SOLD PRUSSIAN 1860 DANZIG ARSENAL M-1841 DREYSE NEEDLE RIFLE…..ALL MATCHING WITH BAYONET…..EXCELLENT CONDITION!!!

This is the Famous Old Prussian Needle Rifle we all have heard about, the Rifle the Prussian Army used during the Franco Prussian War of 1870.  This is an extremely rare all matching Model of 1841 Dresye Needle Fire Rifle made at the Prussian Danzig Arsenal in 1860 with the upgrades from 1866.  The bore is mint and it comes with the extremely scarce bayonet as well.  The cartouches on the stock are quite visible, and the bore is in excellent condition.  Like all German weaponry this gun was well maintained  during its service life and in its collector life as well.  Although it was developed in the 1840’s the rifle never really saw widespread use until the 1860’s.  It was the Prussian “secret weapon” of the 1860’s and contributed significantly to victories against Denmark and Austria during this period.  By the time of the Franco Prussian War, it was the main Service Rifle of the Prussian Land Forces.  Our example is unit marked to an Infantry Regiment and certainly saw action.  The Prussian Needle rifle is important to collectors because it was the Infantry weapon at the Birth of German/Prussian Militarism and it was also important in that it provided the technological stimulus to spur the development of both small arms and the privately held industrial base required to efficiently mass produce these complex arms.   This was the beginning of the industrial push to produce all of the other military equipment to be deployed as instruments of Prussian State Power.