french lebel rifle

fredqc

fredqc

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Hi,
i dont know why, but i dream of owning a French lebel rifle with an epee bayonet with it, but looking for about 2 years, and all i can find is a berthier... Is it possible to find a lebel rifle here in canada?
 
You can get them, most have alot of repairs, mismatched or re serialized. The barrels were often changed out in the 1934 era good to frosted condition. But what can we expect; they had alot of use to say the least…. P&S often has them now and then.
 
I saw one at Phoenix Range here in Edmonton a couple weeks ago - heavy as a railroad tie, but not without a certain gallic elegance and charm. Kinda like a big-boned underwear model...
 
Dark Alley Dan said:
I saw one at Phoenix Range here in Edmonton a couple weeks ago - heavy as a railroad tie, but not without a certain gallic elegance and charm. Kinda like a big-boned underwear model...
Click to expand...

That one was brought back off the battle field in Afghanistan by a soldier stationed here in Edmonton.

It is a big big rifle, Id be interested to see how it shoots. I know he kept an additional one for himself.
 
Ya.. Im betting it has a story. The other 3 he sold went pretty quick, but that big gun has been sitting there for a while..
 
Actually, I think France sold them to Afghanistan after the Great War. Lots of FT-17 tanks were found over there, too. Lots of Lebels have been coming back with soldiers in the last few years. Most had the dates changed by Afghans to pre-1898, I think the Afghans figure that makes them more salable. It's amazing how many of them survived. The Lebel is a really sturdy rifle, though, so I guess we shouldn't be too surprised.
 
Nothing. Have you ever seen a 8mm Lebel case? Besides, PP brass is cheap and available. The only possible thing might be to re-bore to .348 Winchester, but that would leave the barrel rather thin. .348 brass can be used to make Lebel brass, but the results aren't always satisfactory. The smaller rim of the .348 case will often slip out of the tube mag, and jam the action badly. Also, they don't extract reliably from all rifles. The .348 case is about the only thing that comes close to the 8mm Lebel.
 
BUSHMAN79 said:
Nothing. Have you ever seen a 8mm Lebel case? Besides, PP brass is cheap and available. The only possible thing might be to re-bore to .348 Winchester, but that would leave the barrel rather thin. .348 brass can be used to make Lebel brass, but the results aren't always satisfactory. The smaller rim of the .348 case will often slip out of the tube mag, and jam the action badly. Also, they don't extract reliably from all rifles. The .348 case is about the only thing that comes close to the 8mm Lebel.
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Making brass is easy, but why bother when you can buy it from several sources. Priva, graf, to name a few. I would not even consider reboring a collectable WW I rifle that is hard to find. Brass, bullets and dies are all available, load date is similar to the 8x57 and there’s lots of info on reloading for the lebel. The Lebel is a real piece of history.

I sold mine 4 years ago and got $500 for it with dies, brass and the bayonet.
 
Lebel!!!

Hi i own two ..........

one mint ( 2200$)............

and another with the barrel full of grease..........the barrel was changed in 1929 and ALL matching ..........wood was repaired (patch).(850 $ plus shipping)

if someone want the second one contact me.

i reload this caliber since 1989.

:adult:
 
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