Modele 1890 Berthier Cuirassier Carbine

Hi guys, thanks for tuning into another video on forgotten weapons com I'm ian McCallum and today We're taking a look at another early french. Cavalry Carbine however this isn't just for any old guy on a horse This is specifically for the "Cuirassiers" these were the french heavy cavalry that were equipped with Fancy Metal plumed Helmets and Fancy Shiny Metal Breastplate, the cuirasse and These cuirasse had been introduced in 1855 and at the time it was actually a pretty decent piece of armor It was great against swords And it would even be effective against a pistol a black-Powder pistol bullet or even a rifle bullet at sufficient range So it made sense and these guys were they were fancy. They were very prestigious there was a lot of a lot of honour in being a Cuirassier and in 1890 when the French adopted the Berthier cavalry carbine This guy. They decided to make a version of it for Specifically for the Cuirassiers. There are a couple things that they had to do differently for these guys because of their armor So they had a helmet had this kind of scaled cheek piece That made it difficult to get a good cheek weld on a standard rifle or carbine and they also are wearing this slick metal Breastplate so if you have a metal butt plate on the gun, and you're wearing a chunk of metal Nothing's just going to slip around an awful lot so The version of the cavalry Carbine that they made for these guys Had no comb on the stock so that they could actually get a cheek weld on it with their helmets And it had a leather buttplate We'll take a closer look at that in just a moment But the idea was leather would be kind of sticky and it would actually stay in place on The the metal armor much better than the standard butt plate would So other than that these carbines are identical to the standard Cavalry Carbine, they use the same three round enblock clip. They're still chambered for the eight millimeter Lebel cartridge Sights are the same the stock is basically the same They don't have bayonet lugs because these guys were equipped with Sabers or lances And they didn't need an edged weapon on the rifle This was in fact in some ways this was actually considered a backup weapon so our markings on this rifle are pretty typical with the exception of the fact that someone for some reason ground off the manufacturers mark on this particular one it would have originally said Châtellerault, because all of the Cuirassiers carbines were made by Châtellerault We have a serial number and controller and inspection stamps up here because these are made by Châtellerault They have an A prefix on the serial number and they run from 1 to 20,000 The rear sight is totally standard exactly the same as a normal cavalry carbine However this one has been mildly sporterised. It should not have this sling swivel, originally just like the first model of cavalry carbines these would have had a ring on the side of The front band here to connect to a sling swivel on the bottom of the butt So this sling swivel is not the exact right style But it is in the right place there would have been a sling swivel here, and in that ring Also, originally these were set up with the same clearing Rod That was in the cavalry carbines on this one the Rod has been removed or lost at some point and the slot has been filled in I believe that was done by the same person who modified the sling swivels This was a modification. That was not done until 27 on standard French Decree, but all of the Cuirassiers carbines had been removed and rebuilt by 1920 or shortly after 1920 so I don't believe that this is an original French modification Now the interesting bit here is this leather butt plate It is two pieces of leather held in place by three wood screws those screws are actually glued into the stock To make sure that they don't come out interestingly and there was one prototype that I saw where they actually had a Slot that was kind of pressed into the butt plate where it would fit on a reinforcing bar on the 1855 cuirasse Or fit on the the edge at the the arm hole on the cuirasse that was not adopted ultimately But it's interesting that they experimented with it. That would have held the butt plate In place even better when firing but I guess they decided not necessary, but there's the standard leather plate And when comparing the buttstock to a stAndard cavalry carbine you can obviously the difference the comb here has been removed So you get a cheek weld with that helmet So what's really interesting about these? I think is how they were actually used because as we all would expect today guys in in Shiny metal armor charging on Horseback are like the stereotypical first guys to get massacred in World War one and The French weren't idiots they figured this out and by 1915 all of the cavalry units had been redeployed as infantry, but because of the heritage of the units and the pride of Being in one of these very elite units they actually went into the trenches in all of their cavalry gear, so when the Cuirassiers in 1915 headed into to replace infantry in the trenches they did so wearing metal helmets and wearing metal breast plates and Those actually weren't totally useless and because they had those they also took their standard carbines And it was in that way with those those first cavalry units getting into the trenches that the french really recognized just how handy and effective a little short carbine like this would be in the trenches this would of course lead to a heavy use of 1916 Pattern Carbines later in the War The French really adopted and used the carbine more than any other service And it's because they had these cavalry guys jumping into the trenches relatively early in the war, so I think that's really cool There were only 20,000 of these made in the first place back in 1891 And it is extremely rare to find them today there's only a handful of them known outside of museums, so this one's not quite perfect as we discussed but Very cool to find one in its original condition No, I should say I during the war It was authorized whenever one of these guns got damaged They would rebuild it as a standard 1892 Pattern with a normal stock and a bayonet lug And then after the war in I believe 1920 it was decreed that all the rest of the rifles that were still in inventory in this form Would be taken out and rebuilt as standard model of 1916 Carbines, so that's why they're so scarce to find today Not a whole lot of them made it through the war intact and then of those Basically everything that was left in French inventory was rebuilt So the only ones that survived are ones that came home as souvenirs during the war or just after the war Anyway, if you enjoy this sort of content first off stay tuned because this is part of an ongoing series on French bolt-action rifles And actually french military rifles in general we will continue in a few days with the next updated version of the Berthier If you like this do also consider checking out my patreon page It's the support from people there that make it possible for me to do extended series of videos like this one on interesting and less covered topics and if you're a big fan of french rifles and the French military And you think that Some of the jokes just aren't fair well Take a look at the shirt the one that I'm currently wearing actually well filming this is available for a limited time through the forgotten weapons shop and Check it out. There's a link in the description text below. Thanks for watching

Channel: Forgotten Weapons

Views: 74,002

Keywords: Berthier, berthier cuirassier carbine, Berthier carbine, Cuirassier carbines, Cuirassier troops, cavalry carbine, elite heavy cavalry, Modele, 1890, steel breastplates, cuirass, 1855 cuirass, leather buttplate, special adaptations, metal cuirass, Chatellerault arsenal, Lebel rifles, French cavalry, elaborate plumed helmets, History, Forgotten Weapons, cavalry units, ww1, world war 1, trench warfare, french rifle, french carbine, mccollum, development, kasarda, inrange, rifle

Id: qLzn6ByXULk

Length: 7min 55sec (475 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 17 2017