World War II Database

Country of Origin	France
Type	Handgun
Caliber	8.000 mm
Capacity	6 rounds
Length	238.000 mm
Barrel Length	114.000 mm
Weight	0.850 kg

Contributor: Alan Chanter

ww2dbaseThe regulation officers' handgun employed by the French Army through both World Wars was the Modele D'Ordonnance of 1892, more commonly known as the Lebel, which entered service in 1893 and was in continuous use until 1945. Of 8-millimetre calibre, the Lebel fired a long, but small and underpowered cartridge which (originally loaded with black powder) gave a relatively low muzzle velocity of about 750 feet per second.

The six-round cylinder could be swung out for loading, and the ejector rod usefully pushed all six cartridges out at once, thus permitting a rapid reload to be possible. Reasonably lightweight, weighing in at 1l pounds 14 ounces, the main complaint about the Lebel concerned the curved and rather thin pistol grip which was not particularly suited to a large hand and, made it a not very pleasing revolver to hold; nor was it as as well balance as many contempory handguns.

One unique feature of the Lebel, which has never been copied elsewhere, was the ability of the entire left side plate and trigger guard to be hinged forward for oiling or cleaning. Unfortunately, useful as this might be, also exposing the internal mechanism thereby allowing dirt and mud to creep in through gaps in the frame, and thereby causing possible reliabity problems in the field.

Nevertheless the Lebel was an accurate and well made weapon of which some 350,000 were eventually manufactured up to 1924 and which also saw service in with the Belgian, Czech, Monacan, Serbian, Spanish and Swiss armed forces.

Sources:
Wikipedia
John Weeks, Pistols 1914-18 (War Monthly) ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Mar 2014

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