Reffye mitrailleuse

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	Weapon: Reffye mitrailleuse Type: Hand-Cranked Machine Gun Country of Origin: France Year Adopted: 1866 Caliber: 13mm Action: Manual Crank Overall Length (mm): 1800.0 Weight (kg): 1900.00 Effective Range (m): 1800

The Reffye Mitrailleuse was a French volley gun designed by Jean-Baptiste Verchere de Reffye in the early 1860s and adopted in 1866. Engineered as an early form of machine gun, the Reffye Mitrailleuse had 25 barrels mounted in a fixed arrangement, capable of firing multiple rounds in rapid succession by turning a crank. This weapon was chambered in 13mm rounds, making it formidable for its time, though it required a crew to operate, limiting its mobility and flexibility on the battlefield.

Production of the Reffye Mitrailleuse began in the 1860s, with a total of approximately 200 units manufactured. The weapon saw action during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) but suffered from tactical limitations due to its slow reloading process and immobility. Despite its potential, the Reffye was often deployed improperly as artillery rather than as direct-fire support, which reduced its effectiveness against the highly mobile Prussian forces, and it failed to make the intended impact in the war.

The Reffye Mitrailleuse gained notoriety for its mixed results in combat and ultimately became a symbol of French technological ambition that fell short in practical application. Its deployment illustrated the challenges faced by early machine gun technology, including logistical and tactical hurdles that would only be overcome in later decades. Today, the Reffye Mitrailleuse is remembered as a significant, though flawed, step in the evolution of automatic weaponry, with surviving examples on display in military museums as an artifact of early attempts at rapid-fire weaponry.