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My First Lebel 1886: my effort to revive to serviceability again.

4K views 34 replies 13 participants last post by  kelt 
#1 ·
Here is the ugly duckling I got at auction. Paid way too much for this hunk of junk I’m sure. Maybe it’s light will shine again. Maybe not. Time will tell.

As of today I still haven’t received the gun. I do have screen shots of the auction pictures. These give a good overview of the general condition. Covered in cosmoline, missing back half of bolt (and insides I assume,) missing front sight and a completely wrong front half of the forend stock. Looks like it has two forends spliced together at the rear barrel band. I just ordered a cocking piece and firing pin rear cap from Numrich so that is done. Please let me know if anyone sees any other stand out issues to be addressed. Thanks for any help as this project unfolds.


 
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#4 ·
Okay. I’ve been told several times now that liberty tree has the correct complete bolt and even parts that I need for my Lebel. So what exactly is compatible between the two rifles. So far as I can tell from the auction pictures I need the following:

cocking piece
firing pin end cap
firing pin
firing pin spring (main spring)
front sight
both barrel band springs
rear sling swivel
and... apparently....complete foreword hand guard. Fox has them, but OUCH!!

so please educate me what rifle parts are the same or compatible with the Lebel. Thanks.
 
#7 ·
So what exactly is compatible between the two rifles

cocking piece ... Yes
firing pin end cap ... Yes
firing pin ... Yes
firing pin spring (main spring) ... Yes
both barrel band springs .. No
rear sling swivel .. No
 
#11 ·
I am not a Lebel expert so don't know the values but it sure would be fun putting it back in working order.
(I bought mine a couple years back at auction, think I have about $600 or $700 in it. Fires great but it is mismatched numbers and somebody sanded the stock, just a shooter)

Jim
 
#12 ·
Seems a bit steep for a gun that needs that much work, but once you get it fixed up unless you plan on turning it soon you'll get your money back later. I bought a trashed GEW88 for $32, spent $120 on replacement parts and the gun was worth maybe $100 at the time. Now I could probably get $250 for it.
 
#14 ·
If you’re having trouble sourcing parts you might try Naturabuy.fr. It’s basically the French equivalent to Gunbroker. As the unit armorer in a reenacting unit that uses Berthiers, it has saved my butt numerous times. It should have most of the Lebel/Berthier parts you need and shipping to the US is no problem for small, unregulated parts and accessories. The front sight in particular is hard to come by in the US and I had no problems getting several on that site.
 
#17 · (Edited)
I should have mentioned this in my last post. Try opening it up using Google Chrome. It has a feature that will translate the page for you well enough that you can get around it. Also, it helps to know some very basic French especially the word for the part you’re looking for. I believe a front sight is called a “guidon pour Lebel/Berthier.” At least that’s what it popped up as when I bought sights there.
 
#23 ·
Bubble wrap was all that held it together. It fell apart in my hands. Back half of handguard is only original part. Front half from some other rifle. Just loosely held on with bands which slid off easily. No magazine spring or follower.

caked in cosmoline. Barrel full of it. But after rudimentary wipe down with acetone there seems to be decent bluing left and a nice looking bore. The bolt is not matching, of course, and still incomplete. Still need to source a mainspring.

And does this look like the correct rear band for a lebel?

it’s a 1921 Tulle.

Magazine cutoff won’t disengage.

buttstock is original but cracked at wrist with old repairs and a piece missing.
 
#26 ·
After cleaning out the cosmoline it is evident that the working action of this rifle and its bore are still in very good condition despite the few missing parts I’m trying to obtain. The bore is actually pristine looking to me. The buttstock on the other hand is in very rough shape with numerous cracks and even pieces missing from the wood. I’ve seen some lebel carbine buttstocks available. Does anyone know if these would fit the lebel rifle action correctly? Are they interchangeable? The only other option is to order the complete wood set from wolf.
 
#27 ·
Hmmm, regardless of the fate of the guns, I'd degrease, boil, and card all the steel parts. Before removing anything as active rust that can be converted back to its original bluing.

Missing arsenal repair on stock, and separating one on top of butt; in the same places mine has arsenal repairs. Huh.
 
#29 ·
As I can’t replace the stock without great expense I am going to restore best I can. Debating trying to fill in that missing piece to the right side of the wrist at the tange. It looks like an armored already cut it ready to be fitted with a patch of wood. The rear piece at top of buttplate I will glue, as well as the several cracks in the wrist. This will take time. I don’t want to wet the stock with water to prevent having to sand and loose any markings which are light already. Mainly cleaning with m8 real spirits and a little raw linseed oil.

any suggestions what kind of glue to use in cracks and under patches? Again I’m trying to prevent damaging the finish u dear the gunk but at this point I don’t know if that is feasible. The front handguard, or the portion that remains at least, needs an end plug of wood, a shortened mag tube spring and follower.
 
#31 ·
You need to degrease the wood to get the glue to stick. I have had success with paint thinner and flour mixed. Just paint it on the stock and leave it in the sun. The grease oozes into the flour and just brush it off. Repeat till the flour is white.

For small pieces of wood to do repairs and even make hand guards, I go to the thrift store and buy tables or chairs and cut them up for the wood I need. I found a broken chair that was walnut in the trash behind the store. I told them I would give them $5. The mahogany rocking chair on the side of the road, has yielded four Japanese hand guards and part of a butt stock.
 
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