Carle M1867
- Category
- Rifle
- Barrel
- 939 mm
- Weight, empty
- 4.50 kg
- Introduced
- 1867
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Carle M1867 is a Russian single-shot, bolt-action needle rifle adopted by the Imperial Russian Army in 1867. Based on a patent by the Hamburg broker Johannes Friedrich Christian Carle, the design was a stopgap that converted existing M1856 muzzle-loading rifled muskets into breechloaders by replacing the old breech with a needle-fire bolt mechanism. It fired a 15.24mm (six-line) combustible paper cartridge ignited by a long needle that pierced the cartridge to strike a primer seated against the bullet. A leather-disc obturator at the bolt face sealed propellant gases. Capable of roughly 8 to 12 aimed rounds per minute, it dramatically increased Russian infantry firepower over the muzzleloaders it replaced, though its complex paper cartridge and fragile needle led to its rapid replacement by the Krnka metallic-cartridge conversion.
Patented in 1865 by Johannes Friedrich Christian Carle, a Hamburg ship and insurance broker, the needle rifle was an improvement on the Prussian Dreyse system. Modernizing after defeat in the Crimean War, Russia could not yet mass-produce an original breechloader, so it adopted Carle's design specifically because it could recycle the vast stock of M1856 muskets already in its arsenals.
Roughly 213,000 to 215,500 examples were converted from M1856 rifled muskets before the design was superseded by the M1867 Krnka. The needle and leather obturator were prone to fouling and wear, a common weakness of needle-fire systems.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Tula Arms Plant
- Category
- Rifle
- Country
- Russia
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1867 to 1869
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 939 mm
- Overall length
- 1340 mm
- Weight, empty
- 4.50 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Bolt action
- Firing mechanism
- Striker fired
- Trigger
- Single action
- Capacity
- 1
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Walnut
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 305 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 1628 J
- Effective range
- 300 m
- Maximum range
- 1000 m
- Rate of fire
- 10 rpm
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Muzzleloader conversion- Leather obturator seal
Paper combustible cartridge
Needle firing pin
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 1,612 rifles | 4.50 kg | 3.50 kg | Heavier than about 90% |
| Overall lengthAmong 1,557 rifles | 1340 mm | 1080 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 1,659 rifles | 939 mm | 584 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 1,611 rifles | 1 | 5 | Holds fewer rounds than about 90% |
Answers
Questions about the Carle M1867
How much does the Carle M1867 weigh?
The Carle M1867 weighs 4.50 kg (9.92 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Carle M1867?
The Carle M1867 is chambered in 15.24mm Carle.
How many rounds does the Carle M1867 hold?
The Carle M1867 holds 1 rounds.
How long is the Carle M1867?
The Carle M1867 is 1340 mm (52.8 in) long overall, with a 939 mm (37.0 in) barrel.
Who makes the Carle M1867?
The Carle M1867 is made by Tula Arms Plant (Russia). It was designed by Johannes Friedrich Christian Carle.
When was the Carle M1867 introduced?
The Carle M1867 was introduced in 1867 and discontinued in 1869.
How does the Carle M1867 operate?
The Carle M1867 uses a bolt action, and its firing mechanism is striker fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- Imperial Russian Army
- 1867
Provenance
Confidence in this record
60%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/carle-m1867' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "carle-m1867", "name": "Carle M1867", "manufacturer": { "id": "tula-arms-plant", "name": "Tula Arms Plant", "countryCode": "RU", "foundedYear": 1712, "website": "https://en.tulatoz.ru", "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": "active", "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": true, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-02-11 23:44:40", "updatedAt": "2026-02-18 03:43:38", "version": "592802e23491a27ab089d44b73cd0f97f7cf62eeb752639057d7004eb2b4c252" }, "category": { "id": "rifle", "name": "Rifle", "description": "Long-barreled firearms designed for accurate shooting" }, "country_of_origin": "RU", "year_introduced": 1867, "barrel_length_mm": 939, "weight_empty_g": 4500, "action_type": "bolt_action"}