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I picked up a box of 1948 Lebel surplus at a gun show last Sunday. The bullets are pointed.
Now I have a Berthier, not a Lebel so it is not an issue for me as of yet but I am curious if these are safe to use in a Lebel. I read something about the groove around the primer preventing the points to go into the primers but that seems rather trusting.
Having owned various Winchester lever actions over the years, I've always used either round nosed or flat tipped bullets in the tubular magazines.
It's not just the primer annulus. The cartridge's geometry also helps keep the primers undisturbed in the Lebel's tube magazine. Notice the distinct double taper of the case. It's there for a reason.
Plus the Berthier is clip fed so it's not a problem while the Lebel rifles and carbines are fed from the magazine tube.
Early Lebel ammo had no annulus, as the bullets weren't pointed. The annulus was the solution to the safety problem in the tubular magazine. Happy chance that the case design geometry also helped, i think.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff011-2.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff012-2.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff014-1.jpg
That's certainly more logical than my anachronistic assertion. Thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by jmoore
Where'd that top photo come from?
Trying again:
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff011-2.jpg
The 7mm Mauser ammo photo wasn't even in the same album. Weird.
---------- Post added at 04:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:15 AM ----------
SWAG on my part, but I just surmised that the design was an easy step from the previous generation black powder cartridges. Perhaps even a compressed BP small bore case that was never fielded. Seemed to be an independent shrinking of bore diameter trend proceeding in several nations even as "smokeless powder" was under development in France.Quote:
Originally Posted by Parashooter