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Barrett M95

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68-572: The Barrett M95 is a bolt-action rifle chambered in .50 BMG (12.7×99mm), and manufactured by Barrett Firearms Company . It has been adopted by a number of militaries around the world. The M95 is an improved version of the earlier Barrett M90 . It is a bolt-action rifle in a bullpup design. The major difference between the M95 and the M90 is that the pistol grip and trigger have been moved forward 1 inch (25 mm) for better magazine clearance. Also,

136-480: A firing pin consisting of a long needle driven by a coiled conchoidal spring that fired the internal percussion cap on the base of the sabot . His adoption of the bolt-action breech-loading principle combined with this igniter system gave the rifle its military potential, as these factors allowed a much faster rate of fire. After successful testing in 1840, the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV ordered 60,000 of

204-410: A percussion cap at the base of the bullet . However, to conceal the revolutionary nature of the design, the rifle entered military service in 1841 as the leichtes Perkussionsgewehr Modell 1841 ( transl.  Light Percussion Rifle Model 1841 ). It had a rate of fire of about six rounds per minute. The first types of needle gun made by Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse were muzzle-loading, with

272-464: A "cock on open" system. Although this bolt system has been rarely used in commercial sporting rifles (the Vostok brand target rifles being the most recognized) and has never been exported outside of Russia, although large numbers of military surplus Mosin–Nagant rifles have been sporterized for use as hunting rifles in the following years since the end of World War II. The Swing was developed in 1970 in

340-555: A bolt-action shotgun, albeit one designed to be attached to an M16 rifle or M4 carbine using an underbarrel mount (although with the standalone kit, the MASS can become a standalone weapon). Mossberg 12-gauge bolt-action shotguns were briefly popular in Australia after the 1997 changes to firearms laws , but the shotguns themselves were awkward to operate and had only a three-round magazine, thus offering no practical or real advantages over

408-410: A conventional double-barreled shotgun. Some pistols use a bolt-action system, although this is uncommon, and such examples are typically specialized hunting and target handguns. Most of the bolt-action designs use a rotating bolt (or "turn pull") design, which involves the shooter doing an upward "rotating" movement of the handle to unlock the bolt from the breech and cock the firing pin , followed by

476-475: A firing mechanism without a hammer , but there are some hammer-fired models, such as the Merkel Helix. Firearms using a hammer usually have a comparably longer lock time than hammerless mechanisms. In the sport of biathlon , because shooting speed is an important performance factor and semi-automatic guns are illegal for race use, straight pull actions are quite common and are used almost exclusively in

544-590: A gravity-operated tubular magazine in the stock. Another more well-known bolt-action repeating rifle was the Vetterli rifle of 1867 and the first bolt-action repeating rifle to use centerfire cartridges was the weapon designed by the Viennese gunsmith Ferdinand Fruwirth in 1871. Ultimately, the military turned to bolt-action rifles using a box magazine ; the first of its kind was the M1885 Remington–Lee , but

612-627: A metallic cartridge's powder charge – were invented in the 1860s as well, the Berdan and the Boxer systems. The United States purchased 900 Greene rifles (an under hammer, percussion capped, single-shot bolt-action that used paper cartridges and an ogival bore rifling system) in 1857, which saw service at the Battle of Antietam in 1862, during the American Civil War ; however, this weapon

680-594: A rearward "pull" to open the breech, extract the spent cartridge case, then reverse the whole process to chamber the next cartridge and relock the breech. There are four major turn bolt-action designs: the Remington M-700 , possibly the single most numerous produced rifle in history which is now also used as basis for most custom competition rifle actions, along with the Mauser system, the Lee–Enfield system, and

748-478: A rotating bolt design. Johann Nicholas von Dreyse 's rifle of 1838 was accepted into service by Prussia in 1841, which was in turn developed into the Prussian Model in 1849. The design was a single shot breech-loader and had the now familiar arm sticking out from the side of the bolt, to turn and open the chamber . The entire reloading sequence was a more complex procedure than later designs, however, as

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816-509: A separate bolthead that rotates with the bolt and the bearing lugs, in contrast to the Mauser system where the bolthead is a non-removable part of the bolt. The Mosin–Nagant is also unlike the Lee–Enfield system where the bolthead remains stationary and the bolt body itself rotates. The Mosin–Nagant bolt is a somewhat complicated affair, but is extremely rugged and durable; like the Mauser, it uses

