Fusil Gras mle 1874

Gras M80 Model 1874 rifle Fusil Gras M80 Modèle 1874
Fusil Gras M80 1874
Type	Bolt-action rifle
Place of origin	France
Service history
In service	1874–1886 (France)
Used by	Chile France Kingdom of Greece Monaco
Wars	French colonial expeditions Sino-French War War of the Pacific Chilean Civil War of 1891 Thousand Days' War Greco-Turkish War (1897) Balkan Wars World War I Greco-Turkish War (1919–22) World War II
Production history
Designed	1874
Manufacturer	Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne and Steyr
Specifications
Weight	4.15 kg (9.15 lb)
Length	1305 mm (51.4 in)
Barrel length	820 mm (32.3 in)
Caliber	11×59mmR & 8×50mmR Lebel
Action	Bolt action
Feed system	Single shot, 10 round gravity hopper
Sights	Iron sights

The Fusil Gras Modèle 1874 M80 was a French service rifle of the 19th century. The Gras used by the French Army was an adaptation to metallic cartridge of the Chassepot breech-loading rifle by Colonel Basile Gras.

Description

This rifle had a caliber of 11mm and used black powder centerfire cartridges that weighed 25 grams. It was a robust and hard-hitting weapon, but it had no magazine and so could only fire one shot after loading. It also had a triangular-shaped sword bayonet, known as the Model 1874 "Gras" sword bayonet. It was replaced by the Lebel rifle in 1886, the first rifle to use smokeless gunpowder. In the meantime, about 400,000 Gras rifles had been manufactured.

The metallic-cartridge Gras was manufactured in response to the development of the metallic cartridge designed by Colonel Boxer in 1866 (Boxer cartridge), and the British 1870 Martini-Henry rifle. Those were soon emulated by the Germans with the 1871 Mauser.

The Hellenic Army adopted the Gras in 1877, and it was used in all conflicts up until the Second World War. It became the favourite weapon of Greek guerrilla fighters, from the various revolts against the Ottoman Empire to the resistance against the Axis, acquiring legendary status. The name entered the Greek language, and grades (γκράδες) was a term colloquially applied to all rifles during the first half of the 20th century. It was manufactured by Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne, one of several government-owned arms factories in France. However most of the Gras rifles (60,000) used by the Hellenic military were manufactured under licence by Steyr in Austria.

The Gras rifle was partly the inspiration for the development of the Japanese Murata rifle, Japan's first locally-made service rifle.

According to the Vietnamese historian Phạm Văn Sơn, a Vietnamese general in the Hương Khê uprising, named Cao Thắng (1864-1893), managed to copy the design of "a 1874 type fast-firing rifle of French". However, the Vietnamese version did not have a rifled barrel, and the range was limited.

Users

• Chile
• Ethiopian Empire: the Gras was used by the Ethiopian Army
• France: due to firearm shortages in World War I, France converted 146,000 rifles to fire 8mm Lebel in 1914
• Greece: the Gras was used by the Hellenic Army as late as 1941 in the Battle of Crete
• Monaco
• Russian Empire: due to firearm shortages in World War I, the Russian Empire received Gras rifles from France France sent 450,000 Gras rifles to Russia.
• Vietnam: a Vietnamese insurgent of the Hương Khê uprising managed to produce the copy version of Fusil Gras mle 1874. The Vietnamese version did not have rifled barrel, though.

Gallery

• 

  Fusil Gras M80 1874 breech portion

• 

  Fusil Gras M80 Mle 1874 metallic cartridge

• 

  Fusil Gras modified in 1883 with 10 cartridge gravity hopper

• 

  R: 11mmx59.5R metallic cartridge for Fusil Gras mle 1874

See also

• Berthier Mle 07-15
• Lebel Model 1886 rifle
• Table of handgun and rifle cartridges

External links

• A History of Greek Military Equipment (1821-today): Gras rifle

Preceded by Chassepot Modèle 1866

French Army rifle 1874-1886

Succeeded by Lebel Modèle 1886