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Description : The 1886 French Lebel rifle (M1886) The first magazine repeating rifle chambered for a smokeless powder cartridge with a jacketed bullet. The first true "soldier's rifle."The M1886 was, at a stroke, the single most modern small arm in any European arsenal, rendering all other designs obsolete at a stroke.
World War One was the Lebel's true baptism by fire, and by all accounts it held up extremely well.
Russia, Belgium, Serbia, Rumania and Greece all received tens of thousands of Lebels during WWI. Even the Germans used the Lebel, issuing large numbers of captured rifles to rear echelon troops.
The Lebel remained in production until 1919, with some four million being produced.
World War One was the Lebel's true baptism by fire, and by all accounts it held up extremely well.
Russia, Belgium, Serbia, Rumania and Greece all received tens of thousands of Lebels during WWI. Even the Germans used the Lebel, issuing large numbers of captured rifles to rear echelon troops.
The Lebel remained in production until 1919, with some four million being produced.