884-430: A single lethal shot from a safe distance. Target shooters favour single-shot bolt actions for their simplicity of design, reliability, and accuracy. Bolt-action shotguns are considered a rarity among modern firearms but were formerly a commonly used action for .410 entry-level shotguns, as well as for low-cost 12- gauge shotguns. The M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System (MASS) is the most recent and advanced example of

952-539: A specific weapon's type of action. However, both straight pull and rotating bolt rifles are types of bolt-action rifles. Lever-action and pump-action weapons must still operate the bolt, but they are usually grouped separately from bolt-actions that are operated by a handle directly attached to a rotating bolt. Early bolt-action designs, such as the Dreyse needle gun and the Mauser Model 1871 , locked by dropping

1020-783: A trigger derived from the Finnish Mantari, the Swing was commercially successful, with the basic design reused in the Paramount, RPA Quadlock and Millenium rifles. The Vetterli rifle was the first bolt-action repeating rifle introduced by an army. It was used by the Swiss army from 1869 to circa 1890. Modified Vetterlis were also used by the Italian Army . Another notable design is the Norwegian Krag–Jørgensen , which

1088-525: Is that it is usually loaded by hand, one round at a time, although a box-like device was made that could drop five rounds into the magazine, all at once via a stripper or en bloc clip. This made it slower to reload than other designs which used stripper or en bloc clips. Another historically important bolt-action system was the Gras system, used on the French Mle 1874 Gras rifle , Mle 1886 Lebel rifle (which

1156-413: Is the straight-pull mechanism, where no upward handle-turning is needed and the bolt unlocks automatically when the handle is pulled rearwards by the user's hand. The first bolt-action rifle was produced in 1824 by Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse , following work on breechloading rifles that dated to the 18th century. Von Dreyse would perfect his Nadelgewehr (Needle Rifle) by 1836, and it was adopted by

1224-487: Is the most common bolt-action system in the world, being in use in nearly all modern hunting rifles and the majority of military bolt-action rifles until the middle of the 20th century. The Mauser system is stronger than that of the Lee–Enfield system, due to two locking lugs just behind the bolt head, which make it better able to handle higher-pressure cartridges (i.e. magnum cartridges ). The 9.3×64mm Brenneke and 8×68mm S magnum rifle cartridge "families" were designed for

1292-707: Is used for military and law enforcement applications in at least 15 other countries. Bolt-action Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by directly manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle , most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the firearm (as most users are right-handed ). The majority of bolt-action firearms are rifles , but there are also some variants of shotguns and handguns that are bolt-action. Bolt-action firearms are generally repeating firearms , but many single-shot designs are available particularly in shooting sports where single-shot firearms are mandated, such as most Olympic and ISSF rifle disciplines. From

1360-529: The Biathlon World Cup . The first company to make the straight pull action for .22 caliber was J. G. Anschütz ; Peter Fortner junior designed the "Fortner Action", which was incorporated into the Anschütz 1827 Fortner . The Fortner action is specifically the straight-pull ball bearing lock action, which features spring-loaded ball bearings on the side of the bolt which lock into a groove inside

1428-668: The May Uprising in Dresden in 1849. Many German states subsequently adopted the weapon. The Sömmerda factory could not meet demand and produced only 30,000 rifles a year. Most of the Prussian infantry in the 1850s were still equipped with the obsolete 1839 Model Potsdam musket , a smoothbore weapon whose range and accuracy was far inferior to the French Minié and Austrian Lorenz rifle . The Prussian Army's low level of funding resulted in just 90 battalions being equipped with

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1496-563: The Mosin–Nagant system. All four differ in the way the bolt fits into the receiver, how the bolt rotates as it is being operated, the number of locking lugs holding the bolt in place as the gun is fired, and whether the action is cocked on the opening of the bolt (as in both the Mauser system and the Mosin Nagant system) or the closing of the bolt (as in the Lee–Enfield system). The vast majority of modern bolt-action rifles were made for

