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German Captured 1886/M93 Lebel - Rastatt Rework

@chrisftk I just realized that the blued bolt comment was only a WW2 era ordeal, not WW1. (Whoops)
Seen the title of the thread and it got me thinking of the Lebel I'd seen back in December with a blued bolt and instantly thought this was one of those WW2 reworked examples.
 
OnlyMil said:
The buttstock may have also been replaced in 1904, explaining the lack of an acceptance cartouche, or it could have been worn off (along with the stock S/N on the other side) by the time the German reworked it.
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I don't think they were worn off (no plug either) At first I thought maybe a German-made one (like some of the walnut mosin stocks they made), but it appears to be a French armorer/ordnance spare stock. I'm hardy an expert on French arms, but I did see a French acceptance on the right side of the wrist that is still pretty crisp. No trace of right or left side markings or numbers. Hard to say what may have happened, but it's neat to see a possible French armorer part on this.
Photoroom-20250121_073304.jpg

Jdt said:
@chrisftk I just realized that the blued bolt comment was only a WW2 era ordeal, not WW1. (Whoops)
Seen the title of the thread and it got me thinking of the Lebel I'd seen back in December with a blued bolt and instantly thought this was one of those WW2 reworked examples.
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Oh yeah, the R35s. Those are their own animal. I've got a few different WW2 era captured French guns.

mauser1908 said:
Very cool, Chris! Glad you picked this one up.
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Thanks Sam, appreciate the support and discussion as always.
 
chrisftk said:
Hi Guys,

This was a late 2024 acquisition, and one I enjoyed photographing. It's a well-known fact that the Germans captured a lot of allied equipment through the course of the war. This is clear through substantial photographic evidence, as well as examining surviving examples. The regulations required application of a property marking before use by German forces. There have been a few German-issued Russian Mosins and Belgian 1889 Mausers documented here in the past. Here is a captured French 1886/M93 Lebel. I picked in up in a lot from RIA and it surprisingly flew a bit below the radar.

This rifle is a survivor and is salty, with a "been there" look. The metal bears some significant oxidation on the left side (makes me wonder if the rifle sat left side down in the mud before it was picked up.( I can't quite make out the manufacturer, but it appears to be a Châtellerault. The barrel looks to be a 1904 dated one. The stock appears to be a French armorer's replacement, as there is no plug or french cartouches. The German "DEUTSCHES REICH" property mark is clearly and crisply stamped on the right side of the stock (albeit a partial miss). The bolt appears to have been renumbered to match the action and there is a "7" (Rastatt) marking on the buttplate. There is an interesting number engraved on the triggerguard, which I'm guessing is either an inventory number for a museum or collector.

The rifle also includes the rare bayonet adaptor for use with German bayonets. The adaptor is removable, but the screws looked rather untouched and I didn't want to tempt fate. I tried a couple dozen of my bayonets on it and the best fit was an EB45. The 98/05s didn't engage right and some of my other ersatz had spacing issues.

In any case, here are the photos:

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Very nice rifle! I have one too with Deutsche Reich and adapter. A lot of the foreign rifles in German WWI service came from stocks that Alfa had at the start of the war and likely augmented by captured weapons.
 
chrisftk said:
More pics
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Here is a captured Lebel bayonet with a German property marking that I also have. Naturally, the adapter renders this bayonet unusable on the subject rifle, but would have been used with other captured Lebels.
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Finally a group shot of some of my other WW1 Beutewaffen rifles:

View attachment 426379View attachment 426380
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Great find!
 
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