Werndl M1873/77 Extra-Korps-Gewehr

About the Werndl M1873/77 Extra-Korps-Gewehr

The Werndl M1873/77 Extra-Korps-Gewehr was a short single-shot service rifle of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, issued to special-corps troops such as engineers, pioneers, artillery train and support units who needed a handier weapon than the full-length infantry rifle. Built on Josef Werndl's rotating cylindrical breechblock (the 'Tabernakelverschluss' drum breech) with an external hammer, the M1873 pattern moved the hammer to pivot inside the wrist of the stock and used flattened receiver sides for a stronger action. The /77 update rechambered it for the more powerful 11x58mmR Werndl centerfire cartridge. With a 566 mm barrel and roughly 1005 mm overall length, it was substantially shorter than the M1873 infantry rifle while retaining the same breech system and a lug for a saber bayonet.

Extra-Korps rifles were the compact companions of Austria-Hungary's technical branches — sappers, pioneers and gun-train crews — men whose hands were usually full of tools, so they carried a rifle nearly a foot shorter than the line infantry's Werndl.

Werndl M1873/77 Extra-Korps-Gewehr specifications

The Extra-Korps-Gewehr was a shortened special-corps version of the M1873 Werndl, distinct from the full infantry rifle and the cavalry carbine. Early M1873 arms fired the 11mm M.67 black-powder cartridge; the M1873/77 conversion adopted the 11x58mmR (M.77) round. Sights were graduated in paces (roughly 200–800). Made by Österreichische Waffenfabriks-Gesellschaft at Steyr.