The Jägerbüchse M1863 Bolt Action Percussion Rifle,Around the time of the American CivilWar, many o
The Jägerbüchse M1863 Bolt Action Percussion Rifle,Around the time of the American CivilWar, many of the German kingdoms and states began a program to convert older percussionlock muskets into breechloading rifles. The design was simple, yet at the same time very odd. While in the US the military would adapt Springfield Muskets into hinge block type Trapdoor Springfields, the bolt action was becoming popular in Europe, especially with the Dreyse Needle Rifle, and thus the armies of Germany sought to modify their muskets into bolt action rifles. First the breech was milled out allowing access to the chamber. Then a bolt action mechanism was installed in the chamber. To load the user would have inserted a bullet, then inserted a charge of powder(wrapped in paper). Here is where it gets interesting, the user would then insert another bullet behind the charge of powder. The purpose of this extra bullet was to create a gas seal in the breech. The user would the cock the hammer, place a percussion cap, then fire. The user would then insert a powder charge, pushing the previous bullet forward, then insert another bullet. Interesting huh.While this may sound odd, the concept actually had already been done before, in the US before the Civil War with the Greene Underhammer Rifle. -- source link
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