M1886 lebel.

[Specster]

From looking at this it appears to be significantly more advanced than most anything available in the acw. Yet I thought it was interesting. The seller described it as a Jaeger. But I believe it is an 1886 lebel from France Has cartouses on both sides and matching serial numbers. I don't think it was altered for sport. A little late to the game but interesting.

 

[rob63]

Looks more like a Portuguese 1886 Kropatschek to me.

 

[Specster]

Im pretty sure it was a French Lebel. The auctioneer sold it as a "jaeger" (German). There was a german enthusiast who wanted it becuase he thought it was German. The bid went beyond my price/ intrest point.

Its amazing how easily people are taken advantage of.....we lost some good people who knew better recently.....

 

[rob63]

The rifle in the photographs is not a French Lebel, it is a Portuguese Kropatschek.

I apologize for the wording in my previous reply, I wasn't trying to convey any uncertainty. The cleaning rod mounted on the side, the finger spur behind the trigger guard, several features visible in the photo clearly identify the gun. The Lebel rifle was manufactured during the Third Republic, it would never have a crown marking on the barrel. I can't think of any French guns that ever had a crown marking for that matter, don't recall ever seeing one, but I could be mistaken on that.

I would guess that the fellow that bought it, and the auctioneer for that matter, was confused by the finger spur as they usually appear on Jaeger rifles. Unfortunately for him, they also appear on other rifles like the Portuguese Kropatschek that he purchased. The distinctive upper handguard further identifies it as the colonial version introduced in 1889. It is very unusual to have the barrel bands run under the upper handguard like that. It attaches by spring clips and was intended to protect the hands from hot barrels in tropical climates. See Bolt Action Military Rifles of the World, pages 248-252. Although why exactly they would have thought the barrel would get that much hotter in a tropical climate is something of a mystery to me, they get pretty hot from firing as it is.

 

[Specster]

Now that I look at M1886 lebels the stock and hardware are different than they were on the rifle being sold. I id'ed it based on very faint print on the barrel. Thats for your observations. I think the Portuguese Kropatschek and the Lebel used the same magazine. Regardless, I think you are correct although the rifle I saw may have had some replacement parts.

 

[hrobalabama]

A "jaeger" was a hunting rifle not a military one.

 

[Specster]

A "jaeger" was a hunting rifle not a military one.

The point trying to be made is the rifle was miss identified by the seller.