Hi Bill,

I'm no expert on calibres but have it on good authority that the 8mm in question is not the French Lebel round but the 8x54R Mannlicher.

As to these being Lee-Speed rifles well that's a bit of a can of worms, as I know some folks don't consider such rifle to be a 'Lee-Speed' unless it is marked as such. I disagree with this train of thought as the term 'Lee-Speed' was never an official name for these rifles and is just a name we collectors/shooters have adopted. The original term was 'Sporter', so in my mind any earl BSA (or other make) rifle originally manufactured as a sporting rifle using the Lee-Metford action (i.e. the Lee-Speed patents) is indeed a Lee-Speed be it marked or not. A good example is the wonderful 8mm I showed earlier, clearly a Lee-Speed but no marked as such. In fact out of the four such rifles I have only one is actually marked with the Lee-Speed patent details as it is quite early (mid 1890's as I recall).

Hope that makes sense?

Cheers, Roy.