Dreyse needle gun

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (July 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Dreyse needle-gun
M-1841 Dreyse needle-gun
Type	Bolt-action rifle
Place of origin	Kingdom of Prussia
Service history
In service	1841–1876 (Kingdom of Prussia and German Empire)
Used by	Prussia China Romania Khedivate of Egypt Brazil Bavaria Great Britain (trials only) Tokugawa Shogunate[1][non-primary source needed] French auxiliary army
Wars	List German revolutions of 1848–49 Platine War Taiping Rebellion[2] Second Schleswig War Paraguayan War Austro-Prussian War Boshin War[1][non-primary source needed] Franco-Prussian war Dungan Revolt (1862–1877) Romanian War of Independence Second Franco-Dahomean War[3] First Sino-Japanese War[4][full citation needed]
Production history
Designer	Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse
Designed	From 1824
No. built	1,375,000+[5]
Variants	Zündnadelgewehr M/41[6] Zündnadelbüchse M/49[6] Zündnadelbüchse (Pikenbüchse) M/54[6] Zündnadelkarabiner M/55 and M/57[6] Füsiliergewehr M/60[6] Zündnadelgewehr M/62[6] Zündnadelbüchse M/65[6] Zündnadelpioniergewehr U/M (modified model)[6] Zündnadelpioniergewehr M/69[6]
Specifications
Mass	4.9 kg (10.8 lb) Zündnadelgewehr M/41 4.8 kg (10.6 lb) Zündnadelgewehr M/62
Length	143 cm (56 in) Zündnadelgewehr M/41 134 cm (52.8 in) Zündnadelgewehr M/62
Barrel length	91 cm (36 in)
Cartridge	Acorn-shaped lead bullet in paper cartridge
Caliber	15.4 mm (0.61 in)
Action	Breech-loading bolt action
Rate of fire	4–5 rounds per minute[7]
Muzzle velocity	305 m/s (1,000 ft/s) (before Aptierung), 350m/s (aptiert)
Effective firing range	200 m (218.7 yd) (point target)
Maximum firing range	527 m (576.3 yd) (maximum setting on sights for M/62) 678 m (741.5 yd) (maximum setting on sights for M/65)
Feed system	Single-shot
Sights	V-notch and front post iron sights

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 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 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).^{[citation needed]} It had a rate of fire of about six rounds per minute.