Podewils gun
The Podewils gun was a 13.9mm calibre rifle used in the Bavarian army since 1858.[1] It was the most common infantry weapon of the Bavarian army in the Austro-Prussian war of 1866[2] and the Franco-Prussian war of 1870/71.[1] Theodor Fontane called it an "excellent" weapon of the Austro-Prussian war due to its long range.[2] Originally a muzzleloader, it was converted to breechloading in 1867, the so-called Lindner conversion.[3] In 1869 the Bavarian army started to replace it with the Werder breechloader, but due to budgetary constrains by 1870 most Bavarian troops still used the Podewils while only four infantry battalions had received the Werder (primarily Jäger units).[1][4] Even the Lindner conversion was inferior to both the Prussian Dreyse needle gun and the French Chassepot.[4]
References
- ^ a b c Flatnes, Oyvind (2013). From Musket to Metallic Cartridge: A Practical History of Black Powder Firearms. Crowood. ISBN 9781847975942.
- ^ a b Fontane, Theodor (1871). Der deutsche Krieg von 1866: Der Feldzug in West- und Mitteldeutschland [The German war of 1866: The campaign in western and middle Germany] (in German). Verlag d. Kgl. Geh. Ober-Hofbuchdruckerei R. v. Decker. p. 51.
- ^ Van Nostrand, D. (1869). Van Nostrand's Engineering Magazine. Vol. 1. p. 757.
- ^ a b M. A., royal Prussian artillery officer (1871). Der Krieg von 1870/71: Vom Beginn des Krieges bis zur Kapitulation von Sedan [The war of 1870/71: From the outbreak of the war to the surrender of Sedan] (in German). Verlag von Victor v. Zabern. p. 105.