Jean-Baptiste Verchère de Reffye (30 July 1821 – 6 December 1880) was a French artillery general of the 19th century, and superintendent of the works at Meudon.[1] He was a former ordnance officer for Napoleon III. He also established the gun manufacture in Tarbes.
Reffye mitrailleuse
Front view of Reffye model mitrailleuse, 1866The 1870 Reffye cannonReffye Mle 1870 85mm breech system
Jean-Baptiste Verchère de Reffye took a key role in introducing rifledbreech loading cannons, a marked improvement over the previous La Hitte system which had been in place since 1858. The La Hitte system used rifled weapons, but they were muzzle-loading, which had the advantage of structural strength, but the disadvantage of slowness in loading.
In 1870, de Reffye developed the Reffye 85mm cannon, an 85 mm (3.35-inch) rifled breech-loading cannon, equipped with a breech screw, initially made of bronze. The cannon used shell cartridges for ammunition.[4]
