Modified in 1880 as the M80 with an improved breechblock and in 1914 as the M14 to accommodate the 8×50mmR Lebel smokeless powder cartridge, the Gras was replaced as the standard-issue service rifle by the Lebel in 1886.
Description
The Model 1874 sword bayonet.
Converted from the Chassepot, the Gras[2] was in 11 mm (0.43 in) caliber and used black powdercenterfiremetallic cartridges with a 385 gr (24.9 g; 0.88 oz) bullet over a 78 gr (5.1 g; 0.18 oz) charge. It was a robust and hard-hitting single-shot weapon. Additionally it had a triangular-shaped Model 1874 "Gras" sword bayonet. The Gras rifle was replaced from 1886 by the Lebel rifle.
Development
The Gras was manufactured in response to the development of the Boxer cartridge in 1866, and the British 1870 Martini–Henry rifle which used it.[3] Those were soon emulated by the Germans with the 1871 Mauser.[3] The French Army set up a study group in September 1872 that chose the metallic over the paper cartridge. A second study group in 1873 looked at various metallic cartridge adaptations. Colonel Gras proposed a modification of the Chassepot to accept metal cartridges and on 7 July 1874, the French Army chose his design over the M1871 Beaumont rifle.
The Hellenic Army adopted the Gras in 1877, and it was used in all conflicts until the Second World War. It became the favourite weapon of Greek guerrilla fighters,[4] from the various revolts against the Ottoman Empire to the resistance against the Axis, acquiring legendary status. The name entered the Greek language, and grades (γκράδες) was a term colloquially applied to all rifles during the first half of the 20th century. It was manufactured by Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne, one of several government-owned arms factories in France. However most of the Gras rifles (60,000) used by the Hellenic military were manufactured under licence by Steyr in Austria.
The Gras rifle was partly the inspiration for the development of the Japanese Murata rifle, Japan's first locally-made service rifle.[citation needed] It was also among the rifles copied in the arms industry of the Wassoulou Empire in the 1880s and 90s.[5]
According to the Vietnamese historian Phạm Văn Sơn, a Vietnamese general in the Cần Vương movement, Cao Văn Thắng, managed to copy the design of "an 1874 type fast-firing rifle of French". However, the Vietnamese version did not have a rifled barrel, and the range was limited.[6]
In 1915, 450,000 Gras rifles were sent to the Russian Empire.
In 1914, the French Army modified 146,000 rifles to fire 8 mm Lebel by using the barrel of a Lebel or Berthier rifle. They were used by second-line troops. In 1940, after the French defeat, most of these rifles were destroyed by the German occupiers.[8]
Grenade launcher
Gras rifles and the 11x59mmR cartridges were also widely used by front line troops as converted grenade launchers, known as Bombardes DR (grenade throwers) these conversions had cut down barrels and butts of varying workmanship and fired blank cartridges to propel the grenade, and were used as a crude form of trench mortar.[citation needed]
Greek modified bayonets
The period 1932-1939 Greece manufactured the M1939 bayonet, it was a modification of the Gras Model 1874 bayonet and was used by Greek soldiers in World War II.
Colombia: Several thousand were bought at the end of the 19th century. They were used during the Thousand Days' War,[14] against the Panamanianrebels[15] and various civil Colombian conflicts from the 1920s to the 1950s.[14]
Ethiopian Empire: the Gras was used by the Ethiopian Army during both Italian invasions, being popular among irregular soldiers. Most were acquired from French. [16][17]
Haiti: Haitian army used Gras rifles until its disbandment by occupying U.S. Marines. The army's successor force, the Gendarmerie of Haiti, used old Gras rifles until replaced in 1916 by repeating Krag–Jørgensen rifles.[18]
Russian Empire: Due to firearm shortages in World War I, the Russian Empire received 450,000 Gras rifles from France in 1915.[23][24][25]
Siam:Some were purchased in the 19th century, during World War I the Siamese expeditionary forces were equipped by the French with Gras rifles modified to fire the 8mm balle D cartridge.[26]
Vietnam: Vietnamese insurgents of the Hương Khê uprising managed to create copies of the Fusil Gras mle 1874. However, they did not have rifled barrels.
^Jowett, Philip (20 Jul 2015). Armies of the Greek-Turkish War 1919–22. Men-at-Arms 501. Osprey Publishing. p. 22. ISBN9781472806840.
^Bocoum, Hamady (2001). "SAMORI' S SMITHIES: FROM CRAFT PRODUCTION TO ATTEMPTED MANUFACTURING, OR A DRAFT PLAN FOR TECHNOLOGICAL INDEPENDENCE". Mande Studies. 3: 55–63.
^Phạm Văn Sơn, Việt sử tân biên (quyển 5, tập trung). Tác giả tự xuất bản, Sài Gòn. 1963. p. 147
^Г. В. Цыпкин, В. С. Ягья. История Эфиопии в новое и новейшее время. М.: «Наука», 1989. стр. 217
^McLachlan, Sean (20 Sep 2011). Armies of the Adowa Campaign 1896: The Italian Disaster in Ethiopia. Men-at-Arms 471. Osprey Publishing. pp. 35–36. ISBN9781849084574.
^Hermle, L.D. History, Military Department of the North, Garde d'Haiti, 1934, p. 2.
^"History - 19th April 2016"(PDF). Adam's. 2016. p. 107. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2021-10-03. Retrieved 2020-05-24. A 1916 Lee Enfield SMLE No.1 Mk.III. This rifle was reputedly captured by Martin Doyle in a raid on the Royal Irish Constabulary Barracks, Abbey Square, Enniscorthy and replaced his French 1874 Gras 11mm rifle which he had carried in the Rising in 1916.
^А.А. Игнатьев. Пятьдесят лет в строю. том 2 (кн. 4-5). М., 1989. стр.127
^"Во время первой мировой войны царская Россия испытывала недостаток в стрелковом вооружении, поэтому в армии кроме винтовок русского образца были также и иностранные - японские Арисака обр.1897 и 1905 гг., австро-венгерские Манлихера 1889 и 1895 гг., германские "88" и "98". Кроме этих винтовок использовались также и устаревшие образцы, стрелявшие патронами, снаряженными дымным порохом - Бердана № 2 образца 1870 г., Гра 1874 г., Гра-Кропачека 1874/85 г., Веттерли 1870/87 г." А. Б. Жук. Энциклопедия стрелкового оружия: револьверы, пистолеты, винтовки, пистолеты-пулеметы, автоматы. М., АСТ — Воениздат, 2002. стр.587
^А. А. Маниковский. Русская армия в Великой войне: Боевое снабжение русской армии в мировую войну. М., 1937
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