World War II Database

Country of Origin	France
Type	Rifle
Caliber	7.500 mm
Capacity	5 rounds
Muzzle Velocity	640 m/s

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseBerthier bolt-action carbines were introduced to the French Army on 14 Mar 1890, followed by the full-length rifle variant in 1902. During WW1, they were used by French Army, French Foreign Legion, and French colonial forces; additionally, many were also transferred to Russian, Serbian, Greek, and American forces that were attached to the French Army. In 1916, a new variant rifle was designed for clips with greater capacity (5 rounds); they reached the front lines in the summer of 1918. In 1934, they were converted to use a more modern 7.5-millimeter ammunition. Both rifle and carbine variants of the Berthier design remained in use when Germany invaded France in 1940. Those that were captured by the Germans after the fall of France were later given to occupation forces, both military and police, in conquered nations. Most of them were finally retired from service at the end of WW2, although many of the carbines remained in use by police forces in the French colonies for several more decades. Over 2,000,000 examples were built during the design's production life.

Source: Wikipedia ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Mar 2015

Photographs

See all 3 photographs of Berthier Rifle

Berthier Timeline

14 Mar 1890

Berthier carbines were adopted by the French Army. These weapons, along with the later introduced full-length rifles, would remain in use through the WW2-era.

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