Kropatschek rifle
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| Kropatschek/Steyr-Kropatschek | |
|---|---|
 Kropatschek Mle 1878 | |
| Type | Rifle |
| Place of origin | Austria-Hungary |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1886 – 1961 (Portugal) |
| Used by | See Users |
| Wars | War of the Pacific[1] French conquest of Tunisia[2] Mandingo Wars First Madagascar expedition[2] Tonkin campaign[2] Sino-French War[2] Revolta da Armada Federalist Revolution[3] First Italo-Ethiopian War[4] War of Canudos[5] Second Boer War World War I Spanish Civil War World War II (Portuguese colonies) Annexation of Goa Portuguese Colonial War |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Alfred von Kropatschek |
| Designed | 1886 |
| Produced | 1886–circa 1898 |
| Variants | Long rifle, short rifle |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 4.3 kg (9.5 lb) |
| Length | 1320 mm (4 ft) |
| Barrel length | 820 mm (32.3 in) |
| Cartridge | 11×59mmR Gras 8×56mmR Kropatschek Corto[6] 8×60mmR Guedes[7] |
| Caliber | 8mm (.329 in) |
| Action | Bolt action |
| Muzzle velocity | 609 m/s (2,000 ft/s) |
| Effective firing range | 2406 yd (2,200 m) |
| Feed system | 8-round integral tubular magazine |
A Kropatschek is any variant of a rifle designed by Alfred von Kropatschek. Kropatschek's rifles used a tubular magazine (constructed of nickel-plated steel) of his design, of the same type used in the Japanese Murata Type 22 and the German Mauser Gewehr 1871/84. While designed for black powder, the Kropatschek action proved to be strong enough to handle smokeless powder.
The Kropatschek was the basis for the French Lebel M1886.[8]
Variants
[edit]- Gendarmerie Repetier-Karabiner M1881: 11 mm Gendarmerie Carbine (also known as M1874/81);
- Kropatschek Torpedo Boats Gewehr M1893: 8 mm Navy Rifle for Torpedo boat crews.
France:
- Fusil de Marine Mle 1878: 11 mm Navy Rifle;
- Fusil d'Infanterie Mle 1884: 11 mm Infantry Rifle;
- Fusil d'Infanterie Mle 1885: 11 mm Infantry Rifle.
Portugal:
- Espingarda de Infantaria 8 mm m/1886: 8 mm Infantry Rifle;
- Carabina de Caçadores 8 mm m/1886: 8 mm Light Infantry Carbine;
- Carabina de Cavalaria 8 mm m/1886: 8 mm Cavalry Carbine;
- Carabina da Guarda Fiscal 8 mm m/1886/88: 8 mm Treasury Guard Carbine;
- Espingarda de Infantaria 8 mm m/1886/89: 8 mm Colonial Infantry Rifle;
- Carabina de Artilharia 8 mm m/1886/91: 8 mm Artillery Carbine.
Users
[edit]
Austria-Hungary
Brazil:1878 Kropatschek rifle adopted by the navy in 1884; in 1891 it was replaced by the 1886 Portuguese model. During the second Revolta da Armada the army used a small number of Kropatscheks captured from navy depots. The Kropatschek was phased out in naval service in 1895 after the adoption of the 1894 Brazilian Mauser[9]
Chile: 2000 1878 Kropatschek rifles were delivered for the navy in 1881. The objective of this acquisition was to have a fast-firing weapon to repeal torpedo boats.[10]
Ethiopian Empire
French Third Republic
Kingdom of Greece: Part of French military aid during World War I.[11]
Kingdom of Portugal
Russian Empire:150,000 Kropatscheks bought from France in 1915[12][13]
Soviet Union:taken into Soviet inventory following the Russian Civil War; most were shipped to Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War [13]
Kingdom of Spain: 746 M1878 Kropatschek rifles procured from OEWG.[11]
Spanish Republic:1,821 surplus 1878 Kropatschek rifles delivered by the Soviet Union[13]
Wassoulou Empire: The Wassoulou Empire arms industry created functional copies of the Krophatschek rifle in the 1880s and 90s to use in their struggle against French colonial forces.[14]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Esposito, Gabriele, Armies of the War of the Pacific 1879-83: Osprey Publishing (2016)
- ^ a b c d McCollum, Ian (2019). Chassepot to Famas: French Military Rifles 1866-2016. Headstamp Publishing. ISBN 978-1733424608.
- ^ "O EXÉRCITO REPUBLICANO" (PDF).
- ^ McLachlan, Sean (20 Sep 2011). Armies of the Adowa Campaign 1896: The Italian Disaster in Ethiopia. Men-at-Arms 471. Osprey Publishing. pp. 35–36. ISBN 9781849084574.
- ^ VILLELA Jr, M E C. CANUDOS: memórias de um combatente. 2 ed. Rio de Janeiro: EdUERJ, 1997. p. 107.
- ^ 8x56 R Kropatschek Short - MUNICION.org (spanish)
- ^ 8x60 R Guedes - Kropatschek - MUNICION.org (spanish)
- ^ "French Rifle Ammunition: 8mm Lebel and 7.5mm French". 7 August 2017.
- ^ "ArmasBrasil - Carabina Kropatschek".
- ^ "Armas de Fuego y Municiones". web.archive.org. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
- ^ a b "M1878 French Naval Kropatschek (Fusil de Marine M1878)". MilitaryRifles.com. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
- ^ "Scraping the bottom of the barrel blackpowder rifles of the great war part 1".
- ^ a b c "Foreign Rifles of the Spanish Republic, 1936-1939".
- ^ Bocoum, Hamady (2001). "SAMORI' S SMITHIES: FROM CRAFT PRODUCTION TO ATTEMPTED MANUFACTURING, OR A DRAFT PLAN FOR TECHNOLOGICAL INDEPENDENCE". Mande Studies. 3: 55–63.
External links
[edit]- French 1878 Marine Kropatschek Forgotten Weapons
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