1564-584: The Prussian Army in 1841. While it saw limited service in the German Revolutions of 1848 , it was not fielded widely until the 1864 victory over Denmark . In 1850 a metallic centerfire bolt-action breechloader was patented by Béatus Beringer. In 1852 another metallic centerfire bolt-action breechloader was patented by Joseph Needham and improved upon in 1862 with another patent. Two different systems for primers –the mechanism to ignite

1632-462: The bolt handle has been redesigned and bent down and to the rear, the barrel chamber has been plated in chrome, and there are also some minor changes to the trigger and firing pin . In 1999, the M95 won a military competition to become the new XM107. A small number were purchased by the U.S. Army for further testing, but ultimately, the M82 was chosen. The Barrett website also announces that M95 rifle

1700-399: The firing pin had to be independently primed and activated, and the lever was used only to move the bolt. [REDACTED] Media related to Bolt action (firearms) at Wikimedia Commons Dreyse needle gun The Dreyse needle-gun was a 19th-century military breech-loading rifle , as well as the first breech-loading rifle to use a bolt action to open and close the chamber. It

1768-438: The percussion 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 and the primer attached to its base. The bullet was held in a paper case known as a sabot, which separated from the bullet as it exited the muzzle. 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

1836-873: The rate of fire of the gun. In 1993, the German Blaser company introduced the Blaser R93 , a new straight pull action where locking is achieved by a series of concentric "claws" that protrude/retract from the bolthead, a design that is referred to as Radialbundverschluss ("radial connection"). As of 2017 the Rifle Shooter magazine listed its successor Blaser R8 as one of the three most popular straight pull rifles together with Merkel Helix and Browning Maral. Some other notable modern straight pull rifles are made by Beretta , C.G. Haenel , Chapuis , Heym , Lynx , Rößler , Savage Arms , Strasser, and Steel Action. Most straight bolt rifles have

1904-424: The striker within the bolt (either on opening or closing of the bolt depending on the gun design) and engages it against the sear . When the bolt is returned to the forward position, a new cartridge (if available) is pushed out of the magazine and into the barrel chamber , and finally the breech is closed tight by rotating the handle down so the bolt head relocks on the receiver. A less common bolt-action type

1972-567: The 19th century, as a Prussian soldier could fire five (or more) shots, even while lying on the ground, in the time that it took his Austrian muzzle-loading counterpart to reload while standing. Production was ramped up after the war against Austria and when the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, the Prussian Army had 1,150,000 needle guns in its inventory. In 1867, Romania purchased 20,000 rifles and 11,000 carbines from

2040-585: The British trials, the Dreyse was shown to be capable of six rounds per minute, and to maintain accuracy at 800–1,200 yards (730–1,100 m). The trials suggested that the Dreyse was "too complicated and delicate" for service use. The French carabine à tige muzzle-loading rifle was judged to be a better weapon, and an improved version was adopted as the Pattern 1851 Minié-type muzzle-loading rifle. After

2108-531: The M10 and No 4 Mk IV rifles manufactured by Australian International Arms. Rifle Factory Ishapore of India manufactures a hunting and sporting rifle chambered in .315 which also employs the Lee Enfield action. The Mosin–Nagant action, created in 1891 and named after the designers Sergei Mosin and Léon Nagant , differs significantly from the Mauser and Lee–Enfield bolt-action designs. The Mosin–Nagant design has

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2176-529: The Mauser M 98 bolt-action. A novel safety feature was the introduction of a third locking lug present at the rear of the bolt that normally did not lock the bolt, since it would introduce asymmetrical locking forces. The Mauser system features "cock on opening", meaning the upward rotation of the bolt when the rifle is opened cocks the action. A drawback of the Mauser M 98 system is that it cannot be cheaply mass-produced very easily. Many Mauser M 98-inspired derivatives feature technical alterations, such as omitting

2244-624: The Prussian army received a 25% increase in funding and was reformed by Wilhelm I , Albrecht von Roon and Helmuth von Moltke the Elder from 1859 to 1863, the Dreyse needle gun played an important role in the Austro-Prussian victory in the Second Schleswig War against Denmark in 1864. The introduction of cast steel barrels made industrial mass production of the weapon possible in the early 1860s. The new 1862 model and

