
The Wänzl or Wänzel rifle was a
breechloading
A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition from the breech end of the barrel (i.e., from the rearward, open end of the gun's barrel), as opposed to a muzzleloader, in which the user loads the ammunition from the ( muzzle ...
conversion of the
Lorenz M1854 and M1862 rifles. The
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...
used the Wänzel as their service rifle until they had enough
Werndl-Holub M1867 rifles to arm the military.
[Никола Гажевић, Војна енциклопедија 7, Војноиздавачки завод, Београд (1974), стр. 548-550][Никола Гажевић, Војна енциклопедија 10, Војноиздавачки завод, Београд (1976), стр. 676-679]
The rifle was a lifting block breechloader chambered for the 14×33mmRF cartridge. The Austrians converted a total of 70,000 Lorenz muskets to Wänzels.
See also
*
Trapdoor mechanism
*
Snider-Enfield rifle
*
Springfield model 1873
*
Tabatière rifle
*
Green M1867, a Serbian conversion of
Lorenz M1854
*
Weaponry of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
References
Sources
Manowar's Hungarian Weapons
Rifles of Austria
World War I Austro-Hungarian infantry weapons
Hinged breechblock rifles
Early rifles
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