Berthier Mle 1916
- Category
- Rifle
- Barrel
- 797 mm
- Weight, empty
- 3.80 kg
- Introduced
- 1916
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Berthier Mle 1916 is a French bolt-action service rifle designed by Émile Berthier and adopted in 1916 to address the limited 3-round magazine capacity of the earlier Mle 1907/15. Chambered in 8x50mmR Lebel and fed by a 5-round en-bloc clip through a spring-loaded trapdoor magazine, it remained in widespread French service through WWI and into the early years of WWII. The Berthier system was simpler and faster to manufacture than the tube-magazine Lebel rifle and saw production at French state arsenals as well as Remington Arms in the United States.
The Berthier 1916's clip-loaded 5-round magazine was a direct response to French troops' bitter complaints from the trenches: their 3-round Berthiers were being out-shot by German Mausers, and soldiers begged for any rifle that didn't need to be reloaded so often.
The Mle 1916 was a direct response to the manifest inadequacy of the 3-round Mle 1907/15 against German rifles with 5-round capacity. Many were later modernized to the M34 standard in 7.5x54mm French.
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 1940
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 797 mm
- Overall length
- 1306 mm
- Weight, empty
- 3.80 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Bolt action
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Trigger
- Single 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
- 716 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 3280 J
- Effective range
- 400 m
- Maximum range
- 2000 m
- Rate of fire
- 15 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.
Spring loaded trapdoor magazine
Iron sights
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 | 3.80 kg | 3.50 kg | Heavier than about 60% |
| Overall lengthAmong 1,557 rifles | 1306 mm | 1080 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 1,659 rifles | 797 mm | 584 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 1,611 rifles | 5 | 5 | Holds more rounds than about 60% |
Answers
Questions about the Berthier Mle 1916
How much does the Berthier Mle 1916 weigh?
The Berthier Mle 1916 weighs 3.80 kg (8.38 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Berthier Mle 1916?
The Berthier Mle 1916 is chambered in 8x50mmR Lebel.
How many rounds does the Berthier Mle 1916 hold?
The Berthier Mle 1916 holds 5 rounds, fed from an en bloc clip.
How long is the Berthier Mle 1916?
The Berthier Mle 1916 is 1306 mm (51.4 in) long overall, with a 797 mm (31.4 in) barrel.
Who makes the Berthier Mle 1916?
The Berthier Mle 1916 is made by Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Etienne (France). It was designed by Émile Berthier.
When was the Berthier Mle 1916 introduced?
The Berthier Mle 1916 was introduced in 1916 and discontinued in 1940.
How does the Berthier Mle 1916 operate?
The Berthier Mle 1916 uses a bolt action, and its firing mechanism is hammer 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
- United States Army
- 1917
- Polish Armed Forces
- 1919
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.
List a firearmMCP
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-mle-1916' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "berthier-mle-1916", "name": "Berthier Mle 1916", "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": 797, "weight_empty_g": 3800, "action_type": "bolt_action"}