The Tabatière rifle was a breech-loading rifle of the French Army.
The Tabatière system was developed from 1864 as a way to convert numerous muzzle-loading weapons (usually Minié rifles) into breech-loading ones, in a process similar to that of the Snider-Enfield in Great Britain. The name "Tabatière" come from the fact that the breech-loading mechanism looked like a snuff box.[1]
Most of the conversion work had been accomplished by the time of the Franco-Prussian war.[2]
Although the ammunition was a center fire cartridge closely resembling a shortened 12 gauge shotgun shell, this weapon system was recognized as ballistically inferior to the Chassepot rifle. Therefore it was essentially used by second line troops and in defensive roles.[3]
| Preceded by Minié rifle |
French Army rifle 1864–1870 |
Succeeded by Chassepot |
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