Dreyse needle gun


            https://term.museum-digital.de/md-de/tag/13558

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Note: The Dreyse needle-gun was a ground-breaking 19th-century military breechloading rifle. The gun, which was the first breech-loading rifle to use a bolt action to open and close the chamber, was the main infantry weapon of the Prussians in the Wars of German Unification. It was invented in 1836 by the German gunsmith Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse (1787–1867) who had been conducting numerous design experiments since 1824.

The name "ignition needle rifle" (German: Zündnadelgewehr) was taken from its firing pin because it passed like a needle through the paper cartridge to strike a percussion cap at the base of the bullet. However, to disguise its innovative design, the rifle entered military service in 1841 as the "leichtes Perkussionsgewehr Modell 1841" (English: Light Percussion Rifle Model 1841). It had a rate of fire of about six rounds per minute.

[Last update: 2023/08/26]