However, a report dated 1906 indicated that 8,983 Gahendra rifles were still on hand. The quality of manufacture was improved over the Francotte, and was considered a successful design. The Gahendra’s distinctive underlever has a downward-curving loop and attaches to the action in front of the trigger.

The Gahendra rifle was based on an 1869 Westley Richards patented design, but incorporated its own detachable trigger and firing mechanism. The “Gahendra” is named after its developer, Nepalese military engineer General Gahendra Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana. The Nepalese Francotte rifles suffered from poor metallurgy and other defects, so were not a successful design. The Nepalese rifles used Francotte’s detachable trigger and firing mechanism, but without Francotte’s patented cocking indicator. The Nepalese “Francotte” copied an improved Martini-Henry design by Belgian maker August Francotte and dating to 1877. The scabbard is of British manufacture, for the Pattern 1876 bayonet, as evidenced by the War Department acceptance mark. The Gahendra and Francotte barrels had thicker walls than the Martini-Henry, making the outside diameter too large to accept the British Pattern 1876 bayonet. 577/450 Francotte and Gahendra rifles.Ī crude copy of the British Pattern 1876 bayonet, with a larger diameter socket. A crude copy of the British Pattern 1853 bayonet. Socket bayonet for use with the Pattern 1853 Rifle-Musket and Snider-Enfield breechloading conversion. Read more about the 'Nepal Cache' and my experience breathing new life into a Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle-musket. From the 1830’s onward, it was as if the Armory threw nothing away. The Nepalese were thrifty in the extreme. In Kathmandu, the Armory housed more than 50,000 firearms over 150 ancient bronze cannon tens of thousands of bayonets and all manner of tools and accessories. This and the following examples are all from a 43-ton cache of weaponry removed from the Royal Nepalese Armory, Lagan Silekhana, in 2003. Several hilt styles are encountered, including a steel-hilted variant. The bayonet is crudely modeled on the Pattern 1801 Baker Sword Bayonet.

The Nepalese Brunswick rifles and bayonets likely date from the mid-19th Century.

The Brunswick rifle entered production in Britain in 1836. Originally designed with two-groove rifling that required a special round ball with a raised 'belt.' The Brunswick was Britain's first percussion rifle, replacing the Baker flintlock rifle.

Nepalese francotte rifle