Pin ignition

left: Dreyse system
right: Chassepot system

The needle gun (also needle ignition ) is a method of firing of a shot in shot weapons in which the ignition of the propellant charge by a pointed needle is effected. This needle is formed by a tensioned spring in the in the cartridge located igniter is initiated. The associated mechanism ( lock ) is called the ignition needle lock . In the case of the Dreyse needle cartridge , the projectile, propellant and ignition element components were manufactured together as a unitary paper cartridge for the first time . The first guns with needle ignition were muzzle-loaders , but the breakthrough came as breech-loaders , these were developed by Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse around 1832 . Although introduced in Prussia in 1848, great international interest did not arise until 1866, when the needle gun developed by the French engineer Antoine Chassepot became ready for production. A few years later, from 1870, the ignition needle system was already technically obsolete. The ignition needle ignition with paper cartridges was replaced by the firing pin ignition with metal cartridges.

Well-known weapons with needle ignition are:

• Dreyse needle gun , produced from 1840 and introduced in Prussia in large quantities in 1848
• Model 1861 by Dörsch & Baumgarten, in small numbers in Schaumburg lip introduced
• Chassepot rifle , introduced in France in large numbers from 1866
• Russian rifle Carl 1867
• Italian rifle Carcano, after the developer Salvatore Carcano , which combined the properties of the Dreyse and Dörsch & Baumgarten systems.

In addition to the rifles, the ignition needle was installed in other firearms. Franz von Dreyse, the son of Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse, developed a single-shot pistol and a revolver. However, the weapons did not have any economic success.

According to German law, firearms with detonator ignition, the model of which was developed before January 1, 1871, do not require a permit.

literature

• Georg Ortenburg: Weapons of the Wars of Unification 1848-1871 , Bechtermünz, 2005, original 1990, ISBN 3828905218
• John Walter: Rifles of the World , Krause Publications, 2006, ISBN 0896892417 , [4]
• Manfred R. Rosenberger, Katrin Hanné: From powder horn to rocket bullet: The history of small arms ammunition , Motorbuch Verlag, 1993, ISBN 3613015412
• Reinhold Günther: General history of small arms , Leipzig 1909, Johann Ambrosius Barth Verlag , [5]

Web links

• http://www.schmids-zuendnadelseite.de/zn_auslmodelle.html

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Pierer's Universal Lexikon, Volume 19. Altenburg 1865, pp. 729-730. [1]
2. ^ Günther: Allgemeine Geschichte der Handfeuerwaffen , 1909, p. 65
3. ↑ Ortenburg: Waffen der Einigungskriege 1848-1871 , 1990, p. 64
4. ↑ Pierer's Universal Lexikon, Volume 19. Altenburg 1865, pp. 729-730. [2]
5. ^ John Walter: Rifles of the World , 2006, p. 100
6. ^ Georg Ortenburg: Weapons of the Wars of Unification 1848-1871 , 1990, pp. 61–62
7. ^ Georg Ortenburg: Arms of the Wars of Unification 1848-1871 , 1990, p. 65
8. ↑ John Walter: Rifles of the World , 2006, pp. 77-78
9. ↑ Jeff Kinard: Pistols: An Illustrated History of Their Impact , ABC-CLIO, 2004, ISBN 1851094709 , p. 108 [3]
10. ↑ Appendix 2 (to Section 2 Paragraphs 2 to 4) WaffG