Dreyse needle gun

A Prussian breech-loading rifle developed by Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse, using a paper cartridge and a long firing needle to ignite its primer.

Breechloader: A firearm loaded through an opening at the rear of its barrel. The Dreyse was an early military example of loading ammunition at the breech.
Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse: A German gunsmith and inventor who developed the needle gun. His design and manufacturing work produced the rifle.
Second Schleswig War: A 1864 war between Denmark and an alliance of Prussia and Austria over Schleswig and Holstein. Prussian troops used the Dreyse in combat during this early test of breech-loading tactics.
Prussian military reforms: A series of 19th-century reforms that strengthened Prussia’s army and its capacity for rapid mobilization. The needle gun complemented a reformed force trained to exploit rapid, dispersed fire.
Paper cartridge: A packaged firearm charge in which paper holds the propellant and, in some designs, the projectile and primer. Its combustible cartridge combined the Dreyse’s propellant and bullet for loading.
Prussian Army: The land forces of the Kingdom of Prussia before German unification. It adopted the Dreyse and made the rifle a defining Prussian weapon.
Battle of Königgrätz: The decisive 1866 battle in which Prussia defeated Austria. The Dreyse’s rapid loading helped Prussian infantry sustain fire during the campaign’s decisive battle.
Fire and movement: A military tactic in which one element suppresses an enemy while another advances. The rifle’s faster reloading supported infantry tactics built around sustained fire and movement.
Needle gun: A firearm whose long firing pin or needle pierces a cartridge to ignite its primer. The Dreyse belongs to this class, defined by its needle ignition system.
Zündnadelgewehr M/41: The Prussian military needle rifle model adopted in 1841. This formal model designation identifies the rifle’s original Prussian service pattern.

Linked from 9 pages