2312-467: The Prussian government. These were used to great effect in the Romanian War of Independence . Sometime in the late 1860s, Japan acquired an unknown number of Model 1862 rifles and bayonets. These were marked with the imperial chrysanthemum stamp. China also acquired Dreyse rifles for the modernisation of their armed forces. The cartridge used with this rifle consisted of the paper case, the bullet,

2380-614: The United Kingdom as a purpose-built target rifle for use in NRA competition. Fullbore target rifle competitions historically used accurised examples of the prevailing service rifle, but it was felt these had reached the end of their development potential. The Swing bolt featured four lugs on the bolt head, at 45 degrees when closed - splitting the difference between the vertically locking Mauser and horizontally locking Enfield bolt designs. Supplied with Schultz & Larsen barrels and

2448-600: The barrel, making cleaning necessary after about 60–80 shots. This was not 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 its chamber had a smaller diameter.) A soldier trained before the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 had to finish field cleaning in less than 10 minutes. [REDACTED]   This article incorporates text from

2516-472: The bolt ahead of the lugs may flex on firing which, although a safety advantage with repeated firing over time, this may lead to a stretched receiver and excessive headspacing, which if perceived as a problem can be remedied by changing the removable bolt head to a larger sized one (the Lee–Enfield bolt manufacture involved a mass production method where at final assembly the bolt body was fitted with one of three standard size bolt heads for correct headspace ). In

2584-462: The bolt cocks the action. This enables a shooter to keep eyes on sights and targets uninterrupted when cycling the bolt. The ability of the bolt to flex between the lugs and chamber, which also keeps the shooter safer in case of a catastrophic chamber overpressure failure. The disadvantage of the rearward-located bolt lugs is that a larger part of the receiver, between chamber and lugs, must be made stronger and heavier to resist stretching forces. Also,

2652-468: The bolt handle or bolt guide rib into a notch in the receiver , this method is still used in .22 rimfire rifles. The most common locking method is a rotating bolt with two lugs on the bolt head, which was used by the Lebel Model 1886 rifle , Model 1888 Commission Rifle , Mauser M 98 , Mosin–Nagant and most bolt-action rifles. The Lee–Enfield has a lug and guide rib, which lock on the rear end of

2720-407: The bolt in addition to the linear motions to perform chambering and primary extraction . The bolt locking of a straight pull action is achieved differently without needing manual inputs, therefore the entire operating cycle needs the shooter to perform only two movements (pull back and push forward), instead of four movements (rotate up, pull back, push forward, and rotate down), this greatly increases

2788-432: The bolt in place. The operation can be done via a rotating bolt , a lever, cam action, a locking piece, or a number of systems. Straight pull designs have seen a great deal of use, though manual turn bolt designs are what is most commonly thought of in reference to a bolt-action design due to the type ubiquity. As a result, the bolt-action term is often reserved for more modern types of rotating bolt designs when talking about

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2856-409: The bolt into the receiver. The bolt knob is the part of the bolt handle that the user grips when loading and reloading the firearm and thereby acts as a cocking handle . On many older firearms, the bolt knob is welded to the bolt handle, and as such becoming an integral part of the bolt handle itself. On many newer firearms, the bolt knob is instead threaded onto the handle, allowing the user to change

2924-420: The bolt's housing. With the new design came a new dry fire method; instead of the bolt being turned up slightly, the action is locked back to catch the firing pin. The action was later used in the centre-fire Heym SR 30 . Typically, the bolt consists of a tube of metal inside of which the firing mechanism is housed, and which has at the front or rear of the tube several metal knobs, or "lugs", which serve to lock

2992-465: The cartridge, since it is virtually impossible to set the primer off accidentally. There was also a blank cartridge developed for the needle gun. It was shorter and lighter than the live round, since it lacked the projectile, but was otherwise similar in construction and powder load. British trials in 1849–1851 showed that: Its effective range was less than that of the Chassepot , against which it

3060-477: The commercial market post-war, numbering in the tens of millions by Remington in the unique, and most accurate Model 700, two of the others use the Mauser system, with other designs such as the Lee–Enfield system and the Mosin Nagant system, of only limited usage. The Mauser bolt-action system is based on 19th-century Mauser bolt-action rifle designs and was finalized in the Gewehr 98 designed by Paul Mauser . It

