The French Chassepot Rifle,The Chessepot was the first French military firearms to used a self conta

The French Chassepot Rifle,The Chessepot was the first French military firearms to used a self contained cartridge, a much more advanced design than the earlier muzzleloading muskets.  Invented by Antoine Alphonse Chassepot, the Chassepot Rifle was an improvement of the earlier Dreyse Needle Gun design.  The Chassepot was a single shot bolt action rifle, however it used a paper cartridge which contained the bullet, powder, and a primer seated at the rear of the cartridge.  Like any other needle gun, when fire a needle would pierce the paper cartridge and ignite the primer, discharging the round.  However the Chassepot needle system was a great improvement over the Prussian Dreyse Needle Gun.  With the Dreyse the primer was actually seated at the base of the bullet, meaning the needle had to pierce the entire cartridge to strike the primer.  This would cause the needle to wear out after extended use.  Furthermore the Chassepot cartridge used more powder, with a smaller bullet (11mm whereas the Dreyse was 15mm) which gave the bullet more velocity, a better trajectory, more range, and better accuracy.  Lastly, the Chassepot was rifled, giving the bullet even better accuracy, whereas many Dreyse guns were smoothbores.The Dreyse would see the most action during the Franco-Prussian War, were it faced off against its old competitor the Dreyse Needle gun.  While the French had the better weapons, the Germans had better tactics, soldiers, and organization.  The Prussians trounced the French, ending the Second French Empire and occupying the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine until World War I.By the mid 1870’s the needle gun was past its prime with the use of metallic cartridges.  Many were converted to fire the new cartridge, being renamed the Gras Rifle.  Others were converted into shotguns or sporting firearms.  Around 1 million were produced. -- source link

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