Berthier M16 Carbine 8mm Lebel

Berthier M16 Carbine 8mm Lebel

Berthier M16 Carbine 8mm Lebel. The Berthier rifles and carbines were a family of bolt-action small arms in 8mm Lebel, used in the French Army from the 1890s to the beginning of World War II (1940).

The most successful and long-lived variant of the Berthier system was the short and handy carbine version of the five-shot Mle 1916 Berthier rifle, designated “‘Mousqueton Berthier Mle 1892/M16“. Contrary to the Mle 1916 Berthier five-shot infantry rifle whose manufacture had barely started during the late summer of 1918, the mass production (over 800.000 “mousquetons”) of the Berthier Mle 1916 five-shot carbines had begun much earlier, in May 1917, at the Manufacture d’Armes de Chatellerault (MAC). The Berthier M-16 five-shot carbine immediately proved to be very popular with mounted cavalry, artillery, and reconnaissance troops. It was still in service with some French law enforcement units as late as the 1960s.

This is a lovely rifle in good original condition with a good bore.