Kropatschek M1886

About the Kropatschek M1886

The Kropatschek M1886 was a tubular-magazine bolt-action rifle designed by Austrian officer Alfred von Kropatschek and adopted as Portugal's standard infantry rifle. Built by Steyr, it fed eight rounds of 8x60mmR from an under-barrel tube via a cartridge elevator, with a magazine cut-off allowing single-loading. Kropatschek's tube-magazine system was a direct forerunner of the French Lebel rifle.

Kropatschek's tube-magazine rifle was the conceptual blueprint for the French Lebel that triggered the smokeless-powder arms race, yet it found its longest service not in Europe but as Portugal's frontline rifle and on into the Spanish Civil War decades later.

Kropatschek M1886 specifications

Kropatschek's earlier 11mm designs were adopted by the French Navy in 1878; the Portuguese 1886 model used the smaller 8mm cartridge. Many Portuguese Kropatscheks remained in colonial and reserve service through World War I and were used in the Spanish Civil War.