Value of a berthier 1892 carbine

M

Military Surplus Lover

Regular
Rating - 99.2%
125   1   1
Hello everyone
I recently purchased an 1892 berthier carbine in 8x50 Lebel. I don’t know a whole lot about these rifles and am looking to figure out roughly what it’s worth, rifle seems to be in very nice shape, numbers are all matching and bore is mint! It was made in 1893. Any info welcomed! Thank you
dpfxPmJ.jpg

JUf8Z7T.jpg

P61UooD.jpg

jfNk7yt.jpg

I272uI6.jpg

vVyOkUb.jpg

NPyOOkw.jpg
 
nice carbine, but it seem bolt head not matching and had a few rebuild (no letter prefix on parts, N modification). Also stock seem to have been refinished. Around 400$ IMHO
 
Last edited:
That bolt has the same number on it as does the barrel. I would say it's matching but likely force matched after a FTR. The fonts are different. Likely it was rebarreled or the bolt was replaced during the FTR.

Most of those rifles seem to have VG to excellent bores. Your rifle is also "N" marked for a bullet shape modification.

That rifle also requires special 3 round chargers, which are dumped out of the bottom when the third round is chambered.

I haven't seen one of them, with good ammo in a good bore that doesn't shoot very well.

That little rifle is going to have some serious recoil/bark/flash.

I used one out of a tree stand for years. The sights are really easy to acquire in low light and the rifle is very ergonomically correct for fast handling.

As for the repairs, not at all uncommon. The French don't throw anything away. Those rifles were still being issued to indigenous troops in the colonies well into the 60s.

I would place a value of $500+ on it.

French milsurps are some of the most difficult to find. Especially in presentable condition.
 
bearhunter said:
That bolt has the same number on it as does the barrel. I would say it's matching but likely force matched after a FTR. The fonts are different. Likely it was rebarreled or the bolt was replaced during the FTR.

Most of those rifles seem to have VG to excellent bores. Your rifle is also "N" marked for a bullet shape modification.

That rifle also requires special 3 round chargers, which are dumped out of the bottom when the third round is chambered.

I haven't seen one of them, with good ammo in a good bore that doesn't shoot very well.

That little rifle is going to have some serious recoil/bark/flash.

I used one out of a tree stand for years. The sights are really easy to acquire in low light and the rifle is very ergonomically correct for fast handling.

As for the repairs, not at all uncommon. The French don't throw anything away. Those rifles were still being issued to indigenous troops in the colonies well into the 60s.

I would place a value of $500+ on it.

French milsurps are some of the most difficult to find. Especially in presentable condition.
Click to expand...

Great! Thank you for the fantastic information! I’m not sure yet whether or not I’m going to keep it or pass it along as I like shooting most of my stuff and don’t reload yet. Very cool handy rifle!
 
Military Surplus Lover said:
Any idea when these went through the ftr process? Was is recent?
Click to expand...

Actually the French were very much like the Finns and Swedes when it came to FTRs. They never threw anything away that still worked and made repairs accordingly.

I'm not familiar with most of the FTR markings but not only were those rifles FTRed for the French troops but also for their colonial indigenous troops. Many of those rifles were sold/given to nations who later traded them off or had them taken as war reparations. Some of them went into war reserves and were FTRed to the standard of the nation they were in at the time. Turkey had thousands of similar rifles, some they bought from France and some they just picked up on the surplus markets. Some look new and some have bee worked over hard to keep them functional.

There may or may not be stamps on your rifle to indicate where the work was done.
 
The stain is flat dark which isn’t correct for a French refurb, and someone attempted to re blue it, again, bubba.

It isn’t a bad looking carbine but it’s been dicked with, as most milsurps have been.
 
here are some pictures of a never refurbed 1892 i found a few years ago. It was made in 1917 from a salvaged 1907-15 rifle receiver. You can see smaller parts have a letter in front of the serial numbers ( D ), matching cleaning rod, no balle N modification. You can also see the stock finish difference (not sanded) and the original may 1917 stamp cartouche. A 102 years old time capsule

https://ibb.co/album/gwsBFa

Also interesting is the triggerguard subcontractor DB établissements delaunay belleville
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom