French Garde Nationale soldier with Tabatiere rifle 1870

The Tabatière rifle was a breech-loading rifle of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

. The Tabatière system was developed from 1864 as a way to convert numerous muzzle-loading weapons (usually

Minié rifle The Minié rifle was a rifled musket used by the infantry of a number of countries in the mid-19th century. A version was adopted in 1849 following the invention of the Minié ball in 1847 by the French Army captain Claude-Étienne Minié of t ...

s) into breech-loading ones, in a process similar to that of the Snider-Enfield in Great Britain, Wänzl rifle in Austria, and the

Springfield Model 1866 The Springfield Model 1866 was a rifle made by the Springfield Armory between 1866 and 1873 featuring the Allin-designed trapdoor breech-loading mechanism, a refinement of the Springfield Model 1865. Originally developed as a means of converti ...

in the United States. The name "Tabatière" comes from the fact that the breech-loading mechanism looked like a

snuff box A decorative box is a form of packaging that is generally more than just functional, but also intended to be decorative and artistic. Many such boxes are used for promotional packaging, both commercially and privately. Historical objects are u ...

.Stephen Shan
''French Army 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War (2)'', p. 38
/ref> French Tabatiere mechanism 1867 detail

Most of the conversion work had been accomplished by the time of the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

. By July 1870, roughly 358,000 rifles had been converted, while 1.4 million muzzleloaders stayed in their original configuration. This weapon system was recognized as ballistically inferior to the

Chassepot The Chassepot (pronounced ; ), officially known as , was a bolt-action military breechloading rifle. It is famous for having been the arm of the French forces in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. It replaced an assortment of muzzleloading ...

rifle, therefore it was used by second line troops and in defensive roles. These are commonly encountered today as "Zulu Guns", after rifles were converted into shotguns and sold cheaply in the late 1800s.

Models

Infantry * Fusil d’Infanterie Mle1867 * Fusil d’Infanterie Mle1822T.bis/1867 Dragoon * Fusil de dragon Mle1867 Carbine * Mle1867 Carabine de Chasseurs Musketoon * Mousqueton de Gendarmerie Mle1867

Cartridge

The 18x35mmR was constructed similarly to a shotgun shell, in that it had a copper base with a paper tube for the body. There were two loadings, though interchangeable, meant for the rifle and carbine respectively. The rifle cartridge used a blue paper wrap and had a powder load of 5 grams with a 48 gram projectile. The carbine load used a brown paper wrap and had powder load of 4.5 grams with a 36 gram minie ball projectile.

Users

* : Acquired small amounts during the Paraguayan war.Esposito, Gabriele, The Paraguayan War 1864–70: Osprey Publishing (2019) A number were imported from Germany and France by Buenos Aires in 1880 along with 500.000 cartridges. Those rifles were shipped without bayonets, and were adapted to use old muzzleloader bayonets. * * : 30,000 captured Tabatiere rifles were purchased from Germany in 1873. * : Examples have been found with the Thai acceptance markings.

Conflicts

Paraguayan War The Paraguayan War (, , ), also known as the War of the Triple Alliance (, , ), was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It wa ...

(limited use) *

Argentine Civil Wars The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of civil conflicts of varying intensity that took place in the territories of Argentina from 1814 to 1853. Beginning concurrently with the Argentine War of Independence (1810–1818), the conflict prevente ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabatiere rifle Rifles of France Early rifles Single-shot rifles Hinged breechblock rifles