Kropatschek rifle

Kropatschek/Steyr-Kropatschek
Kropatschek Mle 1878
Type	Rifle
Place of origin	Austria-Hungary
Service history
In service	1886 – 1961 (Portugal)
Used by	See Users
Wars	War of the Pacific [1] French conquest of Tunisia [2] Mandingo Wars First Madagascar expedition [2] Tonkin campaign [2] Sino-French War [2] Revolta da Armada Federalist Revolution [3] First Italo-Ethiopian War [4] War of Canudos [5] Second Boer War World War I Spanish Civil War World War II (Portuguese colonies) Annexation of Goa Portuguese Colonial War
Production history
Designer	Alfred von Kropatschek
Designed	1886
Produced	1886–circa 1898
Variants	Long rifle, short rifle
Specifications
Mass	4.3 kg (9.5 lb)
Length	1320 mm (4 ft)
Barrel  length	820 mm (32.3 in)
Cartridge	11×59mmR Gras 8×56mmR Kropatschek Corto [6] 8×60mmR Guedes [7]
Caliber	8mm (.329 in)
Action	Bolt action
Muzzle velocity	609 m/s (2,000 ft/s)
Effective firing range	2406 yd (2,200 m)
Feed system	8-round integral tubular magazine

A Kropatschek is any variant of a rifle designed by Alfred von Kropatschek. Kropatschek's rifles used a tubular magazine (constructed of nickel-plated steel) of his design, of the same type used in the Japanese Murata Type 22 and the German Mauser Gewehr 1871/84. While designed for black powder, the Kropatschek action proved to be strong enough to handle smokeless powder.

The Kropatschek was the basis for the French Lebel M1886. ^[8]

Variants

Austria-Hungary:

• Gendarmerie Repetier-Karabiner M1881: 11 mm Gendarmerie Carbine (also known as M1874/81);
• Kropatschek Torpedo Boats Gewehr M1893: 8 mm Navy Rifle for Torpedo boat crews.

France:

• Fusil de Marine Mle 1878: 11 mm Navy Rifle;
• Fusil d'Infanterie Mle 1884: 11 mm Infantry Rifle;
• Fusil d'Infanterie Mle 1885: 11 mm Infantry Rifle.

Portugal:

• Espingarda de Infantaria 8 mm m/1886: 8 mm Infantry Rifle;
• Carabina de Caçadores 8 mm m/1886: 8 mm Light Infantry Carbine;
• Carabina de Cavalaria 8 mm m/1886: 8 mm Cavalry Carbine;
• Carabina da Guarda Fiscal 8 mm m/1886/88: 8 mm Treasury Guard Carbine;
• Espingarda de Infantaria 8 mm m/1886/89: 8 mm Colonial Infantry Rifle;
• Carabina de Artilharia 8 mm m/1886/91: 8 mm Artillery Carbine.

Kropatschek 1886

Users

•   Austria-Hungary
•   Brazil:1878 Kropatschek rifle adopted by the navy in 1884; in 1891 it was replaced by the 1886 Portuguese model. During the second Revolta da Armada the army used a small number of Kropatscheks captured from navy depots. The Kropatschek was phased out in naval service in 1895 after the adoption of the 1894 Brazilian Mauser ^[9]
•   Chile: 2000 1878 Kropatschek rifles were delivered for the navy in 1881. The objective of this acquisition was to have a fast-firing weapon to repeal torpedo boats. ^[10]
•   Ethiopian Empire
•   French Third Republic
•   Kingdom of Greece: Part of French military aid during World War I. ^[11]
•   Kingdom of Portugal
•   Russian Empire:150,000 Kropatscheks bought from France in 1915 ^{[12] [13]}
    Soviet Union:taken into Soviet inventory following the Russian Civil War; most were shipped to Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War ^[13]
•   Kingdom of Spain: 746 M1878 Kropatschek rifles procured from OEWG. ^[11]
•   Spanish Republic:1,821 surplus 1878 Kropatschek rifles delivered by the Soviet Union ^[13]
•   Wassoulou Empire: The Wassoulou Empire arms industry created functional copies of the Krophatschek rifle in the 1880s and 90s to use in their struggle against French colonial forces. ^[14]

See also

• Antique firearms

References

1. Esposito, Gabriele, Armies of the War of the Pacific 1879-83: Osprey Publishing (2016)
2. McCollum, Ian (2019). Chassepot to Famas: French Military Rifles 1866-2016. Headstamp Publishing. ISBN   978-1733424608.
3. "O EXÉRCITO REPUBLICANO" (PDF).
4. McLachlan, Sean (20 Sep 2011). Armies of the Adowa Campaign 1896: The Italian Disaster in Ethiopia. Men-at-Arms 471. Osprey Publishing. pp. 35–36. ISBN 9781849084574.
5. VILLELA Jr, M E C. CANUDOS: memórias de um combatente. 2 ed. Rio de Janeiro: EdUERJ, 1997. p. 107.
6. 8x56 R Kropatschek Short - MUNICION.org (spanish)
7. 8x60 R Guedes - Kropatschek - MUNICION.org (spanish)
8. "French Rifle Ammunition: 8mm Lebel and 7.5mm French". 7 August 2017.
9. "ArmasBrasil - Carabina Kropatschek".
10. "Armas de Fuego y Municiones". web.archive.org. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
11. "M1878 French Naval Kropatschek (Fusil de Marine M1878)". MilitaryRifles.com. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
12. "Scraping the bottom of the barrel blackpowder rifles of the great war part 1".
13. "Foreign Rifles of the Spanish Republic, 1936-1939".
14. Bocoum, Hamady (2001). "SAMORI' S SMITHIES: FROM CRAFT PRODUCTION TO ATTEMPTED MANUFACTURING, OR A DRAFT PLAN FOR TECHNOLOGICAL INDEPENDENCE". Mande Studies. 3: 55–63.

External links

• French 1878 Marine Kropatschek Forgotten Weapons