The MLE 1878 Marine rifle was developed by Kropatscheck and made by Steyr in Austria for the French Marines from 1878-1884, whilst the French infantry had the single shot Gras rifle it was decided the marines needed more firepower and thus they wanted to adopt a repeating rifle. The Kropatschek rifle was chosen and would be purchased from Steyr where it was made for 5 years before the french produced the 1884 in their own arsenal.

The rifle is chambered in 11mm Gras and has a tubular magazine that will hold 8 rounds. these are extremely rare rifles even in france with most ending up in the french colonies where they ran foul of the poor conditions, this is visible with the many examples in the America market that were shipped over from Ethiopia.

The rifle is in fantastic condition, looks beautiful and has an excellent bore.

It is a SEC58 obsolete antique rifle so does not require a license to own.

£4500

SOLD