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Description
The Dreyse
needle-gun (German
Zündnadelgewehr,
which translates roughly as "needle ignition rifle")
was a military breech-loading rifle, famous as the
main infantry weapon of the Prussians, who adopted
it for service in 1841 as the
Dreyse Zündnadelgewehr,
or Prussian Model 1841. Its name comes from its 13
mm needle-like firing pin, which passed through the
paper cartridge case to impact a percussion cap at
the bullet base. The
Dreyse rifle was also the first breech-loading rifle
to use the bolt action to open and close the
chamber, executed by turning and pulling a bolt
handle. It has a rate of fire of about 10-12 rounds
per minute.
The rifle
was the invention of the gunsmith Johann Nikolaus
von Dreyse (1787–1867), who, beginning in 1824, had
conducted multiple experiments, and in 1836 produced
the complete needle-gun.
Note:
ROF is based upon the weapon being a breech-loader (SS); the range
is based upon the weapon being bolt-action (BA).
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