3128-413: The design's inherent potential for superior accuracy and precision , as well as ruggedness and reliability compared to self-loading designs. Most bolt-action firearms use a rotating bolt operation, where the handle must first be rotated upward to unlock the bolt from the receiver , then pulled back to open the breech and allowing any spent cartridge case to be extracted and ejected. This also cocks

3196-511: The enhanced M/55 ammunition type expedited the use and widespread adoption of the weapon in the 1860s. The success of German private industry in delivering the necessary amount of armaments for the army marked the definite end of government-owned army workshops . The Prussian Army infantry had 270,000 Dreyse needle guns by the outbreak of the Austro-Prussian War in 1866. The employment of the needle-gun changed military tactics in

3264-451: The existing bolt handle. These are often made of either rubber or plastic. Most bolt-action firearms are fed by an internal magazine loaded by hand, by en bloc , or by stripper clips , though a number of designs have had a detachable magazine or independent magazine, or even no magazine at all, thus requiring that each round be independently loaded. Generally, the magazine capacity is limited to between two and ten rounds, as it can permit

3332-414: The faster rate of fire that all semi-automatic rifle alternatives allow. There are, however, many semi-automatic rifle designs used especially in the designated marksman role. Today, bolt-action rifles are chiefly used as hunting and target rifles. These rifles can be used to hunt anything from vermin to deer and to large game , especially big game caught on a safari , as they are adequate to deliver

3400-400: The firing needle was enclosed in black powder when the gun was fired, causing stress to the pin, which could break over time and render the rifle useless until it could be replaced. Soldiers were provided with two replacement needles for that purpose. The needle could be easily replaced in under 30 seconds, even in the field. Because the rifle used black powder, residue accumulated at the back of

3468-423: The first to be generally adopted was the British 1888 Lee–Metford . World War I marked the height of the bolt-action rifle's use, with all of the nations in that war fielding troops armed with various bolt-action designs. During the buildup prior to World War II , the military bolt-action rifle began to be superseded by semi-automatic rifles and later fully automatic rifles , though bolt-action rifles remained

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3536-417: The front of the charge is wasted, as it is forced down and out of the barrel and burns in the air as muzzle flash. It also ensures that the whole charge burns under the highest possible pressure, theoretically minimising unburnt residues. Consequently, a smaller charge can be used to obtain the same velocity as a rear-ignited charge of the same bullet calibre and weight. It also increases the handling security of

3604-711: The late 19th century all the way through both World Wars , bolt-action rifles were the standard infantry service weapons for most of the world's military forces, with the exception of the United States Armed Forces , who used the M1 Garand Semi-automatic rifle . In modern military and law enforcement after the Second World War, bolt-action firearms have been largely replaced by semi-automatic and selective-fire firearms, and have remained only as sniper rifles due to

3672-468: The magazine to be flush with the bottom of the rifle, reduce the weight, or prevent mud and dirt from entering. A number of bolt-actions have a tube magazine , such as along the length of the barrel. In weapons other than large rifles, such as pistols and cannons , there were some manually operated breech-loading weapons. However, the Dreyse Needle fire rifle was the first breech loader to use

3740-575: The metallic cartridge bolt-action Gras rifle in 1874. European armies continued to develop bolt-action rifles through the latter half of the 19th century, first adopting tubular magazines as on the Kropatschek rifle and the Lebel rifle . The first bolt-action repeating rifle was patented in Britain in 1855 by an unidentified inventor through the patent agent Auguste Edouard Loradoux Bellford using

3808-580: The new rifles. Dreyse set up the Dreyse-Zündnadel factory in Sömmerda with the help of state loans to ramp up production. It was accepted for service in 1841 as the leichtes Perkussionsgewehr Model 1841 , but only 45,000 units had been produced by 1848. It was used in combat for the first time during the German revolutions of 1848–49 and proved its combat superiority in street fighting during

