Gendarmerie Repetier-Karabiner M1881
- Category
- Carbine
- Barrel
- Not recorded
- Weight, empty
- Not recorded
- Introduced
- 1881
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Gendarmerie Repetier-Karabiner M1881 (also designated M1874/81) is an Austro-Hungarian bolt-action repeating carbine built on Alfred von Kropatschek's tubular-magazine system and chambered for the 11x58mmR Werndl black-powder cartridge. Issued to the Gendarmerie, it combined the earlier Werndl-pattern 11mm round with a nickel-plated steel tubular magazine feeding a manually cycled bolt, giving mounted and dismounted constabulary a compact repeating longarm.
Alfred von Kropatschek's tubular-magazine bolt design was largely passed over at home in Austria-Hungary in favour of the Mannlicher, yet it went on to arm the French navy and later formed the direct basis of the revolutionary Lebel Model 1886 smokeless rifle.
Austria-Hungary made only limited use of the Kropatschek system; the M1881 gendarmerie carbine is one of the few Austro-Hungarian Kropatschek adoptions alongside the M1893 navy/torpedo-boat rifle. Precise physical dimensions and magazine capacity for the M1881 carbine are poorly documented.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Steyr Arms
- Category
- Carbine
- Country
- Austria
- Status
- Out of production
- Produced
- 1881
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Bolt action
- Firing mechanism
- Striker fired
- Trigger
- Single stage
- Magazine
- Tube
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
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.
Tubular magazine- Carbine length
Black powder cartridge
Standing
How it compares
This record has too few measurements to compare with others yet.
Answers
Questions about the Gendarmerie Repetier-Karabiner M1881
What caliber is the Gendarmerie Repetier-Karabiner M1881?
The Gendarmerie Repetier-Karabiner M1881 is chambered in 11x58mmR Werndl.
Who makes the Gendarmerie Repetier-Karabiner M1881?
The Gendarmerie Repetier-Karabiner M1881 is made by Steyr Arms (Austria). It was designed by Alfred von Kropatschek.
When was the Gendarmerie Repetier-Karabiner M1881 introduced?
The Gendarmerie Repetier-Karabiner M1881 was introduced in 1881.
How does the Gendarmerie Repetier-Karabiner M1881 operate?
The Gendarmerie Repetier-Karabiner M1881 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
- Austro-Hungarian Gendarmerie
- 1881
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/gendarmerie-repetier-karabiner-m1881' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "gendarmerie-repetier-karabiner-m1881", "name": "Gendarmerie Repetier-Karabiner M1881", "manufacturer": { "id": "steyr-mannlicher", "name": "Steyr Arms", "countryCode": "AT", "foundedYear": 1864, "website": "https://www.steyr-arms.com", "logoUrl": null, "description": "Austrian rifle manufacturer, founded 1864. Currently produces hunting and sporting rifles.", "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-04-05 22:24:37", "updatedAt": "2026-04-05 22:24:37", "version": "a826cd329c11aab62c76039016717ad94b5d38e37df48de00a5a6800ce0b3c60" }, "category": { "id": "carbine", "name": "Carbine", "description": "Shortened rifles for close-quarters use" }, "country_of_origin": "AT", "year_introduced": 1881, "barrel_length_mm": null, "weight_empty_g": null, "action_type": "bolt_action"}