The Cardinal rifle was the first breech-loading, percussion-cap rifle produced in the new timeline created by Grantville's appearance in 1631. It was created in March of 1634 by Robert du Barry and Yves Thibault, who were working for Turenne, and was based on the Sharps rifle from the middle of the 19th century. While the design was copied from up-time sources. what made it practical was the development by John Rudolph Glauber of an efficient means of making potassium chlorate for use in percussion caps.[1]
While it was a single-shot weapon, its breech-loading design and use of prepared cartridges meant that it could be reloaded much more quickly than any muzzle-loading firearm.
It was originally produced as a .50 caliber carbine, but by fall of 1635, full-size Cardinal rifles were being produced.[2]
Turenne and his cavalry force used Cardinal carbines when they raided the Wietze oil fields and killed Quentin Underwood. In October of 1635, Mathurin Brillard used a full-size Cardinal rifle to assassinate Queen Maria Eleonora of Sweden.
During the invasion of Poland, some units of the Swedish Army had USE-produced copies of Cardinal rifles, though most were armed with SRGs.[3]
References[]
- ↑ 1634: The Baltic War, ch. 27
- ↑ 1635: The Eastern Front, ch. 31
- ↑ 1635: The Eastern Front, ch. 35