The Cuirassier carbine is one of the very scarcest versions of the Berthier in the world, yet Patrick here is going to let me shoot a few rounds through his. My target is a steel plate at 300 meters, with a “feldgrau” silhouette – not visible through the camera, unfortunately. Thanks, Patrick!
Antiques
Delhaxhe “Apache”: The Other French Knife-Knuckle-Gun
Long associated with Parisian street gangs called “Apaches” (after the American Indian tribe), there were two main patterns of combination knife/knuckle/firearm made in the mid/late 1800s in France. This one was designed by J. Delhaxhe, […]
Prototype
French C6 Long-Recoil Prototype Semiauto Rifle (Video)
France began working on developing military self-loading rifles virtually as soon as the 1886 Lebel was adopted, and they would pursue a pretty elaborate series of trials right up to World War I. One series […]
Accessories
WW1 Rifle Mud Covers: Lebel & Gewehr 98
Given the prevalence of muddy horrible trenches in World War 1, why didn’t anybody design dust covers to protect the actions of their combat rifles? Well, they actually did… and today we are looking at […]
Thanks for posting this! It is always nice to see something rare being fired.
Is it just me or is the whirring sound after each shot being generated by the bullet as it travels down range?
I must admit, much of the enjoyment I get from your videos, Ian, is seeing you so happy firing all these rare weapons. I don’t think there is a better person on the planet to teach us about such old masterpieces. Keep up the great work, my friend!
Well, at least nobody challenged Ian to fire this from horseback! Then again, does anyone try to fire a bolt-action rifle from horseback anyway?
“horseback”
There existed Cossack variant of Berdan II rifle, according to: http://www.jaegerplatoon.net/RIFLES5.htm
Also Dragoon rifle, Cossack rifle and Carbine version of Berdan m/1870 existed in Russian use. From these rifles the Dragoon rifle was for riding infantry, Cossack rifle (with its button-like trigger) for cavalry fighting from its horses and carbine for gendarme and units like light cavalry.
Notice that Cossack Berdan II has not trigger and guard like Infantry Berdan II had, but in regard of activating from user point of view is akin to Winchester Model 99 (alias Winchester Thumb Trigger Rifle).
To avoid any possibly confusion, if you read text in link keep in mind that: Berdan m/1868 is same rifle as Berdan I and Berdan m/1870 is same rifle as Berdan II.
Years ago in a Gun Digest article, the author was trying to teach his horse to not shy @ the sound of gunfire, as he was trying to reenact some Brit or Canuck light cavalry. Started off w/ the pistol, & was trying to work the horse up to dealing w/ .303.