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The Révolution
Fusil Modèle 1886 M93
In 1886 the history of small arms development changed overnight. The French had adopted a rifle built with smokeless powder in mind - the very first of its kind.
History
The development and introduction of the Lebel is much less a milestone in rifle design as it is in bullet design.
The model 1886 is a convergence point of two advances in technology by two men, namely Swiss engineer Eduard Rubin (1846-1920) and French Chemist Paul Vieille (1854-1934). Rubin had already invented the jacketed bullet in 1882, leading to much more stable projectiles that allowed for higher velocities without disintegrating. However, the need for such a bullet occured to the world in earnest only when Vieille in 1884 invented "Poudre B" (Powder B) - made of stable nitrocellulose - the world's first smokeless powder.
These new developments made higher speed, smaller diameter projectiles possible while leaving behind little residue.
Up to the development of this new rifle the French had been using a variety of models on par with their contemporaries such as the Mle 1874 Gras and Mle 1878 Kropatschek, both of which would influence the Lebel heavily.
Paul Vieille (1854-1934)
Although revolutionary, the new 8x50mmR Lebel cartridge plagued French arms development for decades. Its awkward shape due to inheriting its broad base from the earlier 11mm Gras cartridge made it difficult to use in auto-loaders
Image provided by DrakeGmbH
In 1885 the French committed themselves to adopting an entirely new rifle that would incorporate the current state of technology by looking at other promising designs such as the Remington-Lee and the newly introduced Mannlicher straight-pull rifles.
In January of 1886 the new minister of war, Georges Boulanger "Général Revanche" would scrap these plans and set a deadline of one year to come up with a new infantry rifle that would make use of the two inventions mentioned previously in preparation for the expected war with the German Empire.
Due to time constrains the new rifle would turn out an amalgam of then current French service arms:
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The straight trigger and a modified action with symmetrical front locking lugs from the Mle 1874 Gras
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A Kropatschek magazine system as it was in use with the French navy's Mle 1878 Kropatschek
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The two-piece stock of the Mle 1885 Kropatschek, which was a transitional model still chambered in 11mm Gras
By 1889 the three state arsenals Châtellerault, St-Etienne and Tulle had largely completed the rearmament of the French army. While a minor update to the bolt occurred, as well as the addition of a stacking rod akin to the designs by Steyr in Austria-Hungary, the bigger updating process came in 1893, which also lead to the new designation Fusil Modèle 1886 M93. This saw an improved gas check on the bolt head, the change of the cocking piece to a style aiding in disassembly, and an improved fixture for the rear sight.
Despite the performance of 8mm Lebel leaving its contemporaries in the dust, the rifle it came with was all but outdated the moment it entered the world stage.
Austria-Hungary had adopted a rapid-loading system the same year as the French switched to their new rifle, and with Poudre B being introduced to the other great powers, it was a mere matter of time until their own smokeless powders with native and more advanced rifles would enter the world stage.
The German Empire, France's greatest rival and threat already adopted a better rifle in form of the Commission Rifle 1888, which incorporated the new advances in ammunition, as well as a rapid-loading system as designed by Ferdinand Mannlicher.
This would ever onwards prove the biggest drawback of the Lebel - its slow to load magazine system. Being a tubular system it did not lend itself to easy adaptation for quick loading devices that were being adopted around the world and even in France herself in the form of a Mannlicher clip system for the Mle 1890 Berthier carbine and its later derivates.
Despite this, the French held off on adopting a new rifle or magazine system as they were already working on the next great leap in small arms technology - a self-loading standard infantry rifle. And so the French soldiers would carry their outdated rifles into the Great War where it became a symbol in French propaganda media.
During the war the Lebel saw very few modifications in the form of a larger front sight post to make quick target acquisition easier, as well as a grenade launching device, a role it excelled in thanks to its massive build.
The Lebel remained the official standard until the 1920s, making it the only tube-loaded design to be standard for a nation in the war. Although its long service life was not planned, even small nations saw the signs of the time and opted to switch to rapid-loading systems like the Mannlicher en bloc clip, or the Mauser stripper clip
French soldiers aiming a Viven-Bessières rifle grenade
While outclassed technologically by allies and foes alike, the Lebel excelled at one role - launching grenades across no man's land - thanks to its massive build. The rifle grenade over the course of the war became a staple to French doctrine when assaulting fortified positions
While it remained the standard infantry arm through 1918, it was slowly supplemented and ultimately replaced with the Modèle 1907/15 Berthier rifle due to the latter's easier and cheaper manufacturing process. However the almost 3.5 million Lebel rifles never disappeared entirely and would make a comeback for World War II - a time in which France was still on her quest to equip its army with a universal auto-loader.
