What is a needle gun?
J.D. Dillon
Via the Internet
A needle gun is an European creation that got a lot of publicity during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 when the guns were widely used. The name comes from the firing pin, which is very long and slender, like a needle. The pin pierced clear through the paper-encased cartridge to strike the primer, placed inside at the base of the bullet. The .51 caliber gun was the father of all modern bolt-action rifles. A few needle guns were also made by Americans, but they were soon replaced by rifles that fired metallic cartridges.
Post Views:
1,149
Related Posts
-
What are needle guns? Bob Fuller — Vermillion, South Dakota. A European invention, the needle gun got…
-
Robert Garcia Phoenix, Arizona True. The blood ritual has been around for centuries in the…
-
A long slender firing pin inspired the nickname “needle gun” for a custom, sporterized Springfield…
Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian and the Wild West History Association’s vice president. His latest book is 2018’s Arizona Oddities: A Land of Anomalies and Tamales. Send your question, with your city/state of residence, to marshall.trimble@scottsdalecc.edu or Ask the Marshall, P.O. Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327.