In 1836 Johann Nikolaus Dreyse (later honored with a title making him Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse) revolutionized the world of military firearms by submitting his bolt action “needle rifle” to the Prussian military for testing and trials. 

Dreyse was born in Sömmerda, Prussia in 1787, and probably developed an interest in making and building things from his father, who was a blacksmith. From 1809-1814 Dreyse worked for the famous Swiss gunmaker Jean-Samuel Pauly, who operated a gun manufactory in Paris. It was there that Dreyse was probably exposed to the concept of breechloading rifles, as Pauly conducted a number of experiments during that time on various breechloading designs. Dreyse returned to Prussia after working for Pauly and established a percussion cap manufactory in Sömmerda in 1824. Dreyse was certainly on the cutting edge of the firearms business at the time, as the percussion cap was still nearly two decades from somewhat universal, worldwide acceptance. It was at this time that Dreyse started to experiment with self-contained paper cartridges. While paper cartridges that contained black powder and projectiles had been around for almost two centuries, they all required the use of an external ignition system, either powder in the pan of a flintlock or a percussion cap on the cone (nipple) of the gun. Dreyse developed a paper cartridge that contained not only the bullet and the powder, but also the percussion cap, which was situated at the bottom of the bullet, above the powder charge. Placing the cap in that location allowed the base of the bullet to act as the anvil upon which the cap could be detonated when it was struck. Dreyse also developed a long, needle-like pin that was tensioned by a coiled spring and was effectively the first widely produced firing pin design. Initially Dreyse applied these new developments to a muzzle loading firearm design, with the novelty being the self-contained paper cartridge and the needle fire ignition system. This did not, however, provide significant advantages over conventional percussion muzzle loading arms. Then in 1836 he applied the same concepts to his newly designed breechloading rifle that was bolt actuated. This was revolutionary, as it made the gun very fast to load and allowed it to be easily loaded while the shooter was prone, concealed or even on horseback. He submitted his design to the Prussian military, and it was accepted in December of 1840. 

In 1841 the new infantry rifle was designated the Leichte Perscussions-Gewehr M-1841. The name “Light Percussion Rifle M-1841” was meant to conceal the revolutionary nature of the new firearm, but by 1855 the term Zündnadelgewehr (Needle Gun) was in general use within the Prussian military. The rifle was a 15.4mm (about .61 caliber), single shot, bolt-action breechloader that looked rather like the previous generations of Prussian muzzle loading flintlock and percussion muskets. In fact, at first glance the M1841 looked rather like a bolt action M1809 “Potsdam” musket, as it retained the breech stock, brass barrel bands and general silhouette of the musket. In place of the usual percussion lock there was only a stock flat, reminiscent of the off side of a percussion musket. The new M1841 was somewhat shorter and lighter than its percussion predecessor with a 33 ½” barrel and a 54” overall length, which had a 41 ¼” barrel and was 56 ½” in overall length. The new rifle could fire 10 to 12 rounds per minute, which was an astounding rate of fire for the time. The muzzle velocity was about 1,000 ft/s and the rifle had an effective range of about 600 yards. This was somewhat shy of the 1,000 yards that the best muzzle loading rifle musket designs of the mid-19^th century were capable of. The primary issue was poor gas sealing at the breech, allowing the escape of gasses at that location and reducing the chamber presser and projectile velocity. The other major drawback was the fact that the firing needle had to be very long to reach the primer deep within the paper cartridge, at the base of the projectile. This led to issues with needle breakage and required that the soldiers to carry spare needles with them, as well as to be capable of disassembling the bolt system in the field to replace a broken needle.

 In an attempt to improve the quality of the M1841, and potentially reduced gas leakage, a new version, the M1862, was adopted in that year. The M1862 retained the 15.4mm caliber, broad 4-groove rifling and the needle fire bolt-action system, but was produced with improved tolerances in an attempt to limit gas leakage and to improve the interchangeability of parts. The new rifle also had a slightly shorter, 32 ½” barrel and the “short butt variant” was only 52 ¾” in overall length. Despite the improvements, the updated version was only slightly better in terms of gas leakage.Despite the short comings of limited range, gas leakage and needle durability, the amazing rate of fire made the Zündnadelgewehr a fearsome weapon to be encountered by an enemy armed with conventional muzzle loading muskets. 

