At a time when armies around the world were still using flintlock and smoothbore rifles on the battlefield, the Prussian Army began experimenting with modern bolt-action rifles and bolt-action rifles. The Dreyse zunadelgewehr, or "needle gun," was a technological marvel of its time and led the way in firearms development. Watch Drais in action in our "American Shooting TV" segment, "I've Got This Old Gun," above.
"In the early 19th century, most military weapons were muzzleloaders and smoothbore muzzleloaders," said Harry James, field editor of American Rifleman magazine . "In 1841, however, a cockroach, Nikolaus von Dreise, came up with a very, very ingenious, self-contained breech-loading firearm."
The first tests carried out in the 1830s compared the modern Dreise cannon with flintlock cannons still in use by the Prussian army at the time, and the results of these tests showed a significant improvement in the accuracy and rate of fire of the Dreise cannon. However, there was a problem with the gun.
"There are serious problems with the Dreise design, and these problems must be overcome before it can become a truly useful military weapon." American Rifleman executive editor Evan Bruno said. "The problem is that this weapon requires the use of a very long firing pin."
The long firing pin, the "needle" referred to in the gun's name, had to pass through a column of black powder inside the gun's paper cartridge to fire.
"The needle actually goes through the powder, enters the capsule and detonates the powder," said Mark Keefe, editorial director of NRA Publications. “Imagine putting a bullet in the holster when you fire a gun. And that is exactly what is happening. Of course, black powder is very caustic. Therefore, the needle hardens under the influence of sunlight. "internal combustion capacity".
Eventually, Dreise developed a quick-change system in which soldiers armed with tipped rifles could quickly change the firing pin even in the heat of battle to keep their weapons firing. Spare sets of needles were issued to Prussian troops along with cartridges.
"Dreise was the primary firearm of the Prussian army during the Franco-Prussian War. "At the time it was 1871. Remember the gun was designed in 1841," James said. "Eventually the Draize was withdrawn from production. There was a sports version. However, once the metal cartridge appeared, all hell broke loose. A very intelligent system. Hell, I’d love to have one from the 1840s or ’50s.”
To watch full episodes of past episodes of American Rifleman TV, visit americanrifleman.org/artv. To watch new episodes of ARTV, tune into Outdoor Channel on Wednesday nights at 8:30 and 11:30 pm ET.
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