Developed to replace the Mle 1873 11mm French Ordnance revolver (which was possibly the first double-action revolver adopted by any major military force).
Fired, I believe, a 102-gr. bullet to about 850 ft. per second.
Was France's standard issue military side-arm from 1892 through 1935, when the MAS 35 semi-auto was adopted.
Although officially replaced, it was still produced up to German occupation, and armed many military and police, especially overseas, well into the 1960s.
