Gewehr 71

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 and Wilhelm Mauser of the Mauser company and later mass-produced at Spandau arsenal. Paul Mauser developed his bolt-action rifle from 1867 to 1871. In 1870–71 trials with 2,500 test rifles took place, with the M1869 Bavarian Werder being the Mausers' chief competitor. The Mauser was provisionally adopted on 2 December 1871, pending the development of an appropriate safety. With support from the government's Spandau arsenal, the improvements to the safety mechanism were completed and the rifle was formally accepted on 14 February 1872 as Infantry Rifle Model 1871 by the German Empire, excluding Bavaria that adopted the Werder. The rifles were issued to the German Army from late 1873 to 1875, with approximately 1.82 million rifles and Jägerbüchse and 80,000–100,000 carbines produced. The Mauser 1871 was replaced by the magazine-fed, smokeless powder using Gewehr 1888 from 1888 through 1890. The action was not based on its predecessor, the Dreyse needle gun which had seen service during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, and which was found to have a number of weaknesses. The now well known Mauser "wing" type safety lever was developed for the Gewehr 71. The Gewehr 71 is a conventional-looking bolt action chambered in 11mm using black powder cartridges. The action included only a bolt guide rib as its single locking lug, locking forward of the receiving bridge. The original design was a single-shot. After troop trials in 1882 and 1883, the design was updated in 1884 with an 8-round tubular magazine designed by Alfred von Kropatschek, making this the German Army's first repeating rifle (a prototype of a M1871 with some tubular magazine was in fact show to Wilhelm II as early as September 1881). This version was designated the Gewehr 1871/84, of which over a million examples were produced.