Lebel Model 1886 rifle was a French 8mm-caliber, bolt-action rifle which was the first military rifle designed to use smokeless powder cartridges. The Lebel also featured a bolt head which locked into the receiver with two opposed front locking lugs. A cammed surface on the rear of the receiver bridge provides positive extraction when the bolt is being opened. The Lebel rifle was first to introduce in 1901 a boat-tailed bullet as standard military ammunition.
The Lebel M1886 rifle had an 8-round capacity tube magazine and mounted a spike bayonet. Designed in 1886, the Lebel was manufactured at the Manufacture d’Armes de Chatellerault beginning in 1887, followed by MAS until the early 1900s when the Manufacture d’Armes St. Etienne started to make it. The Lebel was finally manufactured by the Manufacture d’Armes de Tulle during WW 1 and until May 1920. Industrial production at these three facilities , between 1887 and 1920, brought the total number of Lebel rifles manufactured at 2,880,000 units.
The Lebel’s smokeless ammunition coupled to its longer range and flatter trajectory brought a revolution in infantry weapons. A soldier equipped with a Lebel could outrange troops issued with black powder rifles and could also carry more, lighter ammunition. After the adoption of the Lebel M1886 rifle by the French Army, the majority of nations switched to small-bore infantry rifles using smokeless ammunition. For example, the British upgraded their .303 Lee-Metford with smokeless cartridges in 1895, resulting in the .303 Lee-Enfield.
