Got a question about this particular rifle. I've read a few bits and pieces about it but nothing too noteworthy. I picked one up the other day, it's a carbine with a single barrel band, a unnamed red recoil pad (probably aftermarket) and a buckhorn rear sight. It doesn't have a serial number and just has "Remington" on the left side of the reciever and "MLE 1907-15" elsewhere.
I've read that there's millions of them to only 6000 that were actually made. So the whole thing is kind of confusing. It's a good little gun, albeit the ammunition is rather difficult to find.
Now here's the moral dilemna I'm having right now. If I could find out some history behind this rifle and a value just as a basis, than I may hang on to it or sell it to a military firearms collector who would enjoy it more in it's original state than myself. Either that, or I'd really like to swap the barrel out to a 50 Alaskan, change the stock to something other than that hideous boat oar and re-do the bottom metal into a standard box magazine.
Thanks for any help!

I saw one of those Mann. Berthiers at the German-American Rod & Gun Club at Erding Air Force Station in Bavaria once. It had been modified for shooting at running game, and as such was probably the BEST example of the type extant in the world at that time. The barrel had been bent into an "S" curve with the front sight brought back in perfect alignment with the rear sight.

The idea was that the projectile, in traversing the bore, would receive the same sweeping "S" motion and traverse back and forth across the line of the bore, eventually impacting anything running zig-zag across the bullet's path....... Unfortunately, however, it was never tested, because we were completely out of loaded 8mm Lebel ammo.....

Check out this link. http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewforum.php?f=20
It is a great source of info for the Remmington Berthier. I have one and love it. Brass from Graff and Sons. I had a custom sporter stock made for it from TSG Armory. http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewforum.php?f=20
Best of luck.

Ray how you doing? Been in IL2 lately?

Doing well bud! Been playing GRAW with Pop about once a week. Havent flown in quite q while. Also been building my wife a desk and fiddling with loads for my .300 WSM.

Sounds like to me it has already been altered, so I don't see a moral situation, I'd do what I wanted with it. In any case you'll have an unusal gun on your hands. .50 caliber barrel, wow I'd like to see that one.

Metalsmith: Find a copy of "Bolt Action Rifles" by DeHaas and read his comments on the Berthier, which he did not find worth converting to anything other than the original chambering. Frankly, if it were my rifle and it had a good chamber and bore, I'd be very happy to shoot the world's first smokeless cartridge in it. Most of the Lebels and Berthiers I have had have had lousy bores. I have always wanted to work up loads for one with a decent barrel.

Hey, Bill/Oregon: I noticed that you like Berthiers. I have one which came out of southern africa, and was built into a sporter by some very good gunsmithing-probably a long time ago in southern africa. I am totally amazed by the amount of conversion work which was done on this rifle. It is a truly historic african sporting rifle now. My area of interest and collecting is the "real" working guns of the african pioneers, from flintlocks up to the early twentieth century, and this is one of those. It's amazing what people can do with "what they have" when they have to. Cheers, LUKE

Bigluke: PLEASE post a photo man!