Vereinsgewehr 1857
Vereinsgewehr 1857 | |
---|---|
Type | Rifled musket |
Place of origin | Württemberg, Baden, Hesse |
Service history | |
In service | 1861/2-1867/68 |
Used by | Württemberg, Baden and Hesse |
Wars | Austro-Prussian War |
Production history | |
Designed | 1856 |
Manufacturer | Königlich Württembergische Gewehrfabrik and others in Suhl |
Produced | 1857–1866 |
No. built | >70,000 (30,000 Württemberg; Baden and Hesse @ 20,000) |
Variants | Hesse variant |
Specifications | |
Mass | 4.6 kilograms (10 lb) |
Length | 1.39 metres (55 in) |
Barrel length | 100 centimetres (39 in) |
Cartridge | .547 inches (13.9 mm) Minié ball |
Caliber | .54 |
Action | Caplock |
Effective firing range | 1,000 yards (910 m) (Baden and Württemberg sights), 1,200 yards (1,100 m) (Hesse sights) |
Feed system | Muzzle-loaded |
The Vereinsgewehr 1857 (union rifle, mod. 1857) was the commonly developed rifle of Baden, Hesse and Württemberg for their troops of the 8th Bundesarmee corps as a successor of the Musket Model 1777 corrigé. The rifle for the line infantry was, with minor modifications in the sights, adopted by all three states; pistols and carbines for the cavalry and sharpshooter rifles for the Jäger were, however, developed by each state on its own.
The rifle has a percussion lock construction of Swiss model, i.e. there was no loading position of the hammer.
A number were converted to the Dreyse needle fire breech-loading bolt-action system in 1867, and became known as Model 1857/67.
Hesse and Baden/Württemberg variants[]
Rifles from Hesse on the one hand and Baden and Württemberg on the other hand can be distinguished by their .
Württemberg and Baden union rifles and Jäger rifles use a sight with the scale below, from 200 yards (180 m) to 1,000 yards (910 m), constructed by 1st lieutenant Breithaupt.
Hesse instead used a quadrant sight with the scale above, max. 1,200 yards (1,100 m), after Darmstadt armoury colonel Müller.
Literature[]
- Hans-Dieter Götz: Militärgewehre und Pistolen der deutschen Staaten 1800–1870, 2nd edition, Stuttgart, 1996, ISBN 3-87943-533-2 (in German)
External links[]
- Rifled muskets
- Military of Württemberg
- Rifles of Germany
- Firearms stubs