3876-845: The original bolt knob for an aftermarket one, either for aesthetical reasons, achieving better grip or similar. The type of threads used vary between firearms. European firearms often use either M6 1 or M8 1.25 threads, for example M6 is used on the SIG Sauer 200 STR , Blaser R93 , Blaser R8 , CZ 457 and Bergara rifles, while M8 is used on the Sako TRG and SIG Sauer 404 . Many American firearms instead use 1/4" 28 TPI (6.35 0.907 mm) or 5/16" 24 TPI (7.9375 1.058 mm) threads. Some other thread types are also used, for example, No. 10 32 TPI (4.826 0.794 mm) as used by Mausingfield. There also exists aftermarket slip-on bolt handle covers which are mounted without having to remove

3944-404: The paper case is rolled up and tied. Upon release of the trigger, the point of the needle pierces the rear of the cartridge, passes through the powder and hits the primer fixed to the base of the sabot. Thus the burn-front in the black powder charge passes from the front to the rear. This front-to-rear burn pattern minimizes the effect seen in rear-igniting cartridges where a portion of the powder at

4012-473: The primary weapon of most of the combatants for the duration of the war; and many American units, especially the USMC , used bolt-action M1903 Springfield rifles until sufficient numbers of M1 Garand rifles were made available. The bolt-action is still common today among many sniper rifles , as the design has the potential for superior accuracy, reliability, reduced weight, and the ability to control loading over

4080-597: The third locking lug and feature a "cock on closing" operation. The Lee–Enfield bolt-action system was introduced in 1889 with the Lee–Metford and later Lee–Enfield rifles (the bolt system is named after the designer James Paris Lee and the barrel rifling after the Royal Small Arms Factory in the London Borough of Enfield ), and is a "cock on closing" action in which the forward thrust of

4148-549: The third safety locking lug, to simplify production. The controlled-feed on the Mauser M 98 bolt-action system is simple, strong, safe, and well-thought-out design that has inspired other military and sporting rifle designs that became available during the 20th century, including the: Versions of the Mauser action designed prior to the Gewehr 98's introduction, such as that of the Swedish Mauser rifles and carbines, lack

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4216-531: The weapon in 1855. Dreyse consented to state manufacture of the rifle to increase production. The Royal Prussian Rifle Factory at the Spandau Arsenal began production in 1853, followed by Danzig , Saarn  [ de ] and Erfurt . At first, the Spandau factory produced 12,000 Dreyse needle guns a year, rising to 48,000 in 1867. The British Army evaluated the Dreyse needle gun in 1849–1851. In

4284-406: The years leading up to World War II, the Lee–Enfield bolt system was used in numerous commercial sporting and hunting rifles manufactured by such firms in the United Kingdom as BSA, LSA, and Parker–Hale, as well as by SAF Lithgow in Australia. Vast numbers of ex-military SMLE Mk III rifles were sporterised post WWII to create cheap, effective hunting rifles, and the Lee–Enfield bolt system is used in

4352-478: Was fielded during the Franco-Prussian War. This was mainly because a sizable amount of gas escaped at the breech when the rifle was fired with a paper cartridge . An improved model, giving greater muzzle velocity and increased speed in loading, was introduced later, but it was replaced shortly thereafter by the Mauser Model 1871 rifle. The placement of the primer directly behind the bullet meant

4420-467: Was the first to introduce ammunition loaded with nitrocellulose-based smokeless powder ), and the Berthier series of rifles. Straight-pull bolt-actions differ from conventional turn-pull bolt-action mechanisms in that the bolt can be cycled back and forward without rotating the handle and thus only a linear motion is required, as opposed to a traditional bolt-action, where the user has to axially rotate

4488-539: Was ultimately considered too complicated for issue to soldiers and was supplanted by the Springfield Model 1861 , a conventional muzzle loading rifle. During the American Civil War, the bolt-action Palmer carbine was patented in 1863, and by 1865, 1000 were purchased for use as cavalry weapons. The French Army adopted its first bolt-action rifle, the Chassepot rifle , in 1866 and followed with

4556-572: Was used as 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 based on its firing pin , since it passed like a needle through the paper cartridge to strike

4624-644: Was used by Norway, Denmark, and briefly the United States. It is unusual among bolt-action rifles in that is loaded through a gate on the right side of the receiver, and thus can be reloaded without opening the bolt. The Norwegian and Danish versions of the Krag have two locking lugs, while the American version has only one. In all versions, the bolt handle itself serves as an emergency locking lug. The Krag's major disadvantage compared to other bolt-action designs

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