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Note to readers:

This page is a temporary work in progress.  It is here at this time for holding purposes only and as a landing page for those other pages on this website which reference over to the Mle1866 French Chassepot.

This is not yet a final page ready for “publication.”

  Since its very beginnings, this website has been focused on and devoted to Black Powder metallic cartridge breach loading military rifles. As such, we have avoided delving into other nonmetallic breech loaders such as capping breechloaders (examples include the Russian Carl and American Sharps) and  the needle fire  military rifles including the German Dreyse series, Italian Carcano and the most widely used needle fire rifle, the French mle1866 Chassepot.

 

   But the French Chassepots, unlike all of the others, have been widely converted to breechloaders, and a full understanding of such breechloaders, which have a definite place here, would be lacking without a basic understanding of the history, development, use and varieties of this French rifle.  Therefore, here is:

Mle1866 French Chassepot

(Fusil d’Infanterie Mle 1866)

(sometimes:  Chassepot modèle 1866)

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

  France has been one of the world's great powers, reaching the peak of its military prime in the early 19th century under Napoleon Bonaparte, conquering much of continental Europe and establishing the First French Empire.  The degree to which the French Revolution (1798?) and the Napoleonic Wars (18-18) shaped the course of European and world history cannot be overstated.

 

   France, like Germany, sits in the heart of Europe.  It is neither an island, like Britain or Japan, nor isolated by great distance, like America or China and India.  As such, it lives in the whirlwind of most all European conflict, and military competence must always be an ever present consideration.

 

   During the period ____, France extended her empire to Africa and Indochina. The economy was strong, with a good railway system. The 1812 settling of the Rothschild banking family in France helped cement Paris with London the world's  center for international finance.

 

   Nevertheless, Napoleon's defeat and collapse of the empire began a period of relative decline.  During the decades between 18. ,and 1870 France experienced a succession of governments rivaling the most unstable african or central amarican banana republics until the founding of the Third Republic during the Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871).

​

  The level of this instability might begin to be grasped by this quote from Robert Tombs' 2014 book France 1814–1914:

"Every head of state from 1814 to 1873 spent part of his life in exile.  Every regime was the target of assassination attempts of a frequency that put Spanish and Russian politics in the shade. Even in peaceful times governments changed every few months. In less peaceful times, political deaths, imprisonments and deportations are literally incalculable.

 Often in such times, military technology advances quickly, either domestically or by adoption of the most effective such technologies from wherever they are found.  (e.g. the American Civil War for domestic advance, the experience of Japan after Commodore Matthew Perry's visits for adoption.)

 

   In 1848 Napoleon's nephew was elected president and he subsequently made himself emperor as Napoleon III, but his rule ended when he was defeated and captured by Prussians during the Franco Prussian war in 1870.  This war was a humiliation for France, and her loss set the stage for Bismarck’s newly emerging nation of Germany to become dominant on the European continent.

 

   After Napoleon, France was no longer the dominant European land power, that role shifting to Germany, but it has since continued to play a major role in European economics, culture, and military matters to this day.

 

For a somewhat differently focused French HISTORICAL CONTEXT covering the same era see:  Mle1853/67 French Tabatiere

DEVELOPMENT

   As has been often repeated in these webpages, arms designers have since the days of the matchlock, been aware of the advantages of breechloaders, if only the high pressure gasses if gunpowder ignition could be contained.

 

   A great many experiments in attempting to do so were undertaken as metallurgy and technology advanced greatly during the 19th century and flintlocks gave way to caplocks.

 

  The French gun designer Antoine Alphonse Chassepot (1833-1905), working in the latter 1850s into the 1860s . . . .

 

   The quick victory in 1864 of the Prussians in their war against the Danes surprised militaries across Europe, who were more willing to ascribe Prussian success to the marginal, though still advantageous Prussian Dreyse breechloader than to superior leadership, training and strategy.

   If European militaries were surprised by the outcome of the 1864 Prusso-Danish War, they were astonished, and some terrified, by the results of the Austro-Prussian War two years later in which the Dreyse armed Prussians (aided in small part by the Italians, armed with needle-fire breechloading M1844/65 Carcanos), crushed the percussion muzzleloader armed Austrians.  (Nevermind the vastly superior strategy, training, discipline tactics and logistics of Bismarck’s Prussian military academy led army).

GENERALLY

   Like the advantages of breechloaders, the advantages of self-contained cartridges were equally evident.  Having the ball, powder and means of ignition all in a single tight little package that could be loaded easily and quickly would provide the soldier with substantial increases in firepower and likely improvements in range and accuracy.  If the forces of powder burning could be contained and all pressure utilized pushing the ball out the barrel then significant advantages in both trajectory and range could be achieved.

