In 1857, the French gunsmith Antoine Alphonse Chassault designed a new rifle, which later became a model for other rifle models using clips and a sliding bolt. In history, this creation of the French designer is known as the 1866 Chassault rifle. This year it entered service with the army of the French Empire. Information on the history of creation, description and technical characteristics of the Shasspo rifle can be found in this article.
History
The design work on the creation of the Shaspo 1866 single-shot rifle was started back in 1857. During the Franco-Prussian War, Prussia soldiers used Draise’s very effective needle rifles at that time. Having defeated the French at the Battle of Sadov, Prussian soldiers showed the advantage of modern small arms.
According to experts, this battle was the impetus for the adoption of the Shasspo rifles into the arsenal of France. This infantry unit was baptized in November 1867 at the Battle of Mentan. Then the French, armed with new rifles, were defeated by the Garibaldians. The product of the French gunsmith proved to be the best, which became the basis for launching it into mass production.
This issue was dealt with by several enterprises in France itself. Contract manufacturing of rifles was also established in Italy (at the Glicenti factory in Brescia), England (Potts and Hunt), Austria and Belgium. In 1871, weapons of 12 thousand units were delivered from Austria to France. Spare parts (100 thousand pieces) were attached to it. By 1870, 1, 200 thousand rifles were produced, another 700 thousand by 1874. In 1875, production was discontinued.
About device
The Shasspo rifle is equipped with a sliding bolt, for which a rotation of 90 degrees is provided. Unlike modern rifles, in this shooting model, after closing the shutter, the trigger was not set on the cocking. To do this, the arrow had to perform one extra movement. According to experts, with their design features, modern store rifles with longitudinally-sliding bolts are very similar to needle French.
Unlike the Draise rifle model, the Shasspo employs a more advanced shutter obturation system, so that the powder gases do not burst out. At that time, due to the lack of metal sleeves, this was a very big problem. Shasspo solved it with a rubber sealing ring, capable of expanding under the influence of gases.
The disadvantage was that the rubber rings needed to be changed often, since they quickly burned out. Over time, the seals were replaced with asbestos gaskets - Debenge shutters. In order to make the rifle more reliable, the capsule was placed at the base of the sleeve, and not in the pan, as was the case with Draise.
As a result, the needle in the Shasspo rifles turned out to be much shorter. According to experts, the 11-mm cartridge had high power and excellent ballistic properties. For the manufacture of cartridges used paper. Under the pressure of the powder gases, the bullet expanded. As a result, there was no need for a liner pallet. Due to the fact that after the shot the cartridge burned out, and the remaining particles were removed during further firing, an extractor was not provided for in the design of the rifle.
However, as practice has shown, the removal of the remnants of the cartridge was not carried out in full, since rifles were often clogged. In order to make this rifle unit effective and in close combat, the French gunsmith provided a bayonet to the Shasspo rifle, which the soldier wore on his belt and, if necessary, mounted on a weapon.
About technical specifications
- The rifle weighs 4.1 kg.
- Without a bayonet, the length is 1313 mm, with a bayonet - 1890 mm.
- Within one minute, no more than 15 shots can be fired.
- The 11 mm caliber rifle is effective at distances up to 1200 m.
- The projectile launched has an initial speed of 410 m / s.
- Single-shot ammunition.
- An open sight is provided for a rifle unit.
About modifications
Based on the rifle of 1866, the following small arms were designed:
Rifles 1866-1874 T. The designation "T" indicates that this model is a rework. In order to make it possible to use weapons with new 11x59 R ammunition, the chamber was changed in it, and the sight was equipped with new divisions. As a result, the effective fire range was increased from 1200 to 1700 m.
- Rifles 1866-1874 M80 T. The maximum range was 1800 m.
- Sample 1874 M14. The weapon was based on the M80 T model, in which the barrel was replaced with a new metal cartridge 8x51R.
