Mle 1866 Chassepot rifle, Felix Escoffier, St. Etienne, 1870 production, 11mm

ALL ANTIQUE RIFLES SOLD AS-IS. NEVER ATTEMPT TO FIRE AN ANTIQUE WEAPON WITHOUT CONSULTING A GUNSMITH. SEE PICTURES FOR CONDITION AND DETAILS

The Chassepot rifle was peak technology when it debuted. While utilizing the Dreyse needle-fire system, it improved that system in every way. It had a smaller, faster, more modern, long-range and accurate caliber. It featured a rubber gas seal. It was lighter weight and shorter than the Dreyse, and had better sights.

The difference between the Dreyse and its French descendant was most apparent during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). The rifle was accurate beyond 600 yards, unlike the Dreyse, safer, faster loading, faster to deploy, and more compact.

The rifle saw continuous production from 1867 to 1875, and roughly 2 million were produced - making it one of the most prolific rifles of all time. It was used by France, Bavaria, Saxony, Monaco, severl African nations, Brazil, Peru, Vietnam's Nguyen Dynasty, Italy, the Tokugawa Shogonate of Edo Japan, Serbia, Ethiopia, Bolivia, Iran, Qing dynasty China, Greece, and various other would-be nations and factions. It saw use from the 3rd War of Italian independence in 1867 to still being found on the battlefields of Vietnam against France in the 1950s and the U.S. in the 1960s.

At the time this rifle was made, France had an unusual system of firearms production. Private entrepreneurs could sign a 10-year contract to run state arsenals. As long as they could make the weapons for less than a target number, they made a profit. If they exceeded production numbers, they could buy the excess, and sell under their own name - usually as military contracts to foreign governments, or sold directly to French officers. Escoffier "produced" and sold both Chassepot rifles and Lefaucheux revolvers. 

This rifle has no civilian marks, but all the usual military proofs. This means it is likely that this was an officer's rifle. That said, in 1870-1871, the sheer number of firearms commissions within France purchasing military rifles for local government, government agencies, specific military units, and the like means that the only thing we can know for sure is that this military-marked, Escoffier-marked gun probably saw use in some aspect of the French military.

This rifle is all-matching with a grey lustre to the metal, probably caused by chemical rust removal as there are signs of some fine rust in the past. That said, all markings are sharp, the bore is well above average, the needle is in excellent shape, and the stock is excellent. The rifle was probably assembled early in 1870 as the stock has the Escoffier 1869 mark, and the barrel is marked 1870.