#needlefire

[fakemonalisa28]

Needle and Firey’s friendship is a very interesting topic to explore

[peashooter85]

The Brunswick M1860/61 needlefire pistol carbine,

The Prussian Dreyse needlefire rifle was a huge advanced in military firearms technology, and it was not long before other German states wanted it as well. The Dreyse rifle was a single shot bolt action rifle which fired a paper cartridge. It was called a needlefire rifle because the firing pin consisted of a needle which pierced the paper cartridge, igniting a primer located within the cartridge, thus discharging the round.

One of the German states which was interested in the Dreyse was the Duchy of Brunswick ( Braunschweig), who procured a number of rifles from Prussia in 1860. However, they would also created their own Dreyse design, a Dreyse bolt action pistol carbine for it’s famous cavalry forces. The carbine featured a pistol with a detachable buttstock and used the Dreyse action. With the stock attached, the carbine was around 26.5 inches in total length and weighed around 5 lbs. Thus it was a very light, compact, and handy carbine for use on horseback. Between 1861 and 1863 around 530 carbines and 100 pistol without buttstocks were produced by the Herberg Rifle Factory.

[peashooter85]

Dreyse needlefire revolver, German, circa 1860.

from Hermann Historica

[peashooter85]

The Blittkowski Needlefire Revolver,

One of the first cartridge systems ever developed was the needlefire system, invented in the mid 19th century by a German gunmaker named Niklaus von Dreyse.  The needlefire cartridge used a combustible paper cartridge with a primer imbedded within it.  Rather than a firing pin, a needlefire firearms used a large heavy duty needle which pierced the paper cartridge to set off the primer.  The needlefire was a popular system in Europe, spawning many models of rifles, shotguns, and revolvers.  In the United States it was not so popular, but a few designs made its way across the pond.  One was the Blittkowski Needlefire revolver, invented by Gustav Adolphus Blittkoswki and in 1856 and produced by Frederick W. Hoffman of New York City.  It was a five shot revolver chambered in .44 caliber.  Paper cartridges were inserted by muzzle through a loading port on the left side of the cylinder.  It also featured a loading lever so that the user could seat each cartridge into place.

Unfortunately the needlefire never caught on in the US, even when Prussia and France mass produced and armed their militaries with such firearms.  It is unknown how many Blittkowski revolvers were produced, but it is certain that very few were.  The example above is the only known surviving piece in existence.