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Not planning to put in for 8mm Lebel any time soon but I have a mild hankering for a variant of the Berthier rifle/carbine.

You see plenty of Mas-36 about in 7.5x54 but not the Berthier, I know PPU make 8mm Lebel round and brass albeit I don't see Kranks selling it. There are certainly reloading reloading Dies from Lee so it can be fed with ammunition.

Anybody shoot or have shot the rifle and where do they come up much if you hunt about?

I own and shoot both a Mod 1892 Berthier artillery carbine and a Remington built Mod 1907-15 rifle.

They are great to shoot and being French, typically quirky.

I don't know of any other rifle that you have to dismantle the bolt in the rifle first in order to remove it!

The Mod 1907-15 was in unissued condition and proof fired only when I found it, not easy to find a 100 year rifle that has never been fired!

I shoot both FMJ and cast from them with no issues.

I use the .323 PPU 198gn 8mm Mauser bullet and either the Lee 175gn Mauser bullet gas checked to .323 or, the Lee 205gn Hungarian bullet also gas checked to .323.

All of these bullets perform well in both rifles.

One thing to remember when loading these rifles, is that they use the Mannlicher loading system and you must use the chargers to load rounds, as loading single cartridges into the chamber runs a very real risk of breaking the extractor.

Both rifles perform just as well as my Mauser's or Enfield's and are ruggedly made.

Mine are 3 shot versions, not the later 5 shot conversions.

There are a couple of carbines for sale at www.cwclassicarms.co.uk, rifles are harder to find.

ukrifleman

Thanks ukrifleman, some really useful info.

Hello

I have a Berthier rifle 1907/15 5 shot mag and also a Lebel rifle with reproduction WW1 scope mount and Pecar scope.
Both are in 8mm Lebel and exceptional shooters, you can purchase partisan cases or re-shape Winchester 348 in your sizing die.
They are both great alternatives to the usual military kit that is available, they are now difficult to obtain as most have
have gone to the sacrilegious de-ackers for butchery.
Mauserbill