#NeedleGun
Blast From the Past: 1867 Dreyse Carbine
I recently had a chance to take some photos of a truly ground-breaking assault weapon. The Dreyse “Zündnadelgewehr” or needle-gun was at first derided as a mere novelty. Then, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Prussian soldiers using Dreyse rifles were able to fire five shots from the prone in the same time it took Austrian soldiers to fire once and reload, while standing. The Prussians demolished their enemies and began the march towards a unified Germany. The era of rapid fire, breech-loading guns that could be fired rain or shine had arrived. The era of muzzle-loaders was ending.
