Russo-Turkish War of Liberation 1877-1878

Chapter Three - Small arms of the warring states - Bulgarian volunteers

Chassepot

The gun Chassepot model 1866 represented the rear-cartridge needle weapons that came to replace the low speed front-cartridge systems. It was introduced for armament after the wars of Germany against Denmark and Austria when the advantages of the German gun Dreyze model 1841 became known.1

At that time, the attention of the American, French and Austrian arms specialists was directed towards the introduction of the bullet “Minie”, which was guaranteeing better precision and range of the cartridge system arms. For that reason, the Dreyze gun had not much impressed the constructors.

The big surprise came in 1864 during the war of Prussia against Denmark and later against Austria in 1866. In the course of the military activities, the Prussian generals discovered the advantages of the rear-cartridge quick-firing needle guns. It turned out that the Prussian fire had resulted in the loss of nine times more soldiers of the enemy.

This was not to the liking of the French, the contenders for the leading role in Europe. Taking stock of the advantages of the new arms, the French constructors speeded up their work on the creation of own rear-cartridge gun with smaller caliber and size. In this respect, the young arms constructor Antoine Alphons Chassepot came nearest to the success.

The 33-year old constructor got the Dreyse gun for testing. Using skillfully some existing solutions and drawing on some of his clever ideas, Chassepot worked out four versions of needle guns. On August 30, 1866 after a series of tests, the fourth version was designated as the weapon of the French army under the name “Fuzil modele 1866”.

An emperor's decree had ordered the production of 400,000 new French needle guns by the end of 1868. Within a year, the constructor proposed a shortened version of the Chassepot carbine to the French cavalry.

In comparison with other similar guns used for armament, the Chassepot model 1866 looked so light and thin that it could be compared only with the elegant hunting guns of that time. With its length of 1310 mm and weight of 4.1 kg, it was a welcome item for every heavily-loaded infantry soldier.

Chassepot could overcome some serious construction shortcomings of the preceding Dreyse model 1841 by introducing some original changes to the cartridge and the bolt of the gun. He pushed back the cartridge case, which was at the base of the bullet in the Dreyse gun. With this change the constructor managed to shorten the needle length considerably. Thus the Chassepot needle was not excessively heated and less gunpowder residue stayed on it. This, in its own turn, increased the gun's solidity and period of use.

Chassepot managed to improve considerably the gas gasket.2 To this end, in the beginning of the cylinder bolt he mounted a mobile metal disc with a stopper, which served as a shield. Under the pressure of the burnt gases when shooting, the shield moved backwards destroying the thick rubber gaskets. The latter pressed strongly towards the walls of the cartridge case, thus preventing the leakage of gunpowder gases outside of the rear part of the barrel.

The constructor introduced as well a new cartridge case. Its caliber was considerably smaller than the one of the ammunitions used hitherto. For example, while the soldier armed with Dreyse toiled with the heavy 15.43 mm-caliber cartridges, Chassepot reduced the caliber to 11 mm. The gunpowder load of the cartridge weighed 5.4 kg and gave the bullet an initial speed of 435 m/s at a range of 2500 m. The cartridge was entirely made of dense but thin impregnated paper. It carried the gunpowder load, the fire cartridge, and the bullet. The cartridge base was made of thick cardboard paper, placing it into the category of unitary ammunitions. The reduced bullet caliber led to the decrease of the overall bullet weight. The soldier was able to increase his supplies to 100 small-caliber cartridges.3

The easy charging of Chassepot was one of the most important advantages guaranteeing its high-speed shooting. In order to shoot, the soldier had to follow only four steps:

•  to pull back the firing pin with the help of his thumb, thus simultaneously unlocking the bolt and tightening the firing spring;

•  to turn upwards and to pull back the bolt handle;

•  to place the cartridge in the barrel case;

•  to close the cylinder bolt that pushed the cartridge inside the barrel when gliding.