The Prussians used their Zündnadelgewehrs (both M41s and M62s) with devastating effectiveness against the Austrian infantry during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, where observers commented on the fact that a prone Prussian infantryman could fire 5 rounds in the time it took a standing Austrian infantryman to load his rifle one time. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) the superiority of the smaller caliber French M1866 Chassepot Rifle with its obturating bolt became immediately obvious to the Prussian military. The Chassepot’s bullet was fired at a higher pressure and with less gas leakage, resulting in greater velocity and range. Thus, a system of modification of existing stocks M41 and M62 rifles began. The alteration, known as the Beck Conversion, required that a new bolt head be installed on the face of the bolt. This new bolt head was attached with a large screw through the side of the bolt, which is easily visible from the exterior. Additionally, a leather washer was placed between the new bolt head and bolt body, creating an obturator. When the rifle was fired, the gas pressure pushed the new bolt head back and expanded the leather washer against the chamber walls, increasing the gas seal, similar to the obturator found in the French Chassepot rifle. This reduced leakage and increased bullet velocity. The Beck system also used modified ammunition with the bullet seated deeper in the papier-mâché sabot, allowing the use of a slightly shorter needle. Nearly every needle rifle found today has the Beck Conversion to the bolt. The end of the Franco-Prussian War was quickly followed by the adoption of the new Mauser designed M71 bolt action rifle, the first self-contained metallic cartridge rifle to be adopted by the Prussian military. As a result, the M41 and M62 needle rifles were soon relegated to secondary service with the Landwehr (German secondary reserve troops or militia) and was wholly obsolete very quickly. However, the Zündnadelgewehr was a groundbreaking weapon that served Prussia’s front-line troops for three decades and remains the first bolt action rifle to see universal issue to the military of any country.

Despite the revolutionary technology represented the Zündnadelgewehr, at the end of the combat still often comes down to facing your enemy up close and personally. As such, the rifles were still equipped to accept a bayonet for when things became more personal on the battlefield. The front sight doubled as a lug for a socket bayonet. The design was a traditional triangular blade design with rotating locking ring on the socket to secure the bayonet to the rifle. As the primary need for bayonets on infantry arms during the mid-19^th century were still to guard against cavalry, as they had been for more than a century, the blade was slightly longer than most socket bayonets of the period, that were typically between 16” and 18” in length. The extra blade length was necessary to make up for the slightly shorter overall length of the Zündnadelgewehr and made sure that the infantryman still had enough reach to safely unhorse an approaching cavalryman.

The Prussian M1862 Needle Rifle Socket Bayonet offered here remains in VERY GOOD condition and is a solid example of one of these fairly scarce socket bayonets. The nominally 20” triangular blade has a 17.5” central fuller on the face and the narrow blade is .66” wide at the ricasso. The overall length of the bayonet is 22.75” and the 2.75” socket is mortised for a top stud. The muzzle diameter of the bayonet’s socket is .855” and the muzzle to stud distance is .93”.  The ricasso is struck with a number of Prussian inspection marks and the rear of the shank bears inspection markings as well. The rear face of the socket is numbered 8847.

As noted, the bayonet remains in VERY GOOD condition. It is moderately oxidized with a mostly smooth, mottled gray patina and with darker brownish discoloration on both the blade and the socket that appears to be old, dried grease or oil. There is more of this on the socket than on the blade, although the tip of the blade shows some dark brown discoloration as well. The metal does show some scattered light to moderate pinpricking and some very small areas of light pitting but is mostly smooth. The markings on the blade remain mostly clear and visible, but some of the other markings, particularly on the rear of the shank, rear of the socket and the muzzle ring are either worn or partially obscured by the accumulation of old oil and grease, making them much more difficult to see or read. The locking ring is present and operates smoothly. The numbers on the rear of the locking ring do not match the rear of the socket, but it is not clear that they are related, as the socket number may be related to the gun the bayonet was mated with, rather than an assembly number. The patina of the ring indicates that it has clearly been with the bayonet since the period of use, so it does not in any way detract from the display or functionality of the bayonet.

Overall, this is a very good, solid example of a Prussian M1862 Needle Rifle Socket Bayonet. It would be a nice addition to a collection of pre-Imperial Germany, Germanic states bayonets or as an accessory for your M1862 Needle Rifle. You don’t see these bayonets on the market very often, so don’t miss your opportunity to acquire this one for your collection.

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