The interwar period also saw an attempt to convert the pattern to a shortened, box magazine wielding model for an updated cartridge in the form of the M27, a process that proved too expensive to pull through. Additionally, a shortened pattern with a three-round tubular magazine was introduced in 1935.
Despite being outdated almost immediately, the Lebel would serve far into the 20th century, namely in French colonies after 1945.
It would be the year 1949, 63 years after its adoption that the Lebel would finally be laid to rest for good by the French - finally having adopted a universal auto-loader in the form of the Mle 1949.
A French infantryman posing with his Mle 1886 M93 rifle
Mechanism
Bolt
Despite its Kropatschek and Gras heritage, the Lebel bolt differs from both of them in order to accommodate the increased pressure generated by the smokeless Poudre B. The main difference represents itself in the addition of two symmetrical locking lugs at the front instead of locking at the bolt handle root as was common and sufficient before.
Mechanically, the bolt is what would now be considered a traditional turn bolt design with a handle that, upon turning it upwards 90° moves the two camming surfaces on the bolt body and cocking piece against one another to cock the action. In the same motion, the bolt head, which is separate and can not be removed without tools in alignment with French doctrine at the time, also rotates 90° either allowing the movement of the bolt backwards, or locking the system by rotating the locking lugs into the horizontal recesses in the receiver. While the cocking piece often times still bears a second notch in front of the sear catch as a "half-cock" safe position, this feature was dropped later and often removed during arsenal repairs or refurbishment.
Magazine
Considered to be the Lebel's biggest flaw, its magazine was both standard technology at the time as can be seen with the German Gewehr 71/84 or the Portuguese Kropatschek, as well as dead on arrival with the dawn of new quick-loading systems such as Mannlicher's en-bloc clip.
The Lebel's tube magazine is fundamentally the same as the earlier Kropatschek style. Eight rounds can be loaded into the magazine tube, being held back by the cartridge stop at the entrance of the tube.
To operate the magazine, the bolt plays a vital role - as it travels backwards the down facing lug strikes an element of the cartridge elevator assembly causing it to tilt upwards. As this happens, the elevator releases the cartridge stop and allows the follower to push a new round onto the elevator.
As the bolt is closed after chambering a round, a second lever is moved by the bolt handle, tipping the elevator back down with the next cartridge being pushed onto the elevator.
This setup also allows for more cartridges to be held than the magazine can theoretically house, with one sitting on the lifter with a fully loaded magazine in reserve. French doctrine did not entail having a cartridge ready to fire in the chamber due to the lack of a proper safety system.
Markings
Manufacturer & Model Designation
Two simple stamps stating the manufacturing arsenal. This will always have MANUFACTURE D'ARMES" with the location beneath it in French script. To the right of it the model designation Mle 1886 M93 can be found.Position: Receiver Left Side
Serial Number
Similar to the arsenal name, the French serial number letters were written in script, followed by a number of digits. As mentioned above, the barrel was more important to French thinking than the receiver, hence why it bears the "main" serial number (the one you would look for first when looking at a rifle). Interestingly, they would go out of their way to replace the serial number on the buttstock when it was replaced, cutting out the section of wood and replacing it with a new piece to stamp the serial on.
Positions: Barrel Shank Left Side, Buttstock Left Side, Forestock Bottom, Buttstock Bottom, Bolt Handle Root, Bolt Head
Inspector & Steel Manufacturer Stamps
The inspector markings are two small stamps in the form of a singular letter within a circle right next to each other.
They stand for the Arsenal Director and Main Controller of the given Arsenal at the time, somewhat like a signature.
To the left of those, you can find a letter or letter code without encirclement. This is a code for the steel mill the barrel steel came from. The French, unlike most other nations, were much more focused on the barrel compared to the receiver and thus applied the most important markings there.
Position: Barrel Shank Left Side
Date Stamp
Yet again on the barrel you can find the only way to "date" your Lebel in the form of a letter code for the producing arsenal (MAT for Manufacture d'armes de Tulle for example) and the year in which the barrel was produced.
Positions: Barrel Shank Right Side
