French Tabatière carbine, 1867.
French Garde Nationale soldier with Tabatière rifle, 1870.
The Tabatière rifle was a breech-loading rifle of the French Army.
The Tabatière system was developed from 1864 as a way to convert numerous muzzle-loading weapons (usually Minié rifles) into breech-loading ones, in a process similar to that of the Snider-Enfield in Great Britain or the Springfield Model 1866 in the United States. The name "Tabatière" comes from the fact that the breech-loading mechanism looked like a snuff box.[1]
French Tabatière mechanism, 1867.
Most of the conversion work had been accomplished by the time of the Franco-Prussian War.[2]
Although the ammunition was a center fire cartridge closely resembling a shortened 12 gauge shotgun shell, this weapon system was recognized as ballistically inferior to the Chassepot rifle. Therefore it was essentially used by second line troops and in defensive roles.[3]
These are commonly encountered today as "Zulu Guns", after rifles were converted into shotguns and sold cheaply in the early 1900s
Models[]
- Tabatière rifle model 1867.[4]
Notes[]
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The original article can be found at Tabatière rifle and the edit history here.