German Military Rifles - Dreyse Needle Gun 1848 (Prussia)

Dreyse Needle Gun 1848 (Prussia)

The Dreyse needle-gun (Nadelgewehr) was a military breechloading rifle, famous as the arm of the Prussians, who adopted it for service in 1848 as the Prussian Model 1848. Its name comes from its needle-like firing pin, which passed through the cartridge case to denonate a percussion cap at the base of the bullet. The Dreyse rifle was also the first breech-loading rifle to use the bolt action to open and close the chamber.

The gun was the invention of the gunsmith Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse, who, beginning in 1824, had conducted multiple experiments, and in 1836 produced the complete needle-gun. From 1848 onwards the gun was gradually introduced into the Prussian service, then later into the military forces of many other German states. The employment of the needle gun radically changed military tactics in the 19th Century.

The needle gun first made its appearance in street fighting in during the May Uprising in Dresden in 1849. It also played an important role in the Danish–German War of 1864. The gun saw its heaviest use in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. Because the breech-loader made it possible for a Prussian soldier to fire five (or more) shots, even while lying on the ground, in the time that it took his Austrian counterpart to fire one (and then reload while standing), it was seen as allowing the Prussians to sweep the field.

The cartridge used with this rifle consisted of the paper case, the bullet, the priming cap and the black powder charge. The 15.4 mm (0.61 in) bullet was shaped like an acorn, with the broader end forming a point. It was glued in a paper case known as a Sabot. Between this inner lining and the outer case was the powder charge, consisting of 4.8 g (74 grains) of black powder. The upper end of the paper case was rolled up and bounded together before the needle could strike the primer which was attached to the base of the bullet; its point then passed through the powder and hit the primer ahead. The theory behind this placement of the primer is that it would give more complete combustion of the charge.

In practice the needle-gun proved to have numerous deficiencies: its effective range was very variable, a significant amount of gas escaped at the breech when the rifle was fired, and a paper cartridge was used. An improved model, giving greater muzzle velocity and increased speed in loading, was introduced later, but this was soon replaced by the Mauser rifle.