Original French MLE 1874 M80 Brass Mounted Gras Camel Short Rifle by St. Étienne with Berber Decorations – dated 1879 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This lovely little brass mounted CAMEL SHORT RIFLE / CARBINE was issued for “Colonial Service” in North Africa, as indicated by the brass mounts, and was originally produced as a MLE1874 “Gras” rifle, later shortened for colonial service. However, after that it looks to have been acquired by nomadic Berbers in North Africa, who modified the carbine quite a bit, removing the bayonet stand and adding lots of metal decorations on the exterior, with large amounts of camel bone added to the butt stock. They also modified / engraved all of the original brass fittings. Remember SEAN CONNERY in THE WIND AND THE LION about the conflicts involving the Berbers in Morocco? This is exactly the type of gun they could have been armed with at the time that movie was set. Really a fantastic bit of history right here!

The left side of the receiver is still marked MANUFACTURE D’ARMES / St. Étienne / M80 next to Mle 1874, indicating manufacture at the government arsenal at St. Étienne. The rifle has arsenal proofs on many parts, and also is faintly marked S.1879, on the right side of the barrel nocks form, indicating original manufacture in 1881 (S Is the St. Étienne Prefix). The short rifle retains its serial numbers of P 2236 on the barrel, while all of the other components are non-matching, typical for an arsenal refurbished example, particularly one that saw long service in North Africa. The bolt has its correct mounted troop’s “turn down” bolt handle, a modification that helped prevent the rifle snagging on the horse or camel’s tack. Both the bayonet stand and the rear sight were removed long ago.

Overall condition of this short rifle shows long service in North Africa, with the barrel and receiver now displaying an oxidized and patinated finish. The bolt is in a bit better condition, but still shows much use and past staining. The stock shows extensive use with lots of dents, dings, gouges, etc, and it has been significantly modified from the original shape. The rifle does cycle correctly and has an intact firing pin and ejector, however the bore is quite oxidized, and we have made no attempts to clean it to preserve the history of the gun.

Remember GARY COOPER in “BEAU GESTE” about the French Foreign Legion? In really good condition, fully cleaned and ready to display, all you need is a Camel!

Specifications-

Year of Manufacture: 1879
Caliber: 11×59mmR Gras
Cartridge Type: Centerfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 27 1/2 Inches
Overall Length: 46 Inches
Action type: Bolt-Action
Feed System: Single Shot

History of the Gras rifle:

A caliber of 11mm and used black powder centerfire cartridges that weighed 25 grams. It was a robust and hard-hitting weapon, but it had no magazine and so could only fire one shot after loading. It also had a triangular-shaped sword bayonet, known as the Model 1874 “Gras” Sword Bayonet. It was replaced by the Lebel rifle in 1886, the first rifle to use smokeless gunpowder. In the meantime, about 400,000 Gras rifles had been manufactured.

The metallic-cartridge Gras was manufactured in response to the development of the metallic cartridge designed by Colonel Boxer in 1866 (Boxer cartridge), and the British 1870 Martini-Henry rifle. Those were soon emulated by the Germans with the 1871 Mauser.

The Hellenic Army adopted the Gras in 1877, and it was used in all conflicts up until the Second World War. It became the favorite weapon of Greek guerrilla fighters, from the various revolts against the Ottoman Empire to the resistance against the Axis, acquiring legendary status. The name entered the Greek language, and Grades (γκράδες) was a term colloquially applied to all rifles during the first half of the 20th century. It was manufactured by Manufacture d’armes de Saint-Étienne, one of several government-owned arms factories in France. However most of the Gras rifles (60,000) used by the Hellenic military were manufactured under license by Steyr in Austria.

The Gras rifle was partly the inspiration for the development of the Japanese Murata rifle, Japan’s first locally-made service rifle.

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