1894 Bolt Gun Aesthetic
The Museum of Missouri Military History has recently posted an excellent series of line drawings taken from a War Department, Chief of Ordnance book from 1894, showing assorted bolt-action military rifles from around the world.
Drink them in, gents. The detail is great.
Are you sure Plate XII depicts a m. 1890 Berthier? The magazine of the original Berthier mousquetons and fusils had a capacity of only 3 rounds (these being bulky 11mm Gras necked-down to 8mm) and did not extend below the wooden stock. I am no expert in weapons, but although a Mannlicher en-bloc clip of the same function as the one depicted was used in Berthiers, the ammunition appears to be more modern than the 8mm Lebel cartridge. If Plate XII is indeed of a Berthier, could it be a m. 1892/16 mousqueton or a m. 1907/15 fusil with a 5 round enlarged magazine? But if the dating of the drawings (1890) is accurate, that would be impossible. Perhaps it is some other Mannlicher variant?
Not sure. The Museum didn’t say. It very well could be something different. That was just the best guess