I slugged the bore of a French built, (Chatellerault - 1917), Berthier rifle, today.

Surprisingly, it had the same dimensions, .317" bore and .329" groove diameter, as the Remington barrel.

This French made Berthier rifle has an "N" stamped on the receiver ring. This indicates the chamber was altered and will accept the 8mm Lebel machine gun round which has a larger neck diameter. This was part of a conversion program carried out by the French in the 1920s.

The French Military cancelled the contract with Remington during WW1. Whether the Arms were rejected due to late delivery, manufacturing flaws, or dimensional errors in the Remington rifles, seems unknown and subject to debate. The U.S. Government ended up buying the 'rejected' rifles. They were later sold as surplus to U.S. Civilians, after WW1.

Remington made 8mm Lebel military ammo on contract for the French during WW1. Remington manufactured sporting 8mm Lebel ammo into the 1950s for the U.S. market.

The 8mm Lebel round is the 'grand daddy' of smokeless ammo and Spitzer bullets. The cartridge case was cursed by being the 11mm Gras necked-down to 8mm. The drastic bottle-neck was necessitated by the Lebel rifle's tubular magazine. The Berthier (clip-loading) design was adopted later and made in great numbers during WW1.

Attached photo L-R:

(1.) A Kynock 1886 'Balle M' round with .323" diameter, 232 gr flat nosed bullet.

(2.) An 1898 French 'Balle D' round, dated 1916, solid bronze 198 gr bullet, .325" diameter, Trench Art alteration to letter-opener.

(3.) A French 1932-N cartridge, made in 1939, 232 gr lead-core, cupronickel jacket, .325" diameter.

(4.) A Commercial Prvi cartridge, 198 gr FMJ, .326" diameter. 

Note - The maximum diameter of the 'Balle D' projectile is in front of the case mouth (crimp groove). Some sources give the maximum diameter as .3275".

Unaltered French arms use the 'Balle D' round and safely accept Prvi ammo.

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