Tabatière rifle
The Tabatière rifle was a breech-loading rifle of the French Army.
The Tabatière system was developed from 1864 as a way to convert numerous muzzle-loading weapons (usually Minié rifles) into breech-loading ones, in a process similar to that of the Snider-Enfield in Great Britain, Wänzl rifle in Austria, and the Springfield Model 1866 in the United States. The name "Tabatière" comes from the fact that the breech-loading mechanism looked like a snuff box.[1]
Most of the conversion work had been accomplished by the time of the Franco-Prussian War.[1] By July 1870, roughly 358,000 rifles had been converted, while 1.4 million muzzleloaders stayed in their original configuration.[2] This weapon system was recognized as ballistically inferior to the Chassepot rifle, therefore it was used by second line troops and in defensive roles.[1]
These are commonly encountered today as "Zulu Guns", after rifles were converted into shotguns and sold cheaply in the late 1800s.
Models
[edit]Infantry
- Fusil d’Infanterie Mle1867
- Fusil d’Infanterie Mle1822T.bis/1867
Dragoon
- Fusil de dragon Mle1867
Carbine
- Mle1867 Carabine de Chasseurs
Musketoon
- Mousqueton de Gendarmerie Mle1867[3]
Cartridge
[edit]The 18x35mmR was constructed similarly to a shotgun shell, in that it had a copper base with a paper tube for the body. There were two loadings, though interchangeable, meant for the rifle and carbine respectively. The rifle cartridge used a blue paper wrap and had a powder load of 5 grams with a 48 gram projectile. The carbine load used a brown paper wrap and had powder load of 4.5 grams with a 36 gram minie ball projectile.
Users
[edit]
Argentina: Acquired small amounts during the Paraguayan war.[4] A number were imported from Germany and France by Buenos Aires in 1880 along with 500.000 cartridges. Those rifles were shipped without bayonets, and were adapted to use old muzzleloader bayonets.[5]
France
Qajar Iran: 30,000 captured Tabatiere rifles were purchased from Germany in 1873.[6] [7]
Conflicts
[edit]- Paraguayan War[4] (limited use)
- Argentine Civil Wars[5]
- Franco-Prussian War
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c Stephen Shann French Army 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War (2), p. 38
- ^ "Namslauer Stadtblatt. Zeitschrift für Tagesgeschichte" (PDF). bibliotekacyfrowa.pl (in German). Retrieved 18 April 2023.
- ^ Doyon, Keith. "Tabatiere". Military Rifles.
- ^ a b Esposito, Gabriele, The Paraguayan War 1864–70: Osprey Publishing (2019)
- ^ a b "Unidades y armas durante el sitio de Buenos Aires de 1880" (PDF).
- ^ Napier, George Campbell (1876). Collection of Journals and Reports Received from Capt. G. C. Napier, on Special Duty in Persia, 1874. G. E. Eyre and W. Spottiswoode.
- ^ The Pall Mall Review Vol.24. J. Kellett. 1880.
 French weapons of the 19th century | ||
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