 

The Chassepot

   By 1866 A. Chassepot had worked out enough of the challenges for his system to be practical.  It was adopted in France . . . .

OM

OPERATING MECHANISM

  The breech block consists of a bolt that turns, usually 90 degrees (though there are exceptions such as the M1870 Russian Berdan), and reciprocates forward and back to first expose and then seal the chamber.  This system was not new, having been used in the Prussian Dreyse since 184__ and various other iterations such as the Carle' (see the discussion at:  M1858/69 Russian Krnka).  The Chassepot's advantage was the cartridge and the sealing of the breech.

  The Chassepot cartridge consists of ...   discussed in additional detail below at CARTRIDGE.

  Like most turning bolt rifles of the late 1860s, early 1870s, excepting the M1869 veterli of Switzerland and M1870 Italian Vetterli, the French rifle's bolt operates through a split bridge and locks against the receiver via a single lug behind the bolt handle.

DC

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

   At first glance the first French breechloader is a long but well-balanced single shot turning bolt (modern terminology "bolt-action" rifle that the French are fond of calling elegant.   it features a single piece usually Walnut stock that secures the barreled action with two (spring retained??) bands and a ( retained) nose cap. The cleaning rod has a flared flat end that is stowed beneath the stock and secured via a flared detent that fits into the nose cap. Sling swivels are located beneath the upper band and at the _______

  The Chassepot was adopted concurrently with a new Mle1866 brass handled, yatagan blade, saber bayonet that mounts on a substantial lug and tenon fitted to the right side of the rifle's muzzle concurrently with a much smaller auxiliary guide tenon on the opposite side of the muzzle.

   The rear sight consists of a rectangular base with a single leaf mounted at the front of the base and pivoting up and forward, with range denominations marked on the underside of the leaf when it is folded down.

​

   The rear sight of the Chassepot rifle is similar but a bit different from the Mle1874 Gras.  The rear sight leaves of both versions pivot up at the front.  However, the Gras sight leaves are relatively wide, thick and robust, and the paired elevating leaves of the sight rest directly on the base of the sight.  The more delicate and slender Chassepot rear sight leaves, when lowered, lay inside slight sight walls about half the length of the sight base.

  An original, un-tampered with Mle1866 will carry a matching serial numbered Chassepot cleaning rod, its lineage from its predecessor Mle 1822  and Mle.1853 percussion rifle ancestors evident in the flared, flat-top, tulip end tip of the rod and no patch slot.  (See conversions of these percussion rifles into breechloaders at French M1853/67 Infantry rifles “à Tabatière”.  The rod is readily differentiated from the rod of the Mle1874 French Gras which has a longer, slotted and ringed rod end.

The bolt of the Mle 1866 Chassepot needle-fire rifle compared to the bolt of the metallic cartridge Mle 1874 French Gras:

 These two rifles are very closely similar to each other and from any distance at all and with bolts closed are only differentiated by subtle differences in the bolts themselves.

M

MARKINGS

  Oh boy.  A significantly large arms collection could be made up of just the variety of French Chassepots versions produced, including examples of all the different armories and factories producing them.  This section will attempt to do justice to all, but we cannot pretend to be comprehensive.  Additional information is always most welcome.

 

   Chassepot rifles are extensively marked,.  The left receiver flat is prominently marked “Mle 1866” following the manufacturing arsenal markings.

 

   The date of manufacture stamps on the knoxform as well as the rifles’ stock cartouches will of course also carry dates prior to 1874 but are also likely to carry, to the front (to the right if looking at the date directly) a separate 4-digit year of conversion.

 

   Chassepot rifles were not only manufactured by the French at their national armories and by others at a number of different arsenals abroad, but also manufactured during three different French governments.  Thus, for those Chassepots built in the first years of production while Louis Napoleon III was in power (up to his capture by and capitulation to the Prussians in September of 1870) the inscription on the upper left flat of the receiver, above the arsenal name, will read “MANUFACTURE IMPERIAL”.    The most-often encountered examples will be from the major arsenals of St. Etienne, Châtellerault, and Tulle, but there may be some examples which were originally built as mle1866 Chassepots during the 2nd Empire at Mutzig and will be so marked.

