Guedes M1885
- Category
- Rifle
- Barrel
- 810 mm
- Weight, empty
- 4.10 kg
- Introduced
- 1885
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Guedes M1885 (Espingarda Guedes-Castro) was a single-shot falling-block military rifle designed by Portuguese officer Luís Guedes Dias and manufactured by ŒWG Steyr in Austria. Chambered in the 8×60mmR Guedes black-powder cartridge, it used an internal-hammer dropping breechblock similar to the Peabody-Martini. It is often called the last European single-shot military rifle adopted, as smokeless-powder repeaters rendered it obsolete almost immediately.
Adopted by no nation's regular army for long, the Guedes was obsolete the moment it was finished: France's 1886 smokeless Lebel changed everything. Portugal paid a cancellation fee, and Steyr quietly dumped its unsold rifles on the arms-hungry Boers, where they ended up fighting the British in the Second Boer War.
Portugal cancelled the contract in favour of the M1886 Kropatschek repeater. ŒWG sold much of the surplus stock to the Boer republics around 1888–1896, where many examples carry ZAR (Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek) markings.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Steyr Arms
- Category
- Rifle
- Country
- Portugal
- Status
- Out of production
- Produced
- 1885 to 1886
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 810 mm
- Overall length
- 1215 mm
- Weight, empty
- 4.10 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Falling block
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Trigger
- Single stage
- Capacity
- 1
- Magazine
- Internal
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 535 m/s
- Effective range
- 370 m
- Maximum range
- 1600 m
- Rate of fire
- 12 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.
Falling block action
Internal hammer
Combined lever trigger guard
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 | 4.10 kg | 3.50 kg | Heavier than about 70% |
| Overall lengthAmong 1,557 rifles | 1215 mm | 1080 mm | Longer than about 80% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 1,659 rifles | 810 mm | 584 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 1,611 rifles | 1 | 5 | Holds fewer rounds than about 90% |
Answers
Questions about the Guedes M1885
How much does the Guedes M1885 weigh?
The Guedes M1885 weighs 4.10 kg (9.04 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Guedes M1885?
The Guedes M1885 is chambered in 8×60mmR Guedes.
How many rounds does the Guedes M1885 hold?
The Guedes M1885 holds 1 rounds, fed from an internal magazine.
How long is the Guedes M1885?
The Guedes M1885 is 1215 mm (47.8 in) long overall, with a 810 mm (31.9 in) barrel.
Who makes the Guedes M1885?
The Guedes M1885 is made by Steyr Arms (Austria). It was designed by Luís Guedes Dias.
When was the Guedes M1885 introduced?
The Guedes M1885 was introduced in 1885 and discontinued in 1886.
How does the Guedes M1885 operate?
The Guedes M1885 uses a falling block action, and its firing mechanism is hammer 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
- Portuguese Army
- 1885
- South African Republic (Transvaal)
- 1888
- Orange Free State
- South Africa
Provenance
Confidence in this record
68%
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/guedes-1885' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "guedes-1885", "name": "Guedes M1885", "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": "rifle", "name": "Rifle", "description": "Long-barreled firearms designed for accurate shooting" }, "country_of_origin": "PT", "year_introduced": 1885, "barrel_length_mm": 810, "weight_empty_g": 4100, "action_type": "falling_block"}