A nice Lebel rifle bayonet, 1886/93/1916 type, early model. Original oil blue finish. German silver hilt with steel lock and ring. Steel scabbard. Lebel Model 1886 rifle it is an 8mm bolt action infantry rifle which entered service in the French Army in April 1887. It is a repeating rifle that can hold eight rounds in its forestock tube magazine plus one round in the transporter. The Lebel rifle had the distinction of being the first military firearm to use smokeless powder ammunition. The new gunpowder, "Poudre B", was nitrocellulose-based and had been invented in 1884 by French chemist Paul Vieille. . Lt. Colonel Nicolas Lebel contributed the flat nosed 8mm full metal jacket bullet ("Balle M", or "Balle Lebel"). The first practical full metal jacket rifle bullets had just been developed in 1881 by a Lt. Colonel (then Captain) Eduard Rubin (Swiss Army). Somewhat later, in 1898, a ballistically superior pointed (spitzer) and boat-tail bullet was adopted for the Lebel rifle. It was made of solid brass and called "Balle D". Each case was protected against accidental percussion inside the tube magazine by a special primer cover and a circular groove around the primer cup . Featuring an oversized bolt with front locking lugs and a massive receiver, the Lebel rifle was a durable design capable of effective long range performance . In spite of some early obsolete features, such as its tube magazine and the sharply tapered case of 8mm Lebel ammunition, the Lebel rifle remained the basic weapon of French infantry during World War I (1914–18). Altogether two million eight hundred and eighty thousand ( 2,880,000 ) Lebel rifles were produced by the three French State manufactures.

Штык к винтовке Лебеля обр.1886/93/1916 годов, Франция
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