Reffye Mitrailleuse
- Category
- Machine Gun
- Barrel
- 950 mm
- Weight, empty
- 340.00 kg
- Introduced
- 1866
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Reffye Mitrailleuse ('Canon a balles') was a 25-barrel hand-cranked volley gun designed by Jean-Baptiste Verchere de Reffye and secretly adopted by France in 1866. A removable steel breech block holding twenty-five 13mm centrefire cartridges locked against the barrel cluster, and a crank discharged them in succession at up to roughly 125 rounds per minute out to about 1,800 m. Mounted on an artillery carriage (855 kg complete), it was one of the first standard-issue rapid-fire weapons in a major war, but excessive secrecy left crews without tactics, so it was misused as long-range artillery and out-ranged by Prussian Krupp guns in the Franco-Prussian War.
The Reffye was developed under such extreme secrecy that test guns were fired from inside concealing tents to defeat espionage, and crews received almost no tactical doctrine. The secrecy backfired so badly that Marshal MacMahon is said to have never even seen a mitrailleuse until one was wheeled past him at Sedan in September 1870.
Distinct from the 37-barrel Belgian Montigny Mitrailleuse that inspired it. Roughly 190 Reffye guns were operational by July 1870; total production estimates vary ~200-400. Gun weighs ~340 kg; ~855 kg with carriage.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Atelier de Précision de Meudon
- Category
- Machine Gun
- Country
- France
- Status
- Out of production
- Produced
- 1866 to 1908
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 950 mm
- Overall length
- 1750 mm
- Weight, empty
- 340.00 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Lever action
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Capacity
- 25
- Magazine
- Internal
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 480 m/s
- Effective range
- 1800 m
- Maximum range
- 3400 m
- Rate of fire
- 125 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.
Multi barrel- Hand cranked
Removable breech block- Field carriage mounted
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 261 machine guns | 340.00 kg | 10.50 kg | Heavier than about 90% |
| Overall lengthAmong 260 machine guns | 1750 mm | 1156 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 257 machine guns | 950 mm | 605 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 222 machine guns | 25 | 50 | Holds fewer rounds than about 80% |
Answers
Questions about the Reffye Mitrailleuse
How much does the Reffye Mitrailleuse weigh?
The Reffye Mitrailleuse weighs 340.00 kg (749.57 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Reffye Mitrailleuse?
The Reffye Mitrailleuse is chambered in 13mm Reffye.
How many rounds does the Reffye Mitrailleuse hold?
The Reffye Mitrailleuse holds 25 rounds, fed from an internal magazine.
How long is the Reffye Mitrailleuse?
The Reffye Mitrailleuse is 1750 mm (68.9 in) long overall, with a 950 mm (37.4 in) barrel.
Who makes the Reffye Mitrailleuse?
The Reffye Mitrailleuse is made by Atelier de Précision de Meudon (France). It was designed by Jean-Baptiste Verchere de Reffye.
When was the Reffye Mitrailleuse introduced?
The Reffye Mitrailleuse was introduced in 1866 and discontinued in 1908.
How does the Reffye Mitrailleuse operate?
The Reffye Mitrailleuse uses a lever 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
- French Army
- 1866
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/mitrailleuse' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "mitrailleuse", "name": "Reffye Mitrailleuse", "manufacturer": { "id": "atelier-de-meudon", "name": "Atelier de Précision de Meudon", "countryCode": "FR", "foundedYear": null, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "updatedAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "version": "9b7ab7d21737217afd92d495ec1759e257bed2b0004b64080af948d1d68ba416" }, "category": { "id": "machine-gun", "name": "Machine Gun", "description": "Fully automatic firearms for sustained fire" }, "country_of_origin": "FR", "year_introduced": 1866, "barrel_length_mm": 950, "weight_empty_g": 340000, "action_type": "lever_action"}