Alfred Ritter von Kropatschek (

Bielitz Bielsko (german: Bielitz, cs, Bílsko) was until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland. In 1951 it was joined with Biała Krakowska to form the new town of Bielsko-Biała. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that to ...

, January 30, 1838 –

Lovran Lovran ( it, Laurana, german: Lauran) is a village and a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia. It is situated in eastern Istria, on the western coast of the Kvarner Bay with a population of 4,101 in the municipality and 3,336 in th ...

, May 2, 1911) was a

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

in the

Austrian Army The Austrian Armed Forces (german: Bundesheer, lit=Federal Army) are the combined military forces of the Republic of Austria. The military consists of 22,050 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 0.74% of nati ...

and a weapons designer of the late 19th century, who was responsible for several rifle and revolver designs in affiliation with the Steyr Mannlicher; these weapons were used by the armed forces of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

and several other nations. His rifles feature a tubular magazine under the barrel similar to a

Winchester rifle Winchester rifle is a comprehensive term describing a series of lever action repeating rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Developed from the 1860 Henry rifle, Winchester rifles were among the earliest repeaters. The Mo ...

; the cartridge lifter was the key to the Kropatschek design. One of his designs was sold to the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

, and was later adapted by the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

in the development of the prolific Lebel rifle, which served as

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

's front-line rifle from 1886 through the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. According to historian Roger A Pauly, some people joked that more bullets from Kropatschek-designed rifles were fired at the Austrians, than by them. Kropatschek's tubular magazine design was also adapted to the German

Mauser Model 1871 The Mauser Model 1871 adopted as the ''Gewehr'' 71 or ''Infanterie-Gewehr'' 71, or "Infantry Rifle 71" ("I.G.Mod.71" was stamped on the rifles themselves) was the first rifle model in a distinguished line designed and manufactured by Paul Mauser ...

rifle, resulting in the Model 71/84. Kropatschek was a contemporary of

Ferdinand Mannlicher Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher (January 30, 1848 – January 20, 1904) was an Austrian engineer and small arms designer. Along with James Paris Lee, Mannlicher was particularly noted for inventing the en-bloc clip charger-loading magazine system ...

in their affiliations with the Steyr munitions company, but they had competing designs. The Steyr Kropatschek rifles featured the tubular magazine and the Steyr Mannlicher rifles featured a box magazine. The limiting factors of the tubular magazines were: a risk of pointed tip bullets firing the primer of the next cartridge in the tube, decrease in magazine capacity in short weapons such as carbines (shorter tubes), a shift in the rifle's point of balance as the magazine is depleted, and lack of any significant firing speed advantage in prolonged engagements over single-shot weapons (since cartridges had to be loaded one by one in contrast to magazines designed to use clips). An advantage of the box magazine is quick reloading by inserting a full en bloc or stripper clip.

Rifle and revolver designs

Austria-Hungary

Model 1881 Gendarmarie

Carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and lighte ...

(also known as "M1874/81")
1881 Type Trials Rifles

France

Model 1878 Navy rifle (''Fusil de Marine Mle 1878''),
Model 1884 Infantry Rifle (''Fusil d'Infanterie Mle 1884''),
Model 1885 Infantry Rifle (''Fusil d'Infanterie Mle 1885'').

Portugal

Model 1886 8 mm Infantry Rifle (''Espingarda de Infantaria 8 mm m/1886''),
Model 1886/89 8 mm Infantry Rifle with heat protecting handguard for colonial use (''Espingarda de Infantaria 8 mm m/1886/89''),
Model 1886 8 mm Light Infantry Carbine (''Carabina de Caçadores 8 mm m/1886'')
Model 1886 8 mm Cavalry Carbine (''Carabina de Cavalaria 8 mm m/1886'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kropatschek, Alfred Ritter von 1838 births 1911 deaths Firearm designers Austrian knights Austrian generals People from Bielsko People from Austrian Silesia