Identifying Your Rifle
Markings
On this page you will find all markings you would normally find on your Lebel 1886 M93
Manufacturer & Model Designation
Two simple stamps stating the manufacturing arsenal. This will always have MANUFACTURE D'ARMES" with the location beneath it in French script. To the right of it the model designation Mle 1886 M93 can be found.
Position: Receiver Left Side
Inspector & Steel Manufacturer Stamps
The inspector markings are two small stamps in the form of a singular letter within a circle right next to each other.
They stand for the Arsenal Director and Main Controller of the given Arsenal at the time, somewhat like a signature.
To the left of those, you can find a letter or letter code without encirclement. This is a code for the steel mill the barrel steel came from. The French, unlike most other nations, were much more focused on the barrel compared to the receiver and thus applied the most important markings there.
Position: Barrel Shank Left Side
Serial Number
Similar to the arsenal name, the French serial number letters were written in script, followed by a number of digits. As mentioned above, the barrel was more important to French thinking than the receiver, hence why it bears the "main" serial number (the one you would look for first when looking at a rifle). Interestingly, they would go out of their way to replace the serial number on the buttstock when it was replaced, cutting out the section of wood and replacing it with a new piece to stamp the serial on.
Positions: Barrel Shank Left Side, Buttstock Left Side, Forestock Bottom, Buttstock Bottom, Bolt Handle Root, Bolt Head
Date Stamp
Yet again on the barrel you can find the only way to "date" your Lebel in the form of a letter code for the producing arsenal (MAT for Manufacture d'armes de Tulle for example) and the year in which the barrel was produced.
Positions: Barrel Shank Right Side
