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Russo-Turkish War of Liberation 1877-1878 Chapter Three - Small arms of the warring states - Ottoman empire "Remington" model 1866
The Egyptian corps in the Turkish army of 65,000 men1 was armed with the American system Remington model 1866 with central-fuse cartridges. Even for the time of the Russian-Turkish war, the Remington remained a good weapon equal to Henry-Martini. It was constructed by Hiram Berdan, the creator of the Russian Berdana rifles. On 9 January 1866 he received patent No. 519912 for his construction. What was its use? For decades on end, arms constructors had tried to solve one problem, namely what could be the optimal measures of a rifle with a maximum long barrel. The answer is simple – by reducing the breech bolt. This is what Colonel Berdan has been up to. He has found an efficient solution to this problem. At first sight, his rifle looks unusual with it one barrel and two cocks. One of them hits the cartridge through the help of a short pin, while the other serves as a bolt. When firing, the falling hammer enters a special slot closing the upper part by the time it comes out again. Then, the cartridge opens with the same movement and tosses out automatically the empty cartridge case. This innovative construction helps reduce the breech bolt and facilitates the use. Despite these innovations, Berdan sold out the patent to the Remington Company. Being a person with new ideas in the field of arms, he had known perfectly well that the future belonged to stronger cartridges, while his cartridge could not survive. It is true that Remington Rolling Block has never been produced with a cartridge more powerful than .44-40 Winchester.
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