Numerous tests had proven the Chassepot combat qualities. For example, it was noted in the Vincent shooting school that at 100 m distance the bullet could go through a 3-mm thick steel sheet, and 1.8 mm at 600 m. Thus the French soldier could have an effective fire at 1,200 m, while the German soldier armed with Dreyse – only at 750 m.

Chassepot was baptized on November 3, 1867 in the combat at the town of Mentona, in which France took part on the side of the Vatican. Specialists have highly evaluated the new gun on its own merits. They expressed the opinion that 300 Chassepot guns were equal to 500 Drese guns. Therefore, Germans had realized that their arms could not guarantee them a military and technical competitiveness.3

This was proved during the French-Prussian War in 1870-1871, in which the two countries fought with needle guns. The French soldiers, equipped with the more modern Chassepot, had inflicted great losses on their enemy at Saint Privat and Grevlot. It became evident during the fighting that the compact combat columns were a good target for the quick-firing and precise needle arms. This prompted changes in the combat order of the infantry, which realized the advantages of thecombat chain and started to apply it.

Despite the better qualities of its fire arms, France was defeated. Following the decisive battle at Sedan, the Germans got around 600,000 Chassepot guns as a military trophy. Part of them was used for the re-armament of some fire units of the German army. Another part was sent over to arms factors to be modified for the use of the metal Mauzer cartridge model 1871. Some 20,000 gus were offered to the Moscow Slavic Committees for the armament of the Bulgarian Volunteers' Corps.

After 1874, France had also started remaking the Chassepot guns. Some of them were adapted to the use of a metal cartridge with central fire. Their cylinder bolt had to be modified. The rubber gaskets were removed. The needles were considerably shortened. Moreover, a disk extractor of metal cartridge cases had to be mounted additionally. The arms factories in Saint Etienne and Chatelerot worked on this. The constructor himself was actively involved in effecting those alterations. To this end, he was promoted to the post of director of the factory in Chatelerot.

It is important to point out the shortcomings of the Chassepot gun alongside its good qualities.

Firstly, it should be noted that the paper cartridges were far from perfect. They lacked resistance to moisture and mechanical interactions. Difficulties would arise when re-charging with new cartridges, which were easy to break or destroy. When burning, the cartridge cover would leave behind a considerable amount of residue, which made it difficult to place new cartridges in the barrel. Moreover, there was a danger of random shots in intensive fire.

Secondly, the rubber gaskets could easily get out of order under pressure and heat. Intensive fire and oil lubrication were also factors to this effect. Thirdly, the imperfect technologies for processing metal items also had an impact on the reliability of arms. This accounted for the quick wear and tear of needles.

Besides, considerable problems were arising when arms were used by untrained soldiers. There was need to shoot again when targets were missed. Thus the fire speed increased and the wear of the gun's part intensified.

Taking account of these flaws, the commanding staff of the Volunteers' Corps took measures to supply the units with sufficient amount of gaskets, springs, and firing pins. For example, as of 22 May 1877 each regiment was provided with 200 rubber gaskets, 40 firing pins and 20 springs. Therefore, approximately 70 gaskets, 14 pins and 7 springs were allotted to 10 guns.

The Chassepot gun was produced three years before Krnka. At this time, the European arms specialists had been still involved in debates on the advantages of metal cartridges in comparison with the paper ones. Those supporting the metal cartridge had highlighted its good qualities – leak-tightness and endurance, its role for the quick firing, the good seal-off of the bolt, the lack of gunpowder residue, and the possibility to mold it accordingly, etc. The opponents of this thesis argued in favor of the lower cost of the paper cartridge, the possibility to manufacture it right in the army, and its lesser weight. The Prussian-Danish War (1864) and particularly the Civil War in the United States (1861-1865) brought those debates to an end, acknowledging the advantages of unitary metal cartridges.

This short digression describing the two types of ammunitions has sought to give a clear idea of the principal advantages of the Krnka guns, which use unitary metal cartridges.

The higher degree of reliability of the Krnka gun was a significant advantage. Its pins and gaskets endured longer, and the valve bolt had a simple construction and was reliable.5

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