 

   After September, 1870, and for a period of time during the uncertainty of the provisional French Government of National Defense (Le Gouvernement de la Défense Nationale), Chassepot rifles (and thus some Gras converted rifles) may be seen with only the stamp “MANUFACTURE             ”; the word “IMPERIAL” having been omitted but the empty space for it remaining evident.  From 1871, examples are seen with only the name of the armory, e.g., “St. Etienne” centered on the receiver flat and no reference to “Manufacture” whatsoever.

 

   The last Chassepots manufactured carry the markings “MANUFACTURE  D’ARMES“ above the arsenal name, this system being carried over into production of the Mle.1874 Gras.

 

  The markings on the upper left receiver flats of  Chassepots are the most evident, but the rifles are profusely additionally marked.  Noteworthy is that the original year of manufacture is usually seen on the right knoxform flat, (as well as the year of conversion to Mle1874s if such was done, preceded by the armory letter code where conversion was undertaken).

 

and these codes will often be found on the rifles.  They are often located on the _____, and the following codes were assigned to rifles made at the following arsenals:   _________     __________     ___________    __________.

 

   As might be expected, serial numbers abound, on all three bolt components, the left side of the barrel at the receiver, on the receiver (but below the wood line), on the bayonet tenon, on the cleaning rod immediately below the tip and on the butt stock, although the buttstock numbers don’t always remain visible.

The upper left receiver flat:

 

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Caption: 

Credit: 

 

 

French Armories, St. Étienne, Châtellerault, and Tulle

 

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Credit: 

 

Armories change names

 

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Foreign contracts.

 

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Additional markings:

 

Photo:  

Caption: 

Credit: 

 

Buttstock cartouches:

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No, not a "holy water" plug:

 

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AI

SPECIFICATIONS, STATISTICS & DATA

Overall Length: 

Barrel Length: 

Weight: 

Rifling: 

Rear sight: 

Bayonet: 

T

SHORT RIFLES, CARBINES & SPECIAL VERSIONS

  France is a very bureaucratic country, as is its military and police forces. Every subgroup is jealous of its jurisdiction and activities. The result, for our purposes, is each faction insisting on an arm for its individual, specific needs (read:  desires).  In the French forces, this gave rise to a notable variety of short rifles and carbines.

LIST:

 

Descriptions of each

 

 

Overall Length: 

Barrel Length: 

Weight: 

Rifling: 

Rear sight: 

Bayonet: 

 

 

Overall Length: 

Barrel Length: 

Weight: 

Rifling: 

Rear sight: 

Bayonet: 

 

 

Overall Length: 

Barrel Length: 

Weight: 

Rifling: 

Rear sight: 

Bayonet: 

 

 

 

Overall Length: 

Barrel Length: 

Weight: 

Rifling: 

Rear sight: 

Bayonet: 

 

 

Overall Length: 

Barrel Length: 

Weight: 

Rifling: 

Rear sight: 

Bayonet: 

 

 

Overall Length: 

Barrel Length: 

Weight: 

Rifling: 

Rear sight: 

Bayonet: 

B

BAYONETS (Plural)

  Virtually all Mle1866 French Chassepot rifles are fitted with lug and tenons (one on each side of the muzzle) to accept the contemporarily adopted Mle1866 yatagan sabre bayonet.  The sole exception is the ___ short rifle which is designed to accept its scarce matching 1866 angular socket bayonet.

CARTRIDGE

MANUFACTURING DATA

  The Mle1866 Chassepot was perhaps the most widely produced military rifle ever until the advent of the Russian Kalashnikov Model 1947 (the world famous AK47) 80 years later.

 

   Not only was the Chassepot built in 4 different French imoerial armories (those of ...)

but also contracted for in Britain,  ______. Spain

Austria (Styer for rifles an large numbers if parts)

 

   By the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in April(?) 1870, including both rifles issued to French troops and those in store, France had about 1,_ _ _, 000 Chassepots.  During the war French armories are estimated to have produced as many as 30,000 Chassepot rifles per month.

 

   The Chassepot was considered so successful and capable that even after the war, it continued to be produced, continuing after the adoption of metallic cartridge rifles by countries around the world, virtually all European nations and even by its arch-rival with the metallic cartridge M1871 German Mauser.  The Chassepot was manufactured as late as 187_, even

continuing beyond the 1874 adoption in France of its successor, the M1874 French Gras.

 

   By the end of its production run, an estimated 2,_ _ _,000 Mle 1866 Chassepots of all versions had been built.

UTILIZATION BY OTHER COUNTRIES

PREDECESSOR & FOLLOW-ON RIFLES

Predecessor Rifle:

 

 

 

Follow-On Rifle:  Mle1874 French Gras

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

REFERENCES

Page built Jan 26, 2023

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