Bavarian Lightning: The New Model Werder M1869/76

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Poor Bavaria got the rug pulled on its infantry rifle program a solid three times in only about 20 years. With the development of the self-contained brass cartridge, they run a new rifle trials program and adopt the Werder M1869 - the fastest-firing and arguably most advanced of all the single-shot military rifles of the era. It is going into production as the Franco-Prussian War begins, and rifles are sent out to units as fast as they can be made. Field reports show that Bavarian troops love the guns; they are fast and accurate and particularly better than the clunky Podewils-Lindner converted muzzleloaders also in Bavarian service.

The standard Werder lasts for barely a few years before the establishment of the new German state requires a standardized rifle cartridge. Bavaria has to adopt the Prussian 11mm Mauser round, and they do their best to adapt the Werder to this round - but it is tricky, because the Mauser round is substantially longer and more powerful than the Werder cartridge. After some efforts they move to just build brand new Mauser-chambered Werders from scratch - and that's the M1869/76 that we are looking at here today. But this rifle too lasts barely a few years before the Bavarian state replaces it with the M1871 Mauser.

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