the berthier design began as the "mousquetons berthier" - a series of bolt-action cavalry and artillery carbines with distinctly different actions from the mle 1886/m93 8mm lebel rifle. for instance, the berthier carbine's bolt lugs lock vertically into the receiver instead of horizontally as in the lebel rifle. berthier carbines were first issued in 1890 and 1892, and had been designed by emile berthier, an engineer at the french algerian railways,to be used with standard 8mm lebel ammunition.