NAME – 8x50mmR

NAME (COMMON) – 8mm Lebel, Cartridge, Model 1886 Balle D

TYPE – Rimmed centerfire

YEAR OF INTRODUCTION – 1886 (1898)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN – France

CASE TYPE – Rimmed, tapered, bottlenecked

CARTRIDGE LENGTH – 77.7 mm (3.06 in)

CASING LENGTH – 50.5 mm (1.99 in)

CASE HEAD DIAMETER – 13.7 mm (0.542 in)

CASE RIM DIAMETER – 15.99 mm (0.629 in)

BULLET TYPE – Solid bronze pointed ball (90% Brass, 10% Zinc)

BULLET DIAMETER – 8.28 mm (0.326 in)

BULLET WEIGHT – 12.80 g (197.6 grains)

POWDER WEIGHT – 3.00 g (46.3 grains)

CASING WEIGHT – 11.81 g (182.3 grains)

TOTAL ROUND WEIGHT – 27.62 g (426.2 grains)

MUZZLE VELOCITY – 725 m/s (2380 fps)

NOMINAL BARREL LENGTH – 79.8 cm (31.4 in)

MUZZLE ENERGY – 3770 j (2486 ft/lb)

     Developed in 1886 as the first military cartridge designed for use with smokeless powder, the original (232 grain) Balle M round-nosed bullet was replaced in 1898 with the Balle D, a solid bronze projectile. It was the Balle D that served the French military through World War I and into the 1930s.