Steyr · Rifle
Werndl M1873
Rolling block · 11x42mmR Werndl · introduced 1873
Also known as Infanteriegewehr M1873, Werndl Second Model, M73 Werndl
About the Werndl M1873
The Werndl M1873 is a single-shot, breech-loading black-powder infantry rifle, the second-model Werndl adopted by the Austro-Hungarian army as an improvement on the 1867 Werndl-Holub. It retains Josef Werndl's distinctive rotating drum ('crane') breechblock but moves the hammer inside the stock's wrist on a back-action lock, flattens the receiver sides to strengthen the notoriously weak wrist, and turns the breech lever upward when closed. Chambered for the straight-cased 11x42mmR M.67 cartridge, it served as Austria-Hungary's standard rifle until the 1877 rechambering program produced the M1873/77.
The Werndl rifles turned Josef Werndl's Steyr works into one of Europe's largest arms factories; he powered the expanding plant with early hydroelectric generators, and in 1884 lit the town of Steyr with electricity ahead of most European cities.
Werndl M1873 specifications
General
- Type
- Rifle
- Action
- Rolling block
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer-fired
- Trigger
- Single stage
- Calibres
- 11x42mmR Werndl
- Magazine capacity
- 1 rounds
- Magazine
- Internal
Dimensions
- Barrel length
- 843 mm (33.2 in)
- Overall length
- 1280 mm (50.4 in)
- Weight (empty)
- 4.30 kg (9.48 lb)
Barrel
- Rifling
- Right hand
- Grooves
- 6
Materials
- Barrel
- Steel
- Receiver / frame
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- blued
Performance
- Muzzle velocity (typical)
- 440 m/s (1444 fps)
- Effective range
- 500 m
History
- Introduced
- 1873
- Discontinued
- 1877
- Production status
- Out of production
- Country of origin
- AT
- Designer
- Josef Werndl
Features
- Rotating drum breechblock
- Internal hammer
- Back action lock inside wrist
- Upward turning breech lever
- Walnut full stock
- Ramp and leaf sight
- Socket bayonet lug
Safety
- Half cock hammer
The M1873 addressed the M1867's tendency to crack at the stock wrist by merging the lock and receiver and enclosing the hammer. Most surviving examples were later rechambered in 1877 to the bottlenecked 11x58mmR M.77 cartridge and marked '/77'. Rear sight graduated to about 1,400 paces.
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