The M1867 Russian Krnka (Винтовка Крнка́) was a breech loading conversion of the muzzle-loading Model 1857 Six Line
rifle musket
A rifled musket, rifle musket, or rifle-musket is a type of firearm made in the mid-19th century. Originally the term referred only to muskets that had been produced as a smoothbore weapon and later had their barrels replaced with rifled barr ...
designed by Austro-Hungarian arms maker,
Sylvester Krnka.
History
It was adopted by the Russian Empire in 1869, and was similar to the contemporary
Snider-Enfield and
Tabatiere conversions. Conversions were carried out at the
Tula
Tula may refer to:
Geography
Antarctica
*Tula Mountains
*Tula Point
India
*Tulā, a solar month in the traditional Indian calendar
Iran
* Tula, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province
Italy
* Tula, Sardinia, municipality (''comune'') in the pr ...
armory (TOZ).
Two main versions were produced: infantry and cavalry rifles. Shortly after its introduction to service, the M1867 was replaced by the
Berdan rifle
The Berdan rifle (''винтовка Бердана''/''vintovka Berdana'' in Russian) is a Russian rifle created by the American firearms expert and inventor Hiram Berdan in 1868. It was standard issue in the Russian army from 1870 to 1891, when ...
, though both weapons would serve simultaneously for a time. The rifles were issued to conscripts and police forces in the Central Asian territories, like
Samarkand
fa, سمرقند
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
.
After being taken out of service, many Krnka rifles were converted into cheap smoothbore hunting shotguns.
[научный сотрудник Тульского музея оружия С. Севрюгина. Мосин - организатор производства охотничьего оружия // журнал «Охота и охотничье хозяйство», № 4, 1981. стр.20-21]
References
{{reflist
Sources
MilitaryRifles.com: Russian Krnka
1867 introductions
Early rifles
Hinged breechblock rifles
Tula Arms Plant products
Rifles of the Russian Empire
Russo-Japanese war weapons of Russia