The Lebel Model 1886 rifle is a bolt-action infantry rifle developed for the French army and formally entering French service in 1887, notable above all as the first military rifle of any nation to be designed around smokeless powder ammunition, made possible by Poudre B, a nitrocellulose-based smokeless propellant invented in 1884 by the French chemist Paul Vieille. Chambered for an 8mm cartridge and fed from an eight-round tube magazine running beneath the barrel, the Lebel could reportedly be fired at a rate of around 43 rounds per minute, dramatically outpacing the roughly 26 rounds per minute achievable with contemporary black-powder rifles such as the German Mauser M71/84, and its smokeless powder eliminated the thick clouds of white smoke that had previously revealed a rifleman's position after every shot, an advance that alarmed other European militaries into hastily developing their own smokeless-powder rifles. Roughly 3.45 million Lebel rifles were manufactured in total, and the design remained in French service through both World Wars, with limited use continuing in various conflicts well into the twentieth century.
Facts
Classification
Service Status Weapon Classbolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle 1 Introduced Year Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category) FAQs
Why is the Lebel rifle named after Nicolas Lebel if he did not lead its design team?
Lebel designed the bullet, not the rifle, but his name stuck to the whole weapon.
The rifle took its name from Lieutenant Colonel Nicolas Lebel because he designed its 8mm flat-nosed full metal jacket bullet, the Balle M, which was informally called the Balle Lebel. Lebel did not lead the team that created the rifle. General Tramond was put in charge of the project, and the repeating mechanism and the bolt were worked out by other officers and arsenal staff. Lebel himself protested during his lifetime that Tramond and Gras, the two superior officers, jointly deserved the credit, but his name stuck to the whole weapon anyway.
Connections
Operated By
Source MilitaryFactory.com: Lebel Model 1886
Source MilitaryFactory.com: Lebel Model 1886
Source MilitaryFactory.com: Lebel Model 1886
Used In
Source Wikipedia: Lebel Model 1886 Rifle
Source Wikipedia: Lebel Model 1886 Rifle
Source Wikipedia: Lebel Model 1886 Rifle
Iraq War, Wars Source Wikipedia: Lebel Model 1886 Rifle
Source Wikipedia: Lebel Model 1886 Rifle
Source Wikipedia: Lebel Model 1886 Rifle
Source Wikipedia: Lebel Model 1886 Rifle
Source Wikipedia: Lebel Model 1886 Rifle
Source Wikipedia: Lebel Model 1886 Rifle
In the Other Atlases
Manufactured By
Also in Business Atlas: the manufacturer of this subject.
Source Wikidata: Lebel Model 1886 Rifle
Also in Business Atlas: the manufacturer of this subject.
Source Wikidata: Lebel Model 1886 Rifle
Also in Business Atlas: the manufacturer of this subject.
Source Wikidata: Lebel Model 1886 Rifle
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Lebel Model 1886 Rifle
WikipediaLead paragraph, magazine description
It is a repeating rifle that can hold eight rounds in its fore-stock tube magazine, one round in the elevator plus one round in the chamber; equaling a total of ten rounds held.
Lead paragraph, service-entry clause
bolt-action infantry rifle that entered service in the French Army in 1887.
Infobox: service
1887-1945 (France) 1945-present (limited usage)
Infobox: cartridge
8×50mmR Lebel
Used In: Boxer Rebellion, Infobox: wars
Boxer Rebellion French colonial expeditions First Italo-Ethiopian War Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) Monegasque Revolution World War I Franco-Turkish War Polish-Soviet War Spanish Civil War Second Italo-Ethiopian War World War II First Indochina War Algerian War (limited) War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) Iraq War (limited)
Used In: First Italo-Ethiopian War, Infobox: wars
Boxer Rebellion French colonial expeditions First Italo-Ethiopian War Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) Monegasque Revolution World War I Franco-Turkish War Polish-Soviet War Spanish Civil War Second Italo-Ethiopian War World War II First Indochina War Algerian War (limited) War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) Iraq War (limited)
Used In: World War I, Article text
In spite of features that became obsolete relatively quickly, such as the tube magazine and the shape of the 8mm Lebel rimmed ammunition, the Lebel rifle remained the basic weapon of French infantry during World War I (1914-1918).
Used In: Spanish Civil War, Infobox: wars
Boxer Rebellion French colonial expeditions First Italo-Ethiopian War Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) Monegasque Revolution World War I Franco-Turkish War Polish-Soviet War Spanish Civil War Second Italo-Ethiopian War World War II First Indochina War Algerian War (limited) War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) Iraq War (limited)
Used In: Second Italo-Ethiopian War, Infobox: wars
Boxer Rebellion French colonial expeditions First Italo-Ethiopian War Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) Monegasque Revolution World War I Franco-Turkish War Polish-Soviet War Spanish Civil War Second Italo-Ethiopian War World War II First Indochina War Algerian War (limited) War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) Iraq War (limited)
Used In: World War II, Infobox: wars
Boxer Rebellion French colonial expeditions First Italo-Ethiopian War Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) Monegasque Revolution World War I Franco-Turkish War Polish-Soviet War Spanish Civil War Second Italo-Ethiopian War World War II First Indochina War Algerian War (limited) War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) Iraq War (limited)
Used In: First Indochina War, Infobox: wars
Boxer Rebellion French colonial expeditions First Italo-Ethiopian War Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) Monegasque Revolution World War I Franco-Turkish War Polish-Soviet War Spanish Civil War Second Italo-Ethiopian War World War II First Indochina War Algerian War (limited) War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) Iraq War (limited)
Used In: War in Afghanistan (2001-2021), Infobox: wars
Boxer Rebellion French colonial expeditions First Italo-Ethiopian War Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) Monegasque Revolution World War I Franco-Turkish War Polish-Soviet War Spanish Civil War Second Italo-Ethiopian War World War II First Indochina War Algerian War (limited) War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) Iraq War (limited)
Used In: Iraq War, Infobox: wars
Boxer Rebellion French colonial expeditions First Italo-Ethiopian War Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) Monegasque Revolution World War I Franco-Turkish War Polish-Soviet War Spanish Civil War Second Italo-Ethiopian War World War II First Indochina War Algerian War (limited) War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) Iraq War (limited)
View the Source Wikidata: Lebel Model 1886 Rifle
Wikidata Q241738, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source MilitaryFactory.com: Lebel Model 1886
MilitaryFactory.comOperated By: French Armed Forces, Operators
[ Belgium; France; Greece; Monaco; Nazi Germany; Poland; Imperial Russia; Spain ]
Operated By: Wehrmacht, Operators
[ Belgium; France; Greece; Monaco; Nazi Germany; Poland; Imperial Russia; Spain ]
Operated By: Spanish Armed Forces, Operators
[ Belgium; France; Greece; Monaco; Nazi Germany; Poland; Imperial Russia; Spain ]
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