Paul Mauser of Germany took a longer view and in 1888 produced the 7.92 (8x57). Some countries panicked and attempted to rework their existing weapons. The advantages of the Lebel cartridge in the hands of the French immediately struck terror throughout the rest of Europe. At this time, France was under the influence of a power hungry war monger, General Boulanger. In 1886 Colonel Nicholas Lebel of France created the first smokeless small bore cartridge, the 8mm Lebel. The next major discovery was smokeless powder, this new powder created higher velocities, which in turn gave rise to the possibility of using even smaller bores. The 15mm bore diameter appeared during the 1850’s and by the 1870's, 10 and 11mm cartridges were very much in vogue. With the development of the brass case cartridge and breech loading rifle, ballisticians also began experimenting with smaller bores. During the muzzle loading era, the most common bore diameters in Europe ranged between 17 and 18mm.
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