Dreyse Needle Gun - Limitations

Limitations

In practice the needle-gun proved to have numerous defects. Its effective range was very short compared to that of the muzzle-loading rifles of the day, and conspicuously so as against the Chassepot. A significant amount of gas escaped at the breech when the rifle was fired with a paper cartridge, neutralising the advantage gained from the novel front-ignited powder charge. An improved model, giving greater muzzle velocity and increased speed in loading, was introduced later, but this was soon replaced by the Mauser rifle.

Due to the lack of an effective obturation seal, after several shots, the breech would fail to close entirely. This caused the gas escaping from the breech to burn the skin of the soldier. As a result, soldiers could not aim accurately without burning themselves, and were forced to fire from the hip. The placement of the primer directly behind the bullet meant the firing needle was enclosed in black powder when the gun was fired, causing serious stress to the pin, which would often break after as few as 200 rounds had been fired, rendering the rifle useless until the pin could be replaced. Soldiers were provided with two replacement needles for that purpose. Because the rifle used black powder, residue accumulated at the back of the barrel, making cleaning necessary after about 60–80 shots. This was not, in practical terms, a large problem, because the individual soldier carried fewer cartridges than that and Dreyse created an "air chamber" by having a protruding needle tube (the Chassepot also had this, but it was more likely to jam after fewer shots because of its smaller-diameter chamber).