[batjka]

This sounds like a Swiss Vetterli. Look one up and see if ee are getting closer.

[jpattersonnh]

Sure sounds like a Berthier rifle.
Here is the 8mm Lebel cartridge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lebel_8mm_round.jpg

Here is the rifle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berthier_rifle
What you saw on the receiver was the arsenal, Châtellerault or Continsouza

[jpattersonnh]

Originally Posted by batjka

This sounds like a Swiss Vetterli. Look one up and see if ee are getting closer.

Swiss Vetterli used .41 Swiss rimfire or 10.8x38 Rimmed.

[Solon]

Originally Posted by batjka

This sounds like a Swiss Vetterli. Look one up and see if ee are getting closer.

see any name similar. The trigger guard and receiver resemble the Chassepot but the receiver was round, not hex. The thumb part look the same.

Unlike the Mauser there were no flanges or guards around the fold up rear sight. There was no set screw either, it must have depended on spring tension to keep the cross member from moving.
I wish I could remember more but it's a long time ago. When you are twelve you don't forget someone telling you your first "man's" gun was used by the Foreign Legion. Maybe they were just having fun with a kid.

[Solon]

Originally Posted by jpattersonnh

Sure sounds like a Berthier rifle.
Here is the 8mm Lebel cartridge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lebel_8mm_round.jpg

Here is the rifle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berthier_rifle
What you saw on the receiver was the arsenal, Châtellerault or Continsouza

You nailed it about Continsouza. I knew I remembered Conte...something.

YouTube

YouTube

[batjka]

What about Gras rifle? Round receiver, big cartridge, sounds right.

[Solon]

Originally Posted by batjka

What about Gras rifle? Round receiver, big cartridge, sounds right.

Full length, not a carbine. Even the flat front sling mount is the same. This has been quite a trip down memory lane. I learned quite a bit of its history