Berthier M1916
- Category
- Rifle
- Barrel
- 453 mm
- Weight, empty
- 3.25 kg
- Introduced
- 1916
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Berthier M1916 (Mousqueton Mle 1916) is a French bolt-action carbine, the wartime culmination of André Berthier's en-bloc-clip-fed service weapons chambered in 8x50mmR Lebel. Developed in 1916 to answer the most criticized failing of the earlier Berthier carbines and the Mle 1907/15 rifle, it replaced the original three-round Mannlicher-type clip with a five-round en-bloc clip housed in a lengthened magazine, finally matching the magazine capacity of the German Mauser 98 the poilus faced in the trenches. The compact carbine pattern retained the proven Berthier mechanism, a rotating bolt with two forward locking lugs, but added a hinged sheet-steel cover over the magazine opening to keep out the mud of the Western Front. Built at Saint-Etienne, Chatellerault, and Tulle, the M1916 served the French Army through the latter half of the First World War in the hands of artillerymen, cavalry, engineers, and assault troops, and surviving examples were still being issued to colonial and second-line units as late as the First Indochina War.
French soldiers had complained bitterly that the three-round Berthier left them reloading twice as often as the Germans across no-man's-land. When the five-round fix arrived in 1916 they called the improved weapon the 'Berthier a cinq coups' - the five-shot Berthier - and the name carried genuine relief in it after two years of being out-magazined in the trenches.
The 1916 modification was applied both to the short carbine (Mousqueton Mle 1916) and to the full-length infantry rifle (sometimes catalogued as Mle 1907/15 M16); this entry covers the carbine. The five-round magazine protrudes noticeably below the stock, the most obvious visual difference from the earlier flush three-round Berthiers. The en-bloc clip ejecting downward through a cut in the magazine floor remained a distinctive Berthier trait. Many M1916 carbines were later rebuilt during the interwar period for the 7.5x54mm French cartridge as the Mle 1907/15-M34.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Etienne
- Category
- Rifle
- Country
- France
- Status
- Out of production
- Produced
- 1916 to 1918
- Variant of
- Wwi carbine five round
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 453 mm
- Overall length
- 945 mm
- Weight, empty
- 3.25 kg
- Weight, loaded
- 3.35 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Bolt action
- Firing mechanism
- Striker fired
- Trigger
- Two stage
- Capacity
- 5
- Magazine
- En bloc clip
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 640 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 2621 J
- Effective range
- 400 m
- Maximum range
- 2000 m
- Rate of fire
- 20 rpm
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Five round en bloc clip
Bottom clip ejection
Sheet steel magazine cover
Rotating bolt
Two locking lugs
Tangent leaf rear sight
Blade front sight
Straight bolt handle
Full length wooden stock- Side mounted sling bar
Bayonet lug
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 1,612 rifles | 3.25 kg | 3.50 kg | Lighter than about 60% |
| Overall lengthAmong 1,557 rifles | 945 mm | 1080 mm | Shorter than about 80% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 1,659 rifles | 453 mm | 584 mm | Shorter than about 80% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 1,611 rifles | 5 | 5 | Holds more rounds than about 60% |
Answers
Questions about the Berthier M1916
How much does the Berthier M1916 weigh?
The Berthier M1916 weighs 3.25 kg (7.17 lb) empty and 3.35 kg (7.39 lb) loaded.
What caliber is the Berthier M1916?
The Berthier M1916 is chambered in 8x50mmR Lebel.
How many rounds does the Berthier M1916 hold?
The Berthier M1916 holds 5 rounds, fed from an en bloc clip.
How long is the Berthier M1916?
The Berthier M1916 is 945 mm (37.2 in) long overall, with a 453 mm (17.8 in) barrel.
Who makes the Berthier M1916?
The Berthier M1916 is made by Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Etienne (France). It was designed by André Berthier.
When was the Berthier M1916 introduced?
The Berthier M1916 was introduced in 1916 and discontinued in 1918.
How does the Berthier M1916 operate?
The Berthier M1916 uses a bolt action, and its firing mechanism is striker fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- French Army
- 1916
- French Foreign Legion
- 1916
- Free French Forces
- 1940
- Greek Army
- 1940
- Viet Minh
- 1945
Provenance
Confidence in this record
78%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
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Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/berthier-m1916' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "berthier-m1916", "name": "Berthier M1916", "manufacturer": { "id": "mas", "name": "Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Etienne", "countryCode": "FR", "foundedYear": 1764, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-04-05 22:24:37", "updatedAt": "2026-04-05 22:24:37", "version": "87c072fb1be6f40e986a35204e14f677681780f4cc933604551acc79f0df336c" }, "category": { "id": "rifle", "name": "Rifle", "description": "Long-barreled firearms designed for accurate shooting" }, "country_of_origin": "FR", "year_introduced": 1916, "barrel_length_mm": 453, "weight_empty_g": 3250, "action_type": "bolt_action"}