichy when Britain invaded Syria in 1941 and told stories of gun battles with Australian troops. Shortly before the old gentleman passed away my friend bought his father a Berthier similar to the one he carried in the war and the old guy was deeply touched.

Even reloading isn't any guarantee. I have several guns for which cases are not available meaning exhaustive case forming and one that uses an odd sized bullet requiring resizimng existing slugs.

IMO a basic "service rifle" should use readily available ammo.

I didn't think the 5-round clips would work in a 3-round action...let us know if they do!

There are some guys in Australia making new 3-round clips. They're expensive, but you can get them.

Here's one on GunBroker right now (not mine), FWIW:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=332625997

"PS--the front band on that Carbine of yours is worth the $100 you paid for the rifle.

Really? How so?"

We had one stolen off a carbine out on the floor racks at the shop a couple years ago.
Conversation with a local French collector revealed some folks were using them for stock restorations on sported long rifles. The shortened forestock would be cut and spliced under the rear band and the carbine front band used as a substitute for the correct rifle band.
He said he had paid $100 for a nice one---but he's impatient and has more money than God.
My M1916 is immune to thievery, because it lacks a stacking hook. Here it is, with a third ammunition alternative---old REM-UMC 8mm Lebel sporting rounds, salvaged from random ammo boxes at gunshows.



-----krinko

OOOh Krinko! Look at some of those fired cases! At least a few of them are about to experience case head separation!

No to both. 8mm Rem and 8mm Mauser are both completely different rounds. The 8mm Lebel is the world's first smokeless powder cartridge, from 1886. It's a primitive bottleneck design with a wide base that headspaces on the rim. Of the same vintage as the .303 British and 7.62x54R. The round went through many incarnations through its life and there should be some receiver stamps indicating what your particular carbine was upgraded for. Probably Balle D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8mm_Lebel

A lot of the surplus on Hotchkiss strips is Balle N which is dangerous in many surplus rifles and of terrible quality. Your best bet is to handload using published 8mm Lebel data.

Good luck finding any 8X50R anywhere, just brass or other wise.................