While helping to unpack a new shipment of French rifles at IO Inc / Royal Tiger Imports, I came across several examples of Berthiers that were modified to not use clips. There were a couple different ways the Ethiopian gunsmiths did this, so let’s have a look…
Conversion
The Three Types of Chassepot Cavalry Carbines
There are few records I have been able to find on production of the original Mle 1866 Chassepot cavalry carbines. However, Royal Tiger / InterOrdnance just recently brought in a crate of 200 Gras and […]
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Short: Inspecting an RSC 1917 Gas System
The French Model 1917 RSC rifle has a rather unusual gas system, and without some experience it can be difficult to know what one is looking at in one. So today, we’re taking a quick […]
Select-fire Rifles
French FAMAS F1
The FAMAS was one of the first mass-produced bullpup rifles, and as a forerunner in the area, it shows a number of interesting features, both good and bad. The FAMAS spent 9 years in development, […]
So you go from three to ten rounds on the Berthier-Lee ? (Enfield referred to the rifling. not the action). What’s not to like?
Hmmm. Some Berthiers were converted to 7.5, I suppose the action could handle .308? I could do w/ an antique bolt action .308 running from Indian 2A1 mags…
The French Mle. 1907/15/34 was an arsenal revision of the Berthier 07/15 to 7.5 x 54 MAS, with a five-shot Mauser-type internal magazine fed by stripper clip;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky04YGzuT2o
It was probably a better rifle overall than the MAS36, certainly better than the cutdown Lebel 1886/93 R35.
As for 8 x 50R Lebel in the 0.303in SMLE magazine, considering that the OAL of 8 x 50R is less than that of the 0.303in (2.75in vs 3.05in), I would expect that an unmodified SMLE 10-round magazine would hold eight rounds of 8 x 50R with no feeding problems.
As such, the rifle(s) using SMLE magazines were probably not rechambered or etc. At most, the feed lips of the SMLE “box” might have needed a bit of work with a file and a pair of pliers.
cheers
eon
Eon:
I agree that the Berthier 07/15/34 was an elegant weapon, moreso than the utilitarian MAS36 certainly.
Also, I agree that the Berthiers fitted with an Enfield magazine would most likely have been kept in 8mm, no point changing calibre if the 8mm rounds fitted a .303 magazine.
I have to say that one has to admire these Ethiopian gunsmiths. They seem to have done their best to keep these old guns going no matter what. But I would just ask, how hard could it have been to fabricate Berthier clips?
Given the wide variety of rifles in use with the Ethiopian they may have thought it uneconomical to produce disposable(!) Berthier clips for one specific rifle, especially when many mauser style stripper clips will work with multiple calibers anyways.
Troy:
Given the insane diversity of rifles in the Ethiopian army, I doubt they did a cost/benefit analysis of the cost of fabricating Berthier clips, which would not have been more than a fraction of the cost of a bullet.
“(…)7.5 x 54 MAS(…)”
There are existed earlier rimless cartridge linked with Berthier, it is today know as 7,65 x 53,7 Berthier xpl https://naboje.org/node/20219
It is described by SFM drawing dated 1891 and described as Turkish cartridge [of] mister Berthier, I do not know ballistic.
2:10 – Ian, It is no longer an “internal clip.”
It is an “internal magazine!”