Lebel Mle 1886 M93-R35
Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Tulle (MAT) · Rifle · Out Of Production · 1935
Also known as: Mle 1886/93 R35, M93-R35, Fusil R35, Lebel R35
Overview
The Lebel Modele 1886 M93-R35 was a 1935 carbine conversion of the venerable 8mm Lebel rifle, cut down and reduced to a three-round tube magazine for second-line, colonial and mounted French troops. Retaining the Lebel's rear-locking bolt action and underbarrel tube magazine, it was produced chiefly at the Manufacture d'Armes de Tulle to stretch France's stock of service rifles while the modern MAS-36 entered production.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 3700 g (130.5 oz) |
| Overall Length | 940 mm (37.01") |
| Barrel Length | 450 mm (17.72") |
| Action Type | Bolt Action |
| Firing Mechanism | Striker Fired |
| Trigger Type | Single Stage |
| Magazine Capacity | 3 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Tube |
| Muzzle Velocity | 600 m/s (1969 fps) |
| Effective Range | 400 m (437 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 2000 m (2187 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Left Hand |
| Rifling Twist | 240 mm (9.45") |
| Number of Grooves | 4 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- 8x50mmR Lebel · primary — also known as 8mm Lebel, Cartouche Mle 1886, Balle M, Balle D, Balle D(am), Balle N, 8x51mmR
Features
- Firing modes: Repeating
- Feed systems: Tube Magazine, Single Round
- Safety mechanisms: Half Cock
- Features: Tube Magazine, Shortened Carbine, Lebel Action, Second Line Issue
Variants
- Fusil Mle 1886 M93 Lebel — Parent
Service history
Operators
- French Army · adopted 1935 · as Fusil Mle 1886 M93 R35
Conflicts
- World War II (1939-1945)
Production
Estimated total produced: 50,000 · Production years: 1935-1940
Converted and assembled chiefly at the Manufacture d'Armes de Tulle (MAT)
Origin
Country of origin: France
Designer: French state arsenals
Discontinued: 1940
Notes
Despite often being grouped with the clip-fed Berthier carbines, the R35 is a Lebel-action carbine and retains the original tube magazine, loaded one cartridge at a time, which was its principal tactical weakness against contemporary clip-fed rifles. The slug 'lebel-r35' refers to this Lebel M93-R35 carbine, distinct from the en-bloc-fed Berthier mousquetons.
Background
The R35 went to war fifty years late: it is a sawn-down version of the 1886 Lebel, the world's first smokeless-powder military rifle. By 1935 France knew it was obsolete, but unable to build enough modern MAS-36 rifles in time, it shortened half-century-old Lebels with their antiquated one-at-a-time tube magazines and issued them to colonial cavalry, who carried them into the Second World War.