Quote:
Originally Posted by Vespers War
8mm Lebel didn't start being replaced until 1936, and was only slightly more obsolete than .303 British (which was also a rimmed cartridge converted from black powder to smokeless that didn't work well in self-loading actions).
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The French started replacing 8mm Lebel in machine guns in the mid 1920's with a new 7.5mm round that worked much better in autoloading weapons.
The Bren had a larger magazine than the Chauchat but wasn't nearly as curved, a clear indication the .303 wasn't nearly as obsolete as the 8mm.
I know the flaws of the cartridge (and the Lebel rifle) weren't the fault of the French designers; they were given an incredibly short amount of time to come up with a working rifle (as it was feared that if development took too long, France would quickly lose it's edge of smokeless powder). It only gained them a few years, as in 1889 the superior Mauser rifle was released.