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The Lebel Model 1886 rifle also known as the "Fusil Mle 1886 M93", after a bolt modification was added in 1893, is an 8 mm bolt-action infantry rifle that entered service in the French Army in 1887. It is a repeating rifle that can hold eight rounds in its forestock tube magazine, one round in the elevator plus one round in the chamber. The Lebel rifle has the distinction of being the first military firearm to use smokeless powder ammunition. The new propellant powder, "Poudre B," was nitrocellulose-based and had been invented in 1884 by French chemist Paul Vieille. Lieutenant Colonel Nicolas Lebel contributed a flat nosed 8 mm full metal jacket bullet. Twelve years later, in 1898, a solid brass pointed (spitzer) and boat-tail bullet called "Balle D" was retained for all 8mm Lebel ammunition. Each case was protected against accidental percussion inside the tube magazine by a primer cover and by a circular groove around the primer cup which caught the tip of the following pointed bullet. Featuring an oversized bolt with front locking lugs and a massive receiver, the Lebel rifle was a durable design capable of long range performance. In spite of early obsolete features, such as its tube magazine and the shape of 8mm Lebel rimmed ammunition, the Lebel rifle remained the basic weapon of French infantry during World War I (1914–1918). Altogether, 3.45 million Lebel rifles were produced by the three French state factories between 1887 and 1916.
The 7.62×54mmR is a rimmed rifle cartridge developed by the Russian Empire and introduced as a service cartridge in 1891. Originally designed for the bolt-action Mosin–Nagant rifle, it was used during the late tsarist era and throughout the Soviet period to the present day. The cartridge remains one of the few standard-issue rimmed cartridges still in military use, and has one of the longest service lives of any military-issued cartridge.
The MAS-49 is a French semi-automatic rifle that replaced various bolt-action rifles as the French service rifle that was produced from 1949. It was designed and manufactured by the government-owned MAS arms factory. The French Army formal designation of the MAS-49 is Fusil semi-automatique 7 mm 5 M. 49.
The 12.7×108mm cartridge is a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun and anti-materiel rifle cartridge used by the former Soviet Union, the former Warsaw Pact countries, modern Russia, China and other countries. It was invented in 1934 to create a cartridge like the German 13.2mm TuF anti-tank rifle round and the American .50 Browning Machine Gun round.
The MAS Modèle 36 is a military bolt-action rifle. First adopted in 1936 by France and intended to replace the Berthier and Lebel series of service rifles, it saw service long past the World War II period. It was manufactured from late 1937 onward by Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne (MAS), one of several government-owned arms factories in France. Only 250,000 MAS-36 rifles were available to equip the French infantry during the Battle of France in 1940. Mass production finally caught up after World War II and MAS-36 rifles became widely used in service during the First Indochina War, the Algerian War and the Suez Crisis. Altogether, about 1.1 million MAS-36 rifles had been manufactured when production ceased in 1952.
The 6.5×52mm Carcano, also known as the 6.5×52mm Parravicini–Carcano or 6.5×52mm Mannlicher–Carcano, is an Italian military 6.5 mm rimless bottle-necked rifle cartridge, developed from 1889 to 1891 and used in the Carcano 1891 rifle and many of its successors. A common synonym in American gun literature is "6.5mm Italian." In American parlance, "Carcano" is frequently added to better distinguish it from the rimmed hunting cartridge 6.5×52mmR. Ballistically, its performance is very similar to that of the 6.5×54mm Mannlicher–Schönauer.
The 7.92×57mm Mauser is a rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge. The 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge was adopted by the German Empire in 1903–1905, and was the German service cartridge in both World Wars. In its day, the 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge was one of the world's most popular military cartridges. In the 21st century it is still a popular sport and hunting cartridge that is factory-produced in Europe and the United States.
The 7.5×57mm MAS or 7.5×58mm mle 1924c was a short-lived French rifle cartridge that was introduced in the mid-1920s to replace the 8×50mmR Lebel, although it itself was soon replaced with the 7.5×54mm French round, that served the French for decades to come until France, along with the rest of NATO, adopted the standard NATO calibers, 5.56×45mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO.
The 8×50mmR Lebel rifle cartridge was the first smokeless powder cartridge to be made and adopted by any country. It was introduced by France in 1886. Formed by necking down the 11×59mmR Gras black powder cartridge, the smokeless 8mm Lebel cartridge started a revolution in military rifle ammunition. Standard 8mm Lebel military ammunition was also the first rifle ammunition to feature a spitzer boat tail bullet, which was adopted in 1898. The long-range ballistic performance of the 8mm Lebel bullet itself was exceptional for its time. For use in the magazine tube-fed early Lebel rifle, the 8 mm case was designed to protect against accidental percussion inside the tube magazine by a circular groove around the primer cup which caught the tip of the following pointed bullet. However, the shape of its rimmed bottle-necked case, having been designed for the Lebel rifle's tube magazine, also precluded truly efficient vertical stacking inside a vertical magazine. The bolt thrust of the 8mm Lebel is relatively high compared to many other service rounds used in the early 20th century. Although it was once revolutionary, the 8mm Lebel was declared obsolete after World War I and was soon after replaced with the 7.5×54mm French round.
The 7.5×54mm French, 7.5 French, or 7.5 MAS is a rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It was developed by France as an update to the 7.5×57mm MAS mod. 1924 cartridge. It replaced the obsolete 8×50mmR Lebel round used during World War I.
The Meunier rifle, known as the "Meunier A6" or "STA No. 8", evolved as a part of the program initiated in 1890 by the French military to develop a semi-automatic infantry rifle that would eventually replace the Mle 1886–93 Lebel rifle. Four government research establishments proposed over 20 prototypes. About half of them were based on recoil and the others were gas operated. This secret program was placed under the direction of General Naquet-Laroque who headed the Puteaux (APX) government arsenal.
The .284 Winchester is a cartridge that has enjoyed a resurgence due to interest from long-range competitive shooters. Winchester has continued to produce brass cases for this since 1963. Introduced by Winchester in 1963, the .284 Winchester was designed to achieve .270 Winchester and .280 Remington performance from the new Winchester Model 100 autoloader and Winchester Model 88 lever-action rifles.
The FR F1 is a French sniper rifle manufactured by the Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne (MAS); one of several government-owned arms factories in France. The FR F1 was France's first purpose-built precision rifle for sharpshooters. Introduced in 1966, the rifle was in use with the French Armed Forces until 1989 when it was replaced by the FR F2.
The Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne, often abbreviated to MAS was a French state-owned weapons manufacturer in the town of Saint-Étienne, Loire. Founded in 1764, it was merged into the French state-owned defense conglomerate GIAT Industries in 2001.
Atelier Mécanique de Mulhouse (AME), formerly known as Centre d'Études et d'Armement de Mulhouse (CEAM), was a French small arms manufacturer which operated from 1946 to 1967.
The 6.5×54mm Mannlicher–Schönauer also known as 6.5×54 Mannlicher–Schönauer Greek or simply 6.5 Greek is a 6.5 mm rimless rifle cartridge used in the Mannlicher–Schönauer rifle. It is the direct descendant of the 6.5×53mmR rimmed cartridge from the 1891 Mannlicher rifle, designed to function smoothly through the Schönauer's rotary magazine. 6.5 mm bullets are typically known for their high ballistic coefficients and sectional density, which gives them great stability in flight, resistance to wind deflection, and high penetrating power. It, along with the Mannlicher–Schönauer rifle, was first introduced in Paris at the 1900 World's Fair.
The 7×54mm Finnish is a rifle cartridge which was designed by Lapua as a moose hunting cartridge. It was loaded by two factories, Sako and Lapua in Finland from about 1944 until 1974. It is a 6.5×55mm SE necked up to take a 7mm (.285) bullet. It may be loaded with modified 6.5×55mm SE dies drilled to fit an 8mm neck diameter. It was usually loaded with a lightweight bullet.
The Mannlicher M1893 is a bolt-action rifle that was the standard service rifle of the Kingdom of Romania from 1893 to 1938. The rifle and its 1892 predecessor were the first repeating rifles to be widely issued in the Romanian military. It was later replaced by the Czechoslovak-designed Vz. 24 as the standard service rifle.
The 6.5×57mm Mauser is a smokeless powder rimless bottlenecked centerfire rifle cartridge developed by Paul Mauser and introduced in 1893–94.
References
- https://web.archive.org/web/20120226080836/http://www.municion.org/7X54/Fournier.htm
- Guide pratique du rechargement, by Alain F. Gheerbrant