French? gun?

Model 1866 Chassepot rifle, they used that model rifle in the Franco-Prussion war. I have a bayonet for that rifle hanging on the wall.
 
you guys are super My wife said no one will ever know anything about the rifle.

Ha

I have quite a few more pistols, shotguns etc mostly 1920's up

What forum should I post
 
There's a nice picture of the two cartridges here:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/11_mm_Gras_&_Chassepot.jpg?1516451960438

The cartridge on the bottom is what your rifle was originally chambered for. It was a "needle gun" in that the firing pin was a very thin steel needle that pierced the rear of the cartridge to hit a primer that was mounted inside the cartridge. In that sense, it was very similar to the German Dryse (although the primer for the Dryse cartridge was buried much deeper into the cartridge).

Functionally, the Chassepot rifle was superior to the Dryse rifle. Unfortunately, the French tactics and leadership were far inferior to the Prussians.

The metallic cartridge on top is what your rifle was converted to -- the 11mm Gras cartridge. It served the French as its primary military cartridge until the adoption of the 8mm Lebel cartridge in 1886.

The 11mm Gras found a new lease on life during World War I as a heavy machine gun cartridge to be used in shooting down German observation balloons. It was far more effective than the smaller caliber bullets of the time because it could hold a much larger incindiary charge.

Eddie Rickenbacker talks about using the 11mm Vickers balloon gun to shoot down German balloons in his autobiography.
 
Thanks everyone

Fascinating to see the history of such an old and obscure item is available to anyone who takes the time to look.

I'm going to keep my eye out for one of those bayonets in the link. It would make the weapon look awesome on my wall.
 
got bayonet

Just a final reply, Shuvelrider got my attention when he said he had a bayonet on his wall that goes along with the rifle

I started looking and found this one. Sword is in great condition but scabbard a little ruff, but so is the rifle. Will look great on my wall.

I cant even imagine what it must have been like to have some crazy Frenchman chasing you with this in his hands.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3ywejdj9f9878o5/IMG_1927.jpg?dl=0

thanks
 
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