Original French Fusil Modèle 1866 Chassepot Needle Fire Rifle by St. Étienne dated 1871 - Matching Serial L 79569 German Gun Magazines The leather of the grips

The leather of the grips still shows the original checkering

By the time the advance was resumed the opportunity for a rapid capture of the road to Arnhem had passed

From an old collection just disbursed in Europe this is a real peach of a find and not some cheap bazaar trash

all paratrooper helmets were produced by Eisenhuttenwerke of Thale

was one of the largest German aircraft construction companies in the first half of the 20th century

Original French Fusil Modèle 1866 Chassepot Needle Fire Rifle by St. Étienne dated 1871 - Matching Serial L 79569 German Gun Magazines The leather of the gripsOriginal Item: Only One Available. Despite the fact that the French needle fire Chassepot rifle was far superior to the needle fire Prussian Dreyse rifle, the French took a swift and decisive beating in the war of 1870 71. In fairness to the French, the defeat was due to Napoleon III's foolhardiness in allowing himself to get captured at the Battle of Sedan and the show was then over. The Chassepot rifle of 1866 was a single shot